Pirates 5, Rangers 4: Andrew McCutcheon had three hits and three RBIs and Jordy Mercer went 4-for-5 as Pittsburgh defeated host Texas for the second consecutive night.

Francisco Liriano (16-7) gave up one runs and six hits in six innings as the Pirates remained one game behind first-place St. Louis in the National League Central. The Rangers lost for the seventh time in nine contests to remain two games behind American League West-leading Oakland.

Pittsburgh reliever Tony Watson fanned Jeff Baker with two on to end the eighth but closer Mark Melancon struggled in the ninth. Melancon gave up four hits, including run-scoring singles to Ian Kinsler and Alex Rios, before striking out Adrian Beltre on his 30th pitch of the inning for his 13th save.

McCutchen drove in Pittsburgh’s first run with an infield hit in the third inning and added another run-scoring single in the fifth. Gaby Sanchez singled in a run later in the inning and Marlon Byrd scored on a wild pitch by Martin Perez (9-4) to make it 4-0.

The Rangers struck in the fifth when Kinsler delivered an RBI double and scored again on Beltre’s eighth-inning single. McCutchen stroked his third run-scoring single in the ninth to boost the Pittsburgh lead to 5-2.

GAME NOTEBOOK: McCutchen went 3-for-5 and is batting .469 during a nine-game hitting streak. … Perez allowed four runs and nine hits in five innings as his six-start winning streak was halted. … Pittsburgh OF Starling Marte (hand) stole his 36th base of the season while pinch-running. He has been unable to swing a bat since Aug. 18.