ST. LOUIS _ Back in the field for the first time since Friday, Gregory Polanco displayed some lingering tenderness in his troublesome left hamstring. After a leadoff walk in the first inning, Polanco grounded into a double play and jogged down the line, nowhere near fast enough for a realistic chance at beating the throw.
Later, he showed why he was in the lineup, and he did so in a fashion that ensured he could take his time.
Polanco hit two homers and the Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2, at Busch Stadium on a foggy, rainy Fourth of July. Rain delayed the start of the game by 1 hour, 26 minutes, but when it concluded, the Pirates (42-41) improved to better than .500 for the first time since June 15. They have won five games in a row.
"It feels great being over .500," Polanco said in Spanish, with interpreter Mike Gonzalez translating. "Our goal right now is just to maintain getting these W's and staying united and chemistry with the team. We don't worry about the past. What happened in June, happened in June. Now we're moving forward."
Polanco first began feeling tightness and discomfort _ not pain, he said _ before the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers last weekend. The hamstring prevents him from running full speed, but doesn't affect his swing. Manager Clint Hurdle learned he would have Polanco's services in the lineup at about 11:45 a.m., after Polanco went through a workout.
After John Jaso's leadoff double in the sixth, Polanco lined a homer right field, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead.
He poked a full-count pitch from Seth Maness just over the wall in left field while leading off the eighth. Polanco recorded his first career multi-home run game with his 11th and 12th home runs of the season.
Jon Niese allowed one run and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He held the Cardinals scoreless through four innings despite hard contact _ four lineouts to Andrew McCutchen and Polanco, and Jhonny Peralta's second-inning double off the left-field wall.
For the first time in five starts, Niese, who has given up 19 home runs this season, did not allow a homer.
"Finally, right?" joked Niese, who improved to 7-6.
Niese got the ground ball he wanted with two outs in the sixth, but Jordy Mercer booted it. With runners on first and second, Hurdle summoned Arquimedes Caminero, who struck out Jedd Gyorko to strand the runners.
"We saw a big step back in the right direction today," Hurdle said of Niese.
Caminero has struck out nine without walking any in 7 2/3 scoreless innings in his past four outings, and lowered his ERA from 5.19 when he went on the disabled list May 25 to 3.45.
"Just been throwing strikes, confident in the strike zone and working from there," Caminero said.
Juan Nicasio struck out the side on nine pitches in the eighth, becoming the third Pirates pitcher to do so and the first since Ross Ohlendorf in September 2009.
"Very joyful and grateful to be a part of that history," said Nicasio, with Gonzalez translating. "I just found out and put a big smile on my face."
Neftali Feliz allowed an inherited runner of Nicasio's to score in the ninth on Matt Carpenter's double, ending the bullpen's scoreless innings streak at 34 1/3.
"I would say that the numbers say we've been putting the bullpen all together," Caminero said. "We've been doing our best and the results are going to come out."
