PHILADELPHIA -- Francisco Liriano tossed eight dominant innings against Philadelphia. The only time the Phillies managed to score was in the ninth after Lirianos work was done. Liriano struck out a season-high 12, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Phillies 4-1 on Thursday night. He allowed only six baserunners. Pittsburgh won for the seventh time in eight games to strengthen their hold on the second wild-card spot in the National League. Ike Davis and Neil Walker broke out of slumps with RBI hits, and the Pirates scored three times in the sixth inning. Liriano (5-10) got rare run support from his teammates, who had scored three runs or fewer in 13 of the lefthanders last 17 appearances. He struck out at least 12 for the fifth time in his career and won his second consecutive decision. "I feel great, like I had pretty gd command," Liriano said. "I feel great physically and mentally. Everything is getting better, location-wise. Im just trying to get better every start." He finished three strikeouts shy of his career-best of 15. "I got a lot of swings and misses," said Liriano, who has allowed only 17 earned runs in his last 69 innings, dating to July 18. Mark Melancon allowed one of two runners left by Jared Hughes to score in the ninth, but earned his 29th save in 33 opportunities. Philadelphia starter A.J. Burnett (8-16) allowed four runs and six hits in six innings. Burnett, a member of the Pirates rotation last season, also was impressed by his former teammate Liriano. "Thats the best Ive seen him in a long time," he said. Walker went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI, and Russell Martin singled, scored a run and drove in another for Pittsburgh, which tk three of four from Philadelphia. The Pirates got on the board when Davis, in a 2-for-18 slump, singled to score Martin in the second inning. In the sixth, Walker -- mired in a 1-for-14 rut -- doubled in Travis Snider to make it 2-0. Martin added a sacrifice fly, and Gregory Polanco followed with an RBI single. Liriano did the rest to make the lead hold up. "Everything lks like a fastball coming at you," said Martin, Lirianos catcher. "You can tell yourself a slider is coming, but your mind is telling you its a fastball, then it breaks." Josh Harrison, who entered with an NL-best .318 average, went 0-for-5 for Pittsburgh. He dropped to .314 and into second place behind Colorados Justin Morneau. The Phillies -- who have lost six of seven -- batted .156 (10-for-64) in their last two games against Pittsburgh. An RBI single in the ninth inning by Carlos Ruiz prevented their 14th shutout loss of the season. "He had great stuff with a real gd changeup," said Freddy Galvis, who had one of Philadelphias six hits. "He had a gd night." Burnett, who led the NL in strikeouts last season while pitching for Pittsburgh, fanned seven Pirates. TRAINERS RM Pirates: LF Starling Marte was briefly back in the lineup. One night after being hit by a pitch in the hand in the first inning, Marte was plunked in the second inning. Marte left in the third due to discomfort in his left arm, and was replaced by Polanco. . RHP Charlie Morton, out with a sports hernia since Aug. 15, will throw a light bullpen session on Friday. Phillies: LF Domonic Brown didnt start because of a bruised left shoulder. He likely wouldnt have played anyway against a left-handed pitcher, manager Ryne Sandberg said. . Sandberg said there is still no timetable for the return of SS Jimmy Rollins, who strained his left hamstring on Monday. UP NEXT Pirates: RHP Gerrit Cole (8-5, 3.89) gets the ball in the opener of three-game series with the visiting Chicago Cubs. Cole, 4-0 against the Cubs, will oppose LHP Tsuyoshi Wada (4-2,2.95). Phillies: LHP Cole Hamels (8-7, 2.56), who owns the NLs third-lowest ERA, opens the weekend series against visiting Miami. He will face Marlins RHP Henderson Alvarez (10-6,2.8. END OF THE LINE Phillies CF Ben Revere snapped an 0-for-14 slump with a sixth inning single. It was the longest hitless streak of the season for Revere, who entered in fourth place in the NL batting race. Pirates: Marte had two streaks end: a 10-game hitting streak and a run of five consecutive multi-hit games. Zapatillas Puma Baratas . As the Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened their main training camp Sunday, Kuale is one of the newcomers brought in to bolster a sagging defence that ranked overall where the Bombers finished 2013, in the CFL cellar with a league high 585 points against. Puma Rihanna Baratas . Their 9-19 record remains identical to the crosstown rivals in Brklyn and trails both Toronto and Boston in the Atlantic Division. Raymond Felton, their declining point guard, is back on the sideline nursing his third injury of the season. http://www.pumabaratas.es/. -- Ben Brust scored 19 points to lead six Wisconsin players in double figures as the No. Zapatillas Puma Baratas Online . Subway workers in Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, were holding an assembly to vote on whether they would strike to demand higher wages, threatening to disrupt transportation. By late Tuesday night there was no announcement of their decision. Puma Baratas España . So much so that even a simple foul pop up to the first baseman turned into a run. Houstons four-run rally in the ninth inning to beat the Seattle Mariners 6-4 on Monday night was capped by a bizarre play that started as Crowe fouled out to first baseman Justin Smoak with runners on second and third. BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox have finalized a $9.5 million, two-year contract with right-handed reliever Edward Mujica. Mujica had 37 saves and a career-best 2.78 ERA for St. Louis in 2013 and was selected an All-Star for the first time. But he lost his job as closer with a series of bad outings in September and pitched only two innings in the Cardinals playoff run, which ended with a six-game World Series loss to Boston. Mujica gives the Red Sox some pprotection if closer Koji Uehara, who turns 39 in April, cannot repeat his 2013 performance next season.dddddddddddd In an eight-year career, the 29-year-old Venezuelan has a 19-19 record with 41 saves and a 3.75 ERA. The deal, agreed to Thursday and announced Saturday, calls for salaries of $4.75 million a season. He can earn $1 million annually in performance based on games finished: $125,000 for 20 and each additional five through 55. ' ' '