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SURPRISE, Ariz. -- For Ted Lilly, the only good thing was another outing in a couple days.

Lilly was hit hard as a Los Angeles Dodgers split-squad lost 19-7 to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.

Alex Gordon homered and drove in six runs for Kansas City, which finished with 20 hits. Melky Cabrera went 2 for 3 and drove in three runs while raising his Cactus League-leading batting average to .518.

Lilly allowed six runs and five hits in 2 2/3 innings. He struck out two and walked two.

"Positives, I'll have to think about it for a while," he said. "I'll try hard. I'm looking forward to the next four days going by as fast as possible."

Lilly went 10-12 with a 3.62 ERA in 30 starts for the Cubs and Dodgers last season. He re-signed with the Dodgers after becoming a free agent over the winter.

The 35-year-old left-hander threw 59 pitches Saturday, 36 for strikes.

"I felt OK, but I'm looking for good results," Lilly said. "I'm more concerned really about making pitches then just to be focused on how you feel and come out of it. Even in these games, you still want to have quality outings. I wasn't locating. I missed quite a bit down in the dirt with my fastball. They just weren't cleanly thrown balls."

Gordon hit a two-run single in the third, doubled home Cabrera in the fourth and belted a three-run homer in the seventh.

"Actually the base hit on two strikes on a high breaking ball to left field was just as pretty as the one he hit four miles," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Alex is pretty dialed in."

Gordon hit the first pitch he saw from Oscar Villarreal out to deep right.

"The ball flies here in Arizona and the wind was blowing out so it felt good," Gordon said.

Clint Robinson, who won the 2010 Texas League Triple Crown, homered and drove in three runs for Kansas City, but was optioned to Triple-A Omaha after the game.

"When you're in the cleanup spot, you're there to drive in runs," Robinson said. "When you get opportunities, you've got to capitalize on them."

Trent Oeltjen and Corey Smith homered for Los Angeles.

Game notes

Jason Kendall caught three innings in a Royals minor league game with no problems, his first game action since having shoulder surgery in September. ... Royals LHP Jeff Francis threw 64 pitches over four innings in a minor league game and allowed seven runs, but just three earned. ... The Royals also optioned LHP Everett Teaford, RHP Kevin Pucetas and OF David Lough to Triple-A Omaha, and OF Derrick Robinson and INF Jeff Bianchi to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. They also reassigned LHPs John Lamb, Chris Dwyer and Will Smith and RHP Steven Shell to minor league camp.