Pirates 11, Tigers 6: Starling Marte delivered a bases-loaded triple in a five-run first inning and Travis Snider homered twice as host Pittsburgh beat up on Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers.

Snider collected three hits and drove in four runs while Russell Martin and Ike Davis belted solo homers as the Pirates leapfrogged St. Louis atop the National League wild-card standings. Jeff Locke (4-3) benefited from the early eruption, giving up four runs on eight hits over five-plus innings to win his second straight start.

Verlander (10-11) endured the shortest outing of his career, giving up five runs - four earned - on four hits and two walks in one inning before leaving with shoulder soreness that will be further evaluated Tuesday. Rajai Davis had three hits and two RBIs and Miguel Cabrera added three hits and knocked in a run for Detroit, which fell a half-game behind Kansas City in the American League Central.

Pittsburgh answered Cabrera's first-inning RBI single with five runs of its own in the bottom of the second, loading the bases on a single and a pair of walks before Marte brought in all three runners with a triple into the left-field corner. An error by first baseman Victor Martinez and Jayson Nix's RBI single capped the inning before the Pirates made it 8-1 in the second on Martin's sacrifice fly and Snider's two-run homer.

Detroit's first five batters reached against Locke in the sixth on four hits and a walk, including an RBI double by Torii Hunter and a run-scoring single by Alex Avila, but Jared Hughes escaped the no-out, bases-loaded jam by sandwiching a pair of strikeouts around a fielder's choice groundout to keep the Pirates on top 8-4. Martin and Davis belted back-to-back shots in the bottom of the frame to extend the lead to six runs.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Verlander, who managed to strike out the side in the 40-pitch first frame, had his previous shortest career outing against the New York Yankees in 2008, lasting 1 1/3 innings. ... Pirates LF Snider threw out Avila at home plate in the second inning and RF Gregory Polanco gunned down Davis at homer to end the eighth. ... In addition to Miller, the Tigers brought up two other relievers from Triple-A Toledo, LHP Ian Krol and RHP Kevin Whelan, to fortify a bullpen that worked 12 innings in Sunday's 19-inning loss in Toronto. LHPs Blaine Hardy and Patrick McCoy, who each threw three scoreless innings Sunday, were sent to Toledo.