GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Center fielder Bubba Starling, the Royals' first-round pick in the 2011 Draft, singled and drove in two runs in a five-run second as they recorded a 7-2 victory over the Dodgers on Friday at Camelback Ranch.
Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley drove in both of his club's runs. In the third, he hit a sacrifice fly, and then in the fifth, his groundout brought home another run.
Right-hander Ian Kennedy, projected to be the Royals' No. 2 starter this season, made his spring debut. Kennedy breezed through two innings, giving up one walk, no hits and no runs.
Christian Colon, Cheslor Cuthbert, Raul Mondesi and Whit Merrifield, each battling for the starting second-base job, all had productive days. Colon doubled in a run and scored. Merrifield tripled and scored. Mondesi belted his first home run of the spring and added a single. And Cuthbert added a sacrifice fly.
"They all had nice days," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "And Mondi, he probably hit the two hardest balls of anyone today."
Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill, who threw two scoreless innings in his spring debut, gave up three hits, walked two and allowed four runs before leaving after 1 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out one.
"First inning was good, second inning was terrible," Hill said. "Overall, just keep working. It wasn't exactly what I liked.
"Some of the pitches didn't come out of my hand the way I wanted. The next time I go out and pitch it will be better than that."
Royals up next: Right-hander Jason Hammel, signed as a free-agent in January, makes his spring debut Saturday as a split-squad Royals club hosts the Giants in a 2:05 p.m. CT game at Surprise Stadium. Fans can catch all the action in an exclusive audio webcast on royals.com. Left-hander Jason Vargas starts for Kansas City in the other split-squad game against the Reds at Goodyear Ballbark in another 2:05 p.m. start, and the game can be heard on Gameday Audio.
Dodgers up next:Kenta Maeda makes his second Cactus League start on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. PT in Mesa against the Cubs, while Hyun-Jin Ryu remains at Camelback Ranch-Glendale to pitch a simulated game in what could be the final tune-up before his Cactus League debut. Fans can catch all the action on MLB.TV and Gameday Audio.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.