Pirates 4, Brewers 2: Losing streak reaches five games

PITTSBURGH - The Milwaukee Brewers continue to tumble, seemingly with no foothold in sight.

Going just 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and striking out 10 more times in the finale of the four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Brewers were swept away, 4-2, on Thursday afternoon at PNC Park.

The loss was the fifth straight for the Brewers, tying a season high set from May 21-26. With the Chicago Cubs off, Milwaukee's lead in the National League Central will be down to a single game when it opens a three-game weekend series in Philadelphia on Friday night.

And now, suddenly, the Pirates are just three games back.

Despite it all, there's no palpable sense of panic among this group that wasn't expected to be anywhere close to contending coming into the season.

"I mean, we’re still in first place," said Jimmy Nelson, a hard-luck loser in this one.

"You’re not going to win every single game; you’re not going to win every single series. But there’s a lot of games left to be played and we know what we’re capable of. It doesn’t make us question our ability by any means.

"We’re all still just as confident, and we know what we can do."

While they generally pitched well in the series, what the Brewers didn't do was put together any sort of consistent offense. Having to manufacture runs for a change – the Brewers homered just twice in the four games – they struggled mightily.

The numbers were ugly: nine runs scored, 46 strikeouts, 5 for 30 with runners in scoring position and 34 runners left on.

On the other side, everything seemed to be falling for the Pirates. While they did get a Gregory Polanco homer in this one, they relied on a series of dinks and dunks to score their other three runs.

It was the same thing on Wednesday night, when they tied it in the ninth with a bloop single off Corey Knebel and won it in the 10th with another off Jared Hughes.

"That’s the game of baseball. It can drive you nuts," said Nelson. "Guys can square balls up and it’s right at somebody, and vice versa. It could be a good pitch, bad contact and it somehow finds a hole."

BOX SCORE:Pirates 4, Brewers 2

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It started early against Nelson, with .179-hitting Chris Stewart's bleeder into right field giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the second. That was preceded by a two-out single, an overturned out call at second base on a steal attempt and a walk.

The Brewers, meanwhile, struck out seven times in the first three innings against right-hander Jameson Taillon before finally putting together a rally in the fourth.

Hernán Pérez kicked it off with a walk, then Manny Piña followed with a broken-bat infield single of his own that he dumped behind the mound. Rookie Brett Phillips doubled in Pérez to get Milwaukee onto the board.

Orlando Arcia, up next, delivered a productive out with a grounder to the right side that scored Piña and gave Milwaukee it's first and only lead at 2-1.

It didn't last long. Nelson struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth, but not before Polanco drilled a one-out homer to center to knot the score at 2-2. 

In the fifth it was Stewart singling, moving to second on a Taillon bunt and scoring on a Josh Harrison single to right to make it 3-2. Domingo Santana then made the mistake of overthrowing the cutoff man on his throw home, allowing Harrison to advance to second.

And right on cue, Pittsburgh capitalized on the gaffe as Andrew McCutchen foiled the shift by dunking a single into right field. That made it 4-2, and that was that.

The Brewers' last, best chance to get back into the game came in the sixth. With two on and two outs, manager Craig Counsell pulled Nelson for pinch-hitter Ryan Braun. But he popped out to right, ending the threat.

Nelson (8-5) allowed six hits, four runs and a walk while striking out five in his 82-pitch outing.

"We didn’t play poorly; we just didn’t get that next hit," manager Craig Counsell said. "They got the next hit. They dumped some balls in today. I thought Jimmy pitched really well. He got burned by some softer contact.

"One strength of (the Pirates) is they make a lot of contact, and they got rewarded for it today. They got rewarded for it all series."

Now, the Brewers try to turn the page quickly and get back on track against a Phillies team with the worst record in baseball at 32-61. It was a forgettable series in Pittsburgh that began with losing catcher Stephen Vogt for at least a month to a knee injury.

"I mean, you move forward, and we move forward into a big series with Philadelphia," Counsell said. "It’s about playing a good game the next day. It’s about responding. I really don’t have any problems with how we’re playing."

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE

• Counsell took a time before the game to reminisce with his former manager, Jim Leyland. It was Leyland who was at the helm of the then-Florida Marlins when Counsell scored the winning run in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series.

"I see him almost every time we come to Pittsburgh," Counsell said. "He's a special person, for sure. You can learn a lot from him. You soak in everything he says, every time."

• The Brewers went without a few regulars Thursday, as Braun, Eric Thames and Keon Broxton were all out of the lineup.

Braun hasn't played the last two games due mostly to a sore wrist, while Thames got a rest day after playing left field in place of Braun and striking out four times in Wednesday's loss.

"Just keeping him fresh," Counsell said. "I think he'll have success when we can keep him fresh. He'll be back in there tomorrow."

STAT SHEET

• The previous five games between the Brewers and Pirates had been decided by one run. Milwaukee won the first two at Miller Park on June 21-22, and Pittsburgh won the first three games in this series at PNC Park.

• Jacob Barnes has not allowed a run over his last nine outings, and opponents are hitless in their last 21 at-bats against him. The last hit the right-hander allowed was a single to Pittsburgh’s Polanco on June 22.

TAKEAWAY

Things have quickly gone from bad to worse for the Brewers, who just haven't been able to pull out close games during their losing streak. With six more games to go on the road trip, they need to rebound starting Friday against a moribund Phillies team.

RECORD

This year: 52-46 (28-24 home; 24-22 away)

Last year: 43-55

NEXT GAME

Friday: Brewers at Phillies, 6:05 p.m. Milwaukee RHP Matt Garza (4-4, 3.84) vs. Philadelphia RHP Aaron Nola (6-6, 3.54). TV: FS Wisconsin. Radio: AM-620.