PITTSBURGH -- Due to the unfamiliarity with Pirates starter JT Brubaker and a sneaky-good Pittsburgh bullpen, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wanted his team to be patient at the plate and gather as much information as it could on Tuesday.

The Dodgers responded. They were held quiet for four innings by Brubaker before pushing across three runs and chasing the right-hander in the fifth. Then, they were able to get to the bullpen, slugging their way to a 5-3 win over the Pirates on Tuesday at PNC Park.

Gavin Lux got the fifth-inning offense started with a single that turned into three bases after an error by Gregory Polanco in right field. AJ Pollock followed with an RBI double to get the Dodgers on the board. Mookie Betts drove in Pollock with a triple, and Max Muncy, who was back in the Dodgers’ lineup for the first time since Friday due to an ankle injury, added another run with a single.

In the sixth, Chris Taylor continued to make his case for his first All-Star Game appearance, delivering the knockout punch with his eighth homer of the season, a two-run shot off right-hander Chris Stratton to put the Dodgers ahead 5-0.

“He did a good job of mixing the slider with his fastball, kind of back and forth off the outside corner,” Taylor said of Brubaker. “He wasn’t giving us too many pitches to hit early, and then I think he got a little tired there at the end of the game. His velocity went down a little bit and the ball didn’t have quite the same life on it, and we were able to take advantage.”

That was plenty of run support for Walker Buehler, who got things done a little bit differently on Tuesday. Buehler didn’t record a strikeout until the sixth inning and finished with just two punchouts, the fewest he’s recorded in a start this season. But the Dodgers’ right-hander was able to keep the Pirates off the scoreboard over seven innings.

The only exception was a wacky play in the first inning, when Ke’Bryan Hayes homered to right field but was later called out after replay review showed that he never touched first base. Buehler has completed at least six innings in all of his starts this season.

“It’s an interesting one,” Buehler said of his start. “When you don’t punch many guys out, you feel like you should give up a bunch of hits, but got kind of fortunate with that as well. Just a weird one. For the most part, I kind of settled in and felt pretty comfortable. We think the strikeouts will come.”

While Taylor and Muncy have been the two consistent hitters for the Dodgers this season, the club has dealt with its fair share of inconsistencies at the plate. Though the Dodgers entered Tuesday’s game with the most runs scored in the National League by a pretty wide margin, the defending champions are still looking to produce more consistent results. They have been able to erupt for double-digit games a few times this season, but they have also gone through some cold stretches.

Some of those inconsistencies have to do with the injuries the team has navigated through during the first two months of the season. But some of it has been because some players haven’t played up to their capabilities and are still hoping to heat up.

With Cody Bellinger now healthy and Muncy back in the lineup, the Dodgers are only waiting on Corey Seager to return to finally be at full strength. Seager could return as early as the week before the All-Star break, but the Dodgers need to rack up the wins until then as they continue to chase the Padres and Giants in the NL West.

“Obviously we’d like to be leading in the standings, [but] we’re not,” Roberts said. “Like I said earlier, our best baseball, in my opinion, is yet to come.”