Pittsburgh seeks its ninth home win in 10 games Thursday night when it opens a four-game series with the Washington Nationals.
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Pedro Alvarez hit his 13th home run of the season, and first since July 5, in the second inning.
Fister allowed four runs on nine hits with one walk and six strikeouts.
Ian Desmond hit a two-run home run off Arquimedes Caminero in the ninth.
Pittsburgh hopes Ramirez can provide some punch to an offense that can be spotty at times. After Dan Uggla struck out swinging, another wild pitch allowed Robinson to score.
Pittsburgh quickly added on to give Liriano plenty of room to work.
Robinson’s leadoff double in the seventh sent Liriano from the game, but Jared Hughes entered and stranded the runner.
McCutchen’s 13th homer of the season – a two-run shot off Tanner Roark in the seventh – pushed Pittsburgh’s lead to five as Pittsburgh improved to 10-1 in their last 11 games at PNC Park.
Washington could have more injury concerns, though, after third baseman Yunel Escobar left in the second inning with what appeared to be a left hand or wrist issue.
Pittsburgh: Mercer walked into the clubhouse with barely a limp on Thursday and is optimistic he will be back sooner rather than later after heading to the 15-day disabled list on Monday with a sprained MCL in his left knee.
Liriano pitched six-plus innings and allowed one run and three hits.
Liriano threw 7 2-3 scoreless innings to win his first career matchup with Washington in 2013, but has lost two meetings since while posting a 7.59 ERA, including a 6-0 road defeat in last month’s series.
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The Nationals are 7-1 in Scherzers last 8 starts as a road favorite and 6-2 in Scherzers last 8 road starts overall. He owns a record of just 2-4 in 10 home starts and has an ERA of 3.86.
