Zito walked one and struck out three in lowering his ERA to 5.49 from 7.29. Zito said he struggled a bit early, but pitched aggressively as the game went on.

"I got the feel of my curveball in those last two innings," Zito said.

Zito is still experimenting with pitches instead of trying to set up hitters as in a regular-season game.

"I threw some 3-2 changeups I probably wouldn't have thrown in a real situation," said Zito, who pointed out he still has three more spring starts left. "It's still good to be working on stuff right now."

Zito was pleased with how he handled the middle of the White Sox order, which includes Carlos Quentin, Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome and Paul Konerko. They went 3-for-12 against him, with Konerko going 2-for-3.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy called the performance "a good effort."

"I like the way he finished up. He was strong at the end. He's got his stamina and strength where we want them," Bochy said.

Jose Contreras, who originally wasn't expected back until midseason as he recovered from a ruptured Achilles' tendon, gave up five hits, two walks and two earned runs in three innings.

"He was a little rough," manager Ozzie Guillen said. "His command was real poor. It seemed like he got tired.

"We'll give him a couple more starts to see how he feels and see what happens," Guillen said. "He's not out of the picture."

Bartolo Colon had the best outing of the day for a White Sox pitcher - in a minor league game.

Colon, who is coming back from offseason elbow surgery, allowed three hits and no runs. He struck out four without walking a batter in three innings, and threw 35 of his 44 pitches for strikes.

"Colon threw the ball well," Guillen said. "I feel pretty good with what I see. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see how he feels. The last time he pitched, he was stiff.

"We got to be patient. If Colon is not ready to start the season, we'll have Plan B."

If Colon and Contreras aren't ready to go at the season's start, Plan B - at least for one rotation spot - would appear to be Clayton Richard, who has been impressive this spring.

"He's throwing the ball real well," Guillen said. "We're excited about what he's doing right now. We have a lot of faith in him. If something happens, we might give him the ball."

Notes: For the Giants, Emmanuel Burris went 3-for-4 while Juan Uribe went 2-for-4. For the Sox, Wilson Betemit went 2-for-4 and drove in his 12th run of the spring. ... Fans are encouraged to arrive early for Saturday's Cubs-White Sox game, where a Cactus League record crowd of 13,000-plus is expected at Camelback Ranch. ... Guillen indicated he like what he sees from Corky Miller in the competition for the backup catcher spot, though, "It's pretty open right now."