SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Jon Garland needed a start like this.
Following a poor outing against San Diego, Garland tossed four scoreless innings to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Kansas City Royals 11-3 on Saturday.
Tony Clark went 4-for-4, while Josh Whitesell and Josh Wilson homered and drove in three runs each for the Diamondbacks.
Garland, who gave up six runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings to the Padres on Monday, only got in trouble once, giving up a leadoff single to Ryan Shealy and a walk to Mike Jacobs in the second inning. The right-hander retired the next three hitters.
"I was happy with myself, not trying to do too much in that situation," Garland said. "I think my last outing, even though I was working on some pitches, some guys got on and I started digging in a little more, trying to do too much and got myself in trouble. I stayed focused (Saturday). I just wanted to keep the ball down and I was able to do that."
Arizona signed Garland in January after he went 14-8 with a 4.90 ERA last season for the Los Angeles Angels.
"He threw the ball well," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said. "It looked like he was backing off on his fastball. The last couple of times it's been up in the zone. He was working on getting the ball down and he did. When you keep the ball down and don't walk guys, you have a chance."
The Diamondbacks piled up 18 hits, including five for extra bases.
"It starts with starting pitching and you're putting zeros up there," Melvin said. "That's two days in a row we've swung the bat real well across the board."
Royals starter Brian Bannister, who dropped to 0-2 with an 8.53 ERA this spring, gave up six runs on nine hits and a walk in 4 2/3 innings.
"The numbers weren't good and so I won't make any excuses for it, but I was aggressive and just went after guys," Bannister said. "I'm just trying to compete against myself. I threw better than I threw against the Cubs and so I have to take a positive out of that. But the results weren't good, so it was a frustrating day.
"I'll keep mixing in the cutter. That's my best pitch and my strength. Once I start rolling with that, hopefully I can get on a roll here."
John Sumoi hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Royals. Jacobs singled home Billy Butler, who had doubled in the seventh, for the first Kansas City run.
Notes
Royals RHP Doug Waechter had a procedure to remove part of his right middle fingernail that was causing a blister and likely will not pitch in a game for 5-7 days. "The nail cracked," Waechter said. "One part was basically a pin. Every time I gripped the ball, it was like a pin sticking me in the side of the finger. They basically cut that out. I was going to try to pitch with it, but they told me if it got worse, they might have to take the whole nail. That's six weeks. So I was like, 'Hey, wait a second."' ... OF Jose Guillen is expected back Monday after his wife gave birth to a son in Miami. ... The Royals optioned RHP Carlo Rosa and INF Tug Hulett to Triple-A Omaha and INF Mario Lisson to Double-A Arkansas. OF Derrick Robinson, INF Cory Smith and C Sumoi were assigned to minor league camp. ... Royals RHP Matt Wright has not pitched since March 6 because of a strained left groin.
