Surprise, Ariz. ? Chris Young threw 41/3 hitless innings and Salvador Perez homered as the Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 Tuesday night.

Young made his fourth start and walked three and struck out five before reaching his pitch limit. He was replaced by rookie left-hander Scott Alexander, who gave up an RBI-double to Rico Noel.

“Chris was awesome,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We wanted to get his pitch count up to 75 and we did. We got to 78. I went out and told him, ‘CY you exceeded your pitch count. Dave (Eiland, pitching coach) is getting a little nervous.’ He said, ‘Does Dave know that I’m throwing a no-hitter.’ I think he does. He was fantastic.”

Perez hit his third homer in the fourth on a 3-1 pitch by Alex Wood. He also drove in a run in the second with a groundout. Omar Infante singled home Alex Gordon for the other Kansas City run.

“We scratched together a couple of runs there early and Salvy’s home run was all the offense we needed,” Yost said. “Our pitching is right where it needs to be. We’re progressing very nicely.”

Wood allowed three runs on six hits, walked none and struck out four.

“I’m right on track to be good to go for opening week for sure,” Wood said. “I thought my stuff was good. I thought I was efficient again, which I was happy about. I felt I really attacked the strike zone pretty well.”

Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales went 2 for 3 with a double and scored a run.

Starting time

Dodgers: Wood threw 62 pitches, 42 for strikes, and also balked in the Royals’ two-run second inning.

“It was kind of a weird second inning with the balk,” Wood said. “It’s my fault. I got a little crossed up with (catcher A.J. Ellis). I wasn’t going to throw a fastball. I didn’t know if he knew what was coming. He didn’t know what I was going to throw.”

Royals: Young threw 43 strikes in 78 pitches, facing 17 batters.

“His fastball command, he still needs to polish up just a little bit,” Yost said. “His slider was excellent. His changeup was great, but for the most part I thought he threw the ball really well.”

Attendance record

The announced attendance was 11,781, breaking the Royals’ attendance record for a Surprise Stadium game. The previous high was 11,517, on March 25, 2003 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.