GIANTS 6, ROYALS 5
at Scottsdale, Ariz.
Sunday, March 18

Royals at the plate: Alex Gordon, the Royals' promising third-base prospect, belted his first Cactus League home run leading off the second inning. Mark Teahen capped Kansas City's three-run fourth inning with a two-run triple.

Giants at the plate: Continuing his proficient opposite-field hitting, Pedro Feliz lined a two-run homer to right in the fourth inning. He added a sixth-inning double to score Omar Vizquel, who drilled an RBI triple.

Royals on the mound: Odalis Perez, who entered the game with a 12.46 ERA, blanked the Giants on two hits through three innings. All four relievers yielded at least one run, including Jason Standridge, who was victimized in the ninth inning by Fred Lewis' two-out infield hit and second baseman Fernando Cortez's accompanying throwing error. Jason Ellison chopped another infield hit toward Gordon, whose throw went off the first baseman's glove and allowed Lewis to score the winning run.

Giants on the mound: Noah Lowry labored through 3 2/3 innings, throwing 86 pitches while allowing five runs and seven hits. Armando Benitez looked extremely sharp while striking out two in a perfect fifth inning.

Cactus League records: Royals 8-11; Giants 12-9.

Up next: Zack Greinke and Octavio Dotel are among Kansas City's probable pitchers in its exhibition Monday against the Chicago White Sox at Surprise Stadium. The Giants will observe their lone scheduled off-day of the spring Monday before resuming the Cactus League schedule Tuesday against Texas. Russ Ortiz is the Giants' likely starting pitcher.