ST. LOUIS _ Gregory Polanco hit a pair of home runs, one to right and the other to left, as the Pittsburgh Pirates came from behind to knock off the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 before a Fourth of July crowd of 41,850 Monday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
The game was delayed 1 hour 26 minutes, marking the third straight Cardinals contest delayed by the weather.
The Pirates have won their last five games. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Redbirds.
After Cards starter Carlos Martinez escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the top of the fifth, the home team grabbed the lead in the bottom of the inning when Brandon Moss reached on an infield hit. After a fielders' choice, Martinez came through with his second hit of the day. Matt Carpenter followed with a run-scoring single to right for the 1-0 lead.
But Pittsburgh responded quickly. John Jaso led off the Pirates' sixth with a double and Polanco followed with a two-run shot to right, his 11th homer of the season, to put the visitors on top 2-1.
The Pirates added to their lead in the seventh. Jordy Mercer led off with an infield hit and moved to second on a one-out groundout. With two down, the Bucs' Jaso lined a single up the middle to drive in Mercer and stretch the Pirates' lead to 3-1.
To open the eighth inning, Polanco greeted reliever Seth Maness with a shot down the left-field line for the 4-1 lead.
In the Cardinal ninth, Kolten Wong walked with one out and Matt Carpenter drove him in with a two-out double into the right-field corner for the 4-2 final.
Martinez, who was 3-0 with 1.06 ERA over his previous six starts, fell to 7-6. He worked seven innings, allowing nine hits, three runs and a walk. He also fanned seven.
Jonathon Niese started and pitched 5 2/3 innings for the win, improving to 7-6.
The Pirates threatened in the top of the fifth, getting singles from David Freese, Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer. But Martinez struck out No. 8 hitter Erik Kratz and then got pitcher Jonathon Niese to hit into a 6-4-3 double play.
