The long ball is the rule of law in baseball these days, and the Dodgers’ lineup, full of mashers, is content relying on that strategy to win games.

But it was entertaining to see them go old school for a brief time in their 6-0 win over the Padres on Wednesday, in a somewhat desperate search for offense that had eluded them much of the week.

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The game ended in a more traditional sense; Justin Turner provided a three-run homer in the eighth to put the game out of reach. But for all the firepower that exists in this lineup, the Dodgers took a slight detour, employing 31 feet of bunts in the fifth inning in an effort to ignite an offense that struggled in the first two games of this series with San Diego.

And it worked.

“I love the homer as much as anybody,” manager Dave Roberts said. “But to manufacture is also fun, too.”

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AJ Pollock led off the “big” fifth with a walk off Padres starter Zach Davies, and from there, they were off and … bunting.

Chris Taylor started things with a well-placed bunt single toward third, and Pollock scored when another not-hard-hit ball -- a dribbler back to the mound that deflected perfectly off Davies’ extended glove -- shot past the dirt and into right field.

Austin Barnes, who didn’t start the game but was pressed into duty when Will Smith exited with a sore neck, then executed a textbook safety squeeze toward the right side, allowing Taylor to score.

Roberts didn’t necessarily plan for any of this, but he also was flexible enough to go with the moment, rather than pivot, when Taylor made the decision on his own to bunt his way on base.

“I think that was a situational call that I made, but that drag bunt by CT to get us going, that was on him,” Roberts said. “Austin gets a hit, then we get first and second base, we got action. That was good stuff.”

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The inning resulted in two runs, but it may have felt like 10 for the home team, given how quiet the bats were in the first two games of this series. In two prior losses to the Padres, the Dodgers scored a total of three runs.

“Sometimes, when things aren't going right, or you're hitting balls hard and not getting hits, you’ve got to find ways to manufacture runs,” Turner said. “Whether that's bunting or mixing in hit and runs, safety squeezes … whatever you need to do to manufacture and kind of build some momentum and build some confidence for the offense.”

Gonsolin deals
The overall offensive effort rewarded a strong and steady performance by the pitching staff, the one area that’s barely wavered all season. Tony Gonsolin, pushed into a starting role after the Dodgers decided to give the other members of the rotation an extra day of rest, struck out a career-high eight batters over 4 2/3 innings, extending his scoreless streak to 8 2/3 across two starts.

Leaning on his secondary pitches more this outing, Gonsolin struck out the side in the second and fourth innings and, at one point, retired 11 consecutive batters.

“I definitely had the changeup and split going today,” Gonsolin said. “Probably the biggest contributor to that is being able to land it, which was huge for me. Later in the game, after that second inning, I started using some of the breaking balls a little bit more and was able to land those as well. So I think the combination of those three things really solidified the swing and miss.”

Turner put it in simpler terms.

“His splitty, changeup, whatever you want to call it, was just gross tonight,” he said.

Now the question is whether Gonsolin will be given another start.

“Tony’s start tonight certainly makes the idea of giving our guys an extra day more sense,” Roberts said. “So we're going to continue to have those talks.”

If he doesn’t stay in the rotation, it’s likely Gonsolin would be relegated back to the club’s alternate training site to stay on schedule and continue to build innings.

Should he stay or should he go?

“We've got some good discussions,” Roberts said. “I think that Tony's done everything he needed to do to earn another start, so you know it's going be a good discussion and we'll see what happens.”