Phoenix ? Barry Zito is trying to be taller on his pitching delivery so he doesn’t drop down as much on his back leg and put pressure on his knee.

Whatever he’s doing seems to be working. Zito pitched five shutout innings, and Eric Chavez hit a three-run homer and had four RBIs Tuesday in Oakland’s 7-5 win over Kansas City.

Zito followed strong outings by Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder. The three have combined for 142/3 scoreless innings in three days.

“Everyone is looking good,” Zito said. “Mulder is feeling healthy and (Chad) Bradford is coming back. I’m excited for our full staff to be intact.”

Chavez connected in Oakland’s five-run seventh off D.J. Carrasco. It was the fourth home run of the spring for Chavez, who last week signed a $66 million, six-year contract extension.

Andres Blanco, Tony Graffanino and Kelly Stinnett had three hits each for the Royals.

“I’m getting there,” Zito said. “It’s just getting used to running out every five days and the physical aspects. It was encouraging to come back and face Kansas City again and have a little better outing than last time.”

New A’s closer Arthur Rhodes made his first appearance of the spring in the ninth inning and was tagged for three runs and four hits.

The first batter he faced was country singer Garth Brooks, in Royals camp to raise awareness for his Teammates for Kids Foundation. Rhodes smiled and put his hands on his hips as he watched Brooks walk back to the dugout after grounding out to second. Brooks is 1-for-6 this spring, leaving him at .044 (2-for-45) in four spring trainings with three teams.

Oakland pitcher Barry Zito delivers. Zito tossed five scoreless innings in the Athletics' 7-5 victory over Kansas City on Tuesday in Phoenix.

Rhodes, a converted closer who was Seattle’s setup man last season, would like to get a few more ninth-inning appearances before the season starts. He struck out the side in the eighth inning of a 1-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I’ll probably get a couple more in the ninth to get used to it. All my pitches are working great right now.”