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Pirates beat Phils, gain ground in NL Central

Sep 12, 2014 - 4:28 AM Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Francisco Liriano continued his stretch of strong pitching performances as the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-1 in the finale of a four-game set at Citizens Bank Park.

Liriano (5-10) struck out a season-high 12 batters while limiting the Phillies to four hits over eight scoreless innings. The left-hander hasn't given up a run in three of his last four outings. He has allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of his last 11 starts overall.

"He's been throwing the ball well," Pittsburgh catcher Russell Martin said about Liriano. "The wins and losses aren't indicative of how well he's pitched this year."

Pittsburgh, which took three of four from Philadelphia, stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee for the NL's second wild-card spot. The Pirates also moved within 2 1/2 games of first-place St. Louis in the Central.

Philadelphia starter A.J. Burnett absorbed his career-worst 16th loss of the season. Burnett (8-16) was tagged for four runs on six hits, struck out seven and walked three in six innings.

"I had positions where I could put guys away. I didn't put them away tonight," Burnett said.

Ike Davis' base hit up the middle in the second drove in Martin with the game's first run. Starling Marte was hit by a pitch in front of the single by Davis and left the game with discomfort in his left arm.

Gregory Polanco replaced Marte prior to the bottom of the third and supplied an RBI single during a three-run sixth.

The Pirates opened the inning with three consecutive hits, the last an RBI double by Neil Walker. Martin hit a sacrifice fly and Polanco followed with a high chopper over a drawn-in second baseman.

Jared Hughes relieved Liriano to begin the ninth and was removed after Marlon Byrd singled and Ryan Howard walked. Mark Melancon took over on the mound and gave up a Carlos Ruiz RBI single, but recorded the final three outs to earn his 29th save of the season.

Game Notes

The Pirates have won eight of their last 10 games in Philadelphia ... The Phillies clinched their second losing record at home in the last three years.