PHILADELPHIA -- It was an anniversary for Pittsburgh Pirates A.J. Burnett on Tuesday night, and he celebrated in style.

It was a different style, certainly, than he showed on May 12, 2001, when as a Florida Marlin he no-hit the San Diego Padres.

It was an effective one nonetheless.

Now 38 and in his 17th season, Burnett worked seven strong innings against his former team as the Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2 Tuesday night.

Burnett was a hard thrower when he fired his no-hitter at age 24. Now, Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said, he is "a master craftsman."

As Burnett said, "It's pitching (now). Early, it's a lot of throwing. I definitely turned a corner, revamped a lot of my skill, I think, over the last couple years."

Third baseman Josh Harrison hit a three-run homer and center fielder Andrew McCutchen added a two-run shot for the Pirates, who won their fourth straight and their fifth in six games. At 17-16, they are over the .500 mark for the first time since May 1.

Left fielder Ben Revere and second baseman Chase Utley drove in runs for the Phillies, who dropped their fourth in a row and their 11th of 14. Their 11-23 record is the worst in baseball.

Burnett pitched for the Pirates in 2012-13, then went 8-18 for Philadelphia last year, the highest single-season loss total of his career. He declined to exercise his $12.75 million player option with the Phillies, choosing instead to return to Pittsburgh for one year and $8.5 million. He has said this will be his final season.

On Tuesday, he scattered six hits and allowed two runs (one earned) while striking out five and walking one. He broke a tie with Dennis Eckersley for 40th on the all-time strikeout list; Burnett now has 2,406 in his career.

Burnett (2-1) also became the first Pittsburgh pitcher to allow two runs or fewer through each of his first seven starts in a season since Bob Walk did so in 1988.

"(There is) something about the black and gold, man, I don't know," Burnett said. "It's my last year, so I'm just leaving it all on the line, trying to go pitch for pitch, not worry about a lot and enjoy it."

Rob Scahill and Arquimedes Caminero each pitched a scoreless inning in relief for the Pirates.

Harrison, an All-Star when he hit .315 last season, began the game hitting just .173. The homer was his only hit in three at-bats.

McCutchen only recently began to come around after a slow start. He went 2-for-4 Tuesday and has hit safely in 11 of his past 13 games.

Phillies starter Sean O'Sullivan, activated from the disabled list Monday, was tagged with the loss, going five innings and allowing three runs on five hits, including Harrison's homer. O'Sullivan (0-2) struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. He also contributed a stellar defensive play when he made a bare-hand snag of Burnett's check-swing liner to the mound in the second inning.

"It was just reaction," O'Sullivan said. "I wasn't going to be able to get my glove to it, so I stuck my hand out there."

He is also reaching out, hoping to grab a permanent spot in the rotation.

"I definitely feel like there's an opportunity," he said, "and I'm doing everything I can to take advantage of it."

Harrison's homer, his third of the season, came on a first-pitch fastball from O'Sullivan in the fourth. Left fielder Starling Marte was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, and first baseman Pedro Alvarez singled. Shortstop Jung Ho Kang struck out, bringing Harrison to the plate.

The Phillies scored twice in the sixth on Revere's RBI double and Utley's infield bouncer, cutting it to 3-2, but Pittsburgh broke the game open by scoring four times in the seventh.

Philadelphia reliever Luis Garcia walked the first two batters he faced in the inning, Harrison and catcher Francisco Cervelli. Burnett sacrificed the runners into scoring position, and right fielder Gregory Polanco delivered them with a single to center.

Polanco went all the way to third on a bouncer to third baseman Cesar Hernandez, and McCutchen hit a 2-0 fastball from Garcia into the seats in left-center for his third homer of the season.

"We get close," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said, "and we're not able to get over the hump."

NOTES: Phillies 3B Cody Asche, demoted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley after Monday's game against Pittsburgh, had been working out in left field and was scheduled to start at that position Tuesday in the minors. "We viewed him as an average third baseman," GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said during a radio interview on 94.1 WIP Tuesday morning. "We view Maikel Franco as a better third baseman." Amaro said in that same interview the team is getting "very close" to recalling Franco, who through Monday was hitting .341 for Lehigh Valley. ... In beating the Phillies on Monday night, Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole improved to 5-1 through seven starts with 45 strikeouts, becoming just the second Pittsburgh pitcher of the modern era (since 1900) to win at least five of his first seven starts while striking out at least 45, according to Elias Sports Bureau. The other was LHP Francisco Liriano in 2013.