Yasiel Puig homers, hits road as Dodgers blitz Kansas City

The Dodgers defeated the Kansas City Royals 10-0 at Surprise Stadium. The Dodgers are 15-13-1 in Cactus League play.

AT THE PLATE: The Dodgers hung seven runs on former Dodger Ricky Nolasco in the third inning through a series of extra-base hits and patient at-bats. Enrique Hernandez hit a run-scoring triple, continuing his string of strong performances against right-handed pitchers. After run-scoring singles by Corey Seager and Yasiel Puig, Logan Forsythe walked with the bases loaded and Utley drove in a run with a single. Hernandez capped the flurry with another run-scoring hit.

ON THE MOUND: Ross Stripling rebounded from a shaky beginning to his relief outing — giving up a walk and a single to the first batters he faced — by retiring the next four batters. Stripling finished the spring with a 1.93 earned-run average. He will operate as a swingman out of the bullpen, capable of pitching in the rotation when needed. “I thought that the second inning was more of what’s indicative of Ross,” manager Dave Roberts said. “A couple nice sequences, the velocity was good. It was good.”

EXTRA BASES: The Dodgers moved Puig into the third spot in the batting order on Friday — so he could get back to Los Angeles sooner. The team planned to give several veterans the day off on Saturday before the Freeway Series begins on Sunday. “He’s going to catch a flight,” Roberts said. “We’re trying to acquiesce to some of the guys.” Puig responded by homering in his first at-bat. He exited in the bottom of the third inning. Puig finished the spring with a .349 batting average. He homered in his final two games.

UP NEXT: At Chicago White Sox at 12:05 p.m. at Camelback Ranch. TV: SportsNet LA. Radio: AM 570.

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes