A brutal final week of the first half ends with the reeling Brewers' worst loss of the year

PITTSBURGH – More than any area of the club, a stout bullpen was responsible for leading the Milwaukee Brewers to the best record in the National League, entering the final week of the first half.

But, on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park, which once again has become the Brewers’ House of Horrors, the bullpen failed when needed most to give a weary group of players something positive to take into the all-star break.

Instead of something positive, the bullpen failed horrifically in the final two innings, blowing leads that eventually resulted in a 7-6, 10-inning loss to the mediocre Pittsburgh Pirates, who did the unimaginable by sweeping a five-game series.

This was by far the worst loss of the season. Nothing else is close. Brutal with a capital B. If there is going to be a more crushing loss than this in the second half, hide the women and children because you won’t want to see it.

It’s a good thing the all-star break is four days because you don’t shake off a loss like this overnight. When you blow one this bad to go into the break with six consecutive losses and a 1-7 trip, it’s not a little blip on the radar screen.

“This one stings today,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It’s going to sting on the flight home. It’s the kind of loss that stays with you a little bit.

“But we’ve got this break and we have to take it and use it to our advantage. We get a little mental break and understand we’ve got exciting baseball ahead of us.”

THE GAME:5 Takeaways | Box score

NOTES:Injury-plagued Brewers put Villar on DL, recall Phillips

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The Brewers played little or no exciting baseball on this final trip but a victory Sunday would have done wonders to salve those wounds. Brett Phillips certainly did his part, getting up before the sun came up in New Orleans, where Class AAA Colorado Springs was playing, to join the team and deliver two huge hits.

The first hit should have been enough to win the game. With the score tied, 2-2, in the eighth inning, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle kept starter Joe Musgrove in the game too long and Phillips punished him with a three-run triple.

The Pirates got one of those runs back on a soft RBI single by Starling Marte off Jeremy Jeffress in the bottom of the inning but closer Corey Knebel inherited a two-run lead and only needed to secure three outs before Pittsburgh could draw even.

Knebel, who missed six weeks with a hamstring strain early in the season, hasn’t been the dominant reliever he was in 2017, mainly because of command issues. That problem arose again as he surrendered singles to Colin Moran and Josh Bell, then walked Max Moroff, a .185 hitter, after getting ahead in the count, 1-2, to load the bases with no outs.

A run scored when Jordy Mercer grounded into a double play but all Knebel had to do was retire David Freese to win the game. But, with two strikes, Freese sent a drive high off the right-field wall for a game-tying triple, barely missing a walk-off homer.

As for what went wrong that inning, Knebel said, “I got behind in the count, walked guys and didn’t make pitches. That’s it. This was a game that would have been nice to have but we can bounce back from it after the break.”

Phillips came through again in the 10th with an RBI single to put the Brewers back on top but again the bullpen failed. With two outs and a runner on, Counsell could have left Taylor Williams, who was throwing the ball well, in the game.

But match-ups are what the game is all about these days and Counsell summoned left-hander Dan Jennings to face Moran, a left-handed hitter batting .162 against lefties.

“We were just going with the matchup there,” Counsell confirmed. “Moran rarely hits against left-handers, actually.”

As Jennings warmed up, a cloudburst opened up and it began pouring, but play continued. As for any effect that might have had on what ensued, Counsell shook his head and said, “I’m not in control of that. We had a good matchup for Dan there. It just didn’t work out.”

It didn’t work out because Moran singled to left and switch-hitter Bell, batting right-handed, send a drive through the rain and over centerfielder Lorenzo Cain for a game-winning, two-run triple. The throw home was in time to get Moran but got past catcher Erik Kratz, a fitting ending for what became a complete debacle.

And that’s how the first half ended for the once high-flying Brewers, who allowed the Cubs to blow by them into first place during this heinous final week of the first half. In the process, they went from 18 games over .500 to 12 over, which would look good if you had won seven of the last eight instead of losing them.

“This break will do everybody a lot of good,” said Jeffress, one of five Brewers who headed for the All-Star Game instead of home. "We need a mental and physical break.

“We’ll come back with clear heads, strong minds and recuperated bodies, and get ready for the second half.”

In other words, good riddance to the last seven days of the first half.