GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Reds left-hander Brandon Finnegan and Royals righty Ian Kennedy gave up two runs in their starts before Juan Duran delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the seventh as Cincinnati held on for a 4-2 win on Tuesday at Goodyear Ballpark.
Finnegan struck out four in 4 1/3 innings to further his case for a rotation spot. The second run against him scored after he exited the game.
"A thousand times better than last week," Finnegan said. "Everything was working."

Kennedy gave up seven hits in four innings, but he limited the damage in his third spring start.
"I thought his fastball command was off. But he did a phenomenal job pitching around the damage," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Had runners on and he kept getting out of it.
"That's a good thing that guys like him can limit the damage when they don't have their best stuff."
Alcides Escobar doubled on the first pitch of the game and scored on Eric Hosmer's single to put the Royals up early.
The Reds answered in the bottom of the first on a Billy Hamilton bunt single, an RBI single from Adam Duvall and a run-scoring double by Jay Bruce.
Escobar tied the game with a two-out bunt single to score Omar Infante in the fifth.

Up next for Royals: Right-hander Chris Young will take the mound on Wednesday when the Royals return to Surprise Stadium to face the Cubs at 3:05 p.m. CT. Young will be followed by Joakim Soria, Luke Hochevar, and Brian Duensing. Watch the game live on MLB.TV.
Up next for Reds: Right-hander Jon Moscot will make the start against the D-backs at Salt River Fields on Thursday night at 9:40 p.m. ET. Moscot has an 8.31 ERA this spring, and last time out he gave up four runs in 3 2/3 innings. Watch the game live on MLB.TV.