Dodgers hold on for 5-4 win over Pirates, avoid sweep

For three games here at PNC Park, the Dodgers did some version of the same thing. The starting pitcher stumbled. The offense failed to compensate. The formula is not conducive to winning, which is why the Dodgers appeared on the verge of a dispiriting four-game sweep heading into Monday’s fifth inning.

Down three runs, the team manufactured its first go-ahead rally against the Pirates in four games, pulling ahead and holding on for a 5-4 victory.

Scott Kazmir gave up four runs to the Pirates before he recorded three outs. He recovered to finish five innings and avoid further damage. Infielder Chris Taylor, acquired this month from Seattle, hit a triple in his first at-bat as a Dodger and scored on Justin Turner’s sacrifice fly in the third.

The real answer from the offense, the one lacking the previous three nights, came in the fifth. After Enrique Hernandez walked for the third time in five innings, Justin Turner hit a double. Trayce Thompson walked to load the bases for Yasiel Puig. Batting in the cleanup spot, Puig smacked a two-run single.

Howie Kendrick tied the game with a single of his own. A.J. Ellis put the Dodgers in the lead for the first time all series with an infield single.

For the final four innings, the Pirates looked like the Dodgers the previous three nights, unable to damage their opponents’ bullpen. Manager Dave Roberts used five relievers — Louis Coleman, J.P. Howell, Joe Blanton, Pedro Baez and Kenley Jansen — to secure the lead. Jansen completed a four-out save.

andy.mccullough@latimes

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes