PITTSBURGH -- For the Pirates, the first 7 1/3 innings of Friday night¡¯s contest were, in the words of manager Derek Shelton, ¡°damn near scripted exactly how we had it.¡± The Marlins, fighting for their playoff lives, flipped that script rapidly and inched a step closer to securing the final NL Wild Card spot.

Colin Selby was unable to record a single out in the eighth inning, allowing four earned runs that proved to be the difference as the Pirates fell to the Marlins, 4-3, at PNC Park.

¡°Couldn't even get two outs to help the team win,¡± Selby said. ¡°Competing their [butt] off the entire time, pitching was good up to that point. Hitters were putting together good ABs, scoring runs. I have to do my job there.¡±

Prior to the eighth inning, the Pirates¡¯ use of a bullpen game, a strategy Shelton and company had not employed since July 9, worked to perfection.

Osvaldo Bido, in his first appearance in the Majors since Aug. 26, began the evening with a pair of scoreless frames. Hunter Stratton pitched a scoreless third and fourth. Kyle Nicolas pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth with three strikeouts, the best outing of his young Major League career. Ryan Borucki, who hasn¡¯t allowed an earned run since Aug. 18, continued his scoreless streak and retired all four batters he faced.

¡°The first ¡­ four guys pitched exactly the way we wanted to,¡± Shelton said.

The Pirates didn¡¯t generate much on offense through seven innings, and would end up going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Through seven innings, though, three runs appeared to be plenty given how Bido, Stratton, Nicolas and Borucki had stifled Miami¡¯s offense.

The Marlins had totaled six baserunners -- one walk, five hits -- by the time Selby entered the ballgame, but it was then that the Marlins¡¯ offense found life.

Garrett Hampson and Luis Arraez hit back-to-back singles, then Jorge Soler drew a walk to load the bases. Former Pirate Josh Bell smashed Selby¡¯s 1-2 curveball off the Roberto Clemente Wall, cutting the Pirates¡¯ lead from 3-0 to 3-2. Jake Burger followed up Bell with an RBI single to left field, tying the game and ending Selby¡¯s evening.

Shelton went to Carmen Mlodzinski to record the frame¡¯s final two outs. Shelton was hoping to avoid using Mlodzinski since the right-hander pitched on Thursday, but Miami¡¯s offense forced Pittsburgh¡¯s skipper to summon his reliable rookie.

Mlodzinski recorded an out on the second pitch he threw, getting Jazz Chisholm Jr. to fly out to deep center field -- easily far enough for Yuli Gurriel, pinch-running for Bell, to tag from third base and score the go-ahead run.

¡°We got in a situation where we had to use [Mlodzinski] just because of the fact that we had kind of gone through everybody else,¡± Shelton said. ¡°And then we got to the point where we had to make sure that we kept the game where it was at.¡±

The Pirates still had two innings to work with to tie the ballgame, but David Robertson pitched a scoreless eighth and Tanner Scott worked a scoreless ninth to hand Pittsburgh a bitter loss.

¡°Even if it¡¯s a bad night, we can try to learn,¡± said Endy Rodr¨ªguez, who had a walk, an RBI and two hits. ¡°Find what as a team we were doing bad, and tomorrow do it better.¡±