Puig’s bat can boost swings for Bellinger

WASHINGTON — For most of this season, the Dodgers kept Yasiel Puig in the same spot in the batting order against right-handed pitchers. Even as Puig mashed a career-high number of home runs, manager Dave Roberts kept him in the No. 8 spot.

He received something of a promotion in recent weeks, moving into the No. 5 spot behind cleanup hitter Cody Bellinger. But after a series in which San Francisco repeatedly walked Bellinger intentionally, Roberts reiterated the need for Puig to be productive as protection.

“If there’s nobody behind Cody that poses fear or is productive, then it really doesn’t serve [the other] team any purpose to pitch to him,” Roberts said. “So you’ve got one of our best bats in the lineup who we want to see pitches. It’s really important for Yasiel to be back there and conduct good at-bats.”

Puig entered Friday’s game with a .910 on-baseplus-slugging percentage against right-handed pitchers, and he hammered his 26th home run of the season in the second inning off Washington Nationals righthander Edwin Jackson.

Playoff tickets

The Dodgers will put single-game postseason tickets on sale Wednesday. The prices range from $42 to $230 for the division series and $80 to $250 for the National League Championship Series.

The Dodgers said they would sell tickets at the Dodger Stadium box office and on dodgers.com, starting at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Fans can register at dodgers.com/ postseason for a chance to buy tickets before the public sale.

Sale information for potential World Series games will be announced at a later date.

Etc.

Alex Verdugo, the Dodgers’ top position prospect, was reprimanded by Roberts for arriving at Nationals Park after the daily pregame hitters meeting. Verdugo told Roberts he overslept . ... Enrique Hernandez left the team to return to Puerto Rico after the death of his grandfather, a team official said.

andy.mccullough@latimes.com Twitter: @McCulloughTimes