Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Starling Marte finished a triple shy of the cycle as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 in the opener of a four-game set.

Marte smacked a two-run homer, while Andrew McCutchen posted three hits and a run scored for Pittsburgh, which has won four in a row on the heels of a four- game losing streak.

Jeff Locke (7-4) struck out nine and allowed a run on three hits over seven innings to notch the win. Mark Melancon fired a 1-2-3 ninth for his 27th save of the season.

"We need to play our best ball and focus on the game we're playing," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle.

Kyle Kendrick (8-12) surrendered five runs on nine hits and two walks with eight strikeouts over seven-plus frames for the Phillies.

The Pirates trailed 1-0 before plating two runs in the fifth, and then broke the game open with a four-run eighth.

Brent Morel led off the fifth with a single, but Locke was unable to move him to second with a sacrifice bunt. It didn't matter as Marte stepped up next and golfed his two-run shot into the seats in left-center field.

McCutchen hit an infield single to begin the eighth and advanced to second when Maikel Franco committed a throwing error on the play. He scored on Neil Walker's base hit, and Russell Martin's single put runners on the corners.

Jake Diekman replaced Kendrick on the mound and pinch-hitter Gaby Sanchez lifted a sacrifice fly to right to plate Walker. Martin scored on Jordy Mercer's double and Morel's two-bagger brought home Mercer to make it 6-1.

Cesar Hernandez's sacrifice fly and Chase Utley's two-run triple in the home half cut the deficit to 6-4.

Earlier, Philadelphia opened the scoring in the fourth when Jimmy Rollins hit a one-out triple and scored on Ryan Howard's single.

Rollins left the game following the triple due to a strained left hamstring.

"I'll check him out as soon as I go in. Obviously, he'll be evaluated tomorrow (Tuesday)," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said of Rollins' injury.