SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Barry Zito have up just two hits in six innings and Cody Ross, Buster Posey and Aubrey Huff hit solo home runs to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 3-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Zito is 40-57 with a 4.45 earned-run average in 131 starts over four years since leaving the Oakland Athletics to move across San Francisco Bay to join the Giants as a free agent. He has never quite recaptured the form that earned him the American League Cy Young Award in 2002. He started out 5-0 in 2010, but finished the season at 9-14.
Ross hit his third homer of the spring off left-hander Bruce Chen in the second inning. Posey hit his third in the fourth, and Huff connected for his fourth in the sixth.
Left-hander Jeremy Affeldt and right-handers Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla combined to pitch hitless ball over the last two innings for the Giants. Those three are among those expected to be considered for the closer's role since it was revealed that Brian Wilson will be sidelined with a strained left oblique.