Surprise, Ariz. ? David Wells’ last spring training outing went a lot better than his previous one.

Wells allowed two runs and six hits in six innings to lead the San Diego Padres over the Kansas City Royals, 7-6, on Wednesday. Wells struck out three and walked none.

Royals starter Gil Meche, who signed a five-year, $55 million contract in the offseason, didn’t fare as well as Wells in his final exhibition tuneup. Meche allowed seven runs and 10 hits in six innings.

“I think he was having trouble getting his fastball down,” Royals manager Buddy Bell said. “I think he’s ready to go and that’s the main thing. He has good stuff, but at times he was a little erratic with his command.”

Meche, who will start opening day Monday against Boston, struck out three and walked two.

Wells, who gave up seven runs and 10 hits in three innings in his previous start against the Chicago White Sox, said he’s ready for the regular season to begin.

“I’ve never been big on a lot of innings in spring training,” he said. “I basically know what it takes to get ready. In my last start, I felt like I wasn’t able to let it go. I still kind of feel like that. I feel like I let the ball go more today. I feel like I got a lot looser late in the game than I did early. It’s good. I’ve had four outings now, the first two were bad and the next two were good. So I finished up on a good note.”

Russell Branyan hit two home runs, including a three-run shot in the fifth, and drove in four runs for San Diego. In his past two games, Branyan has four home runs and nine RBIs.

Kansas City’s Mark Grudzielanek started at second base for his first major league action since having arthroscopic surgery on his left knee March 5. Grudzielanek, who played the previous two days in Royals minor league games, played five innings and went 0-for-3.

Ross Gload went 2-for-2 with an RBI for the Royals. Bell said Gload, who is hitting .392, would start in left field for the season opener instead of Emil Brown, who has led the club in RBIs the past two years. Bell plans to platoon Gload and Brown.