Surprise, Ariz. ? Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa allowed two hits and no runs in 21â3 innings Thursday to help his team to a 3-1 victory in a five-inning Kansas City Royals intrasquad game.

De La Rosa, vying for a spot in the rotation, faced nine batters, with one walk and one strikeout.

“He threw some real good pitches and a lot of strikes,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “He had some strikes that weren’t quality strikes, but at least they were strikes. That’s a bonus for his first outing.”

Veteran right-hander Brett Tomko, signed by the Royals as a free agent in January, gave up two runs, one unearned, and four hits in three innings and was charged with the loss.

“Tomko didn’t have as much angle as he had in his last bullpen I watched,” Hillman said. “Even though there was some hard contact, when you throw that hard and don’t get the proper angle there is going to be some hard contact. He also did an exceptional job in his last inning of pitching out of a jam.”

Tomko was a combined 4-12 last season with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. He has not pitched in the American League since 2001, when he was with the Seattle Mariners.

Rookie catcher Matt Tupman had a double in the fifth off Tyler Lumsden and scored on a wild pitch. He also had a sacrifice fly in the second that scored Jason Smith.

Hillman said he also was pleased with Tupman’s work behind the plate.

“He sits back there very quiet and receives the ball well,” Hillman said. “I was impressed the way he kept the game moving.”