Huntington talks of hope amid ninth straight loss ☕ taken in Milwaukee (Courtesy of StepOutside.org)

Bryan Reynolds and Kevin Kramer leap in vain for a home run by the Brewers' Eric Thames, Sunday in Milwaukee. - AP

MILWAUKEE -- The long ball led to the Pirates' latest loss Sunday as the Brewers hit three home runs to complete the sweep at Miller Park, 4-3.

It was the Pirates' ninth straight loss, which matched their longest losing streak of the season. During that streak, they have allowed 87 runs. On the season, the Pirates' 5.27 staff ERA is the franchise's highest since 1900. For a team that was supposed to be carried by their pitching, it has been their detriment.

Neal Huntington met with reporters Sunday and began by discussing the state of the pitching staff in the wake of Felipe Vazquez's arrest. On the short term, he confirmed Keone Kela is the closer through the rest of the season. Of course, that is contingent on the Pirates taking a lead into the ninth sometime. The long term outlook is not as clear. Edgar Santana will return from Tommy John surgery, as will Chad Kuhl, who could theoretically be either a starter or a reliever.

After that, not much is known.

"We'll address the offseason as we get toward the offseason," Huntington said. "Look at free agency, look at trades as we look to build the bullpen for next year."

Throughout the season, Huntington has expressed his belief that the Pirates were not as far out of contention as they seemed. During those times, however, the team's former closer was not in a prison cell. Despite that, he reaffirmed his position.

"While it feels very far away, we do have some components we believe in, we do have some players that we believe in," Huntington said. "We also know that there are a lot of areas that we, as a group, can do better."

As for the game, the Brewers took a perfect game into the seventh inning. They retired the first 19 Pirates batters, but Bryan Reynolds ended the bid when his broken bat liner nicked off the glove of diving shortstop, Orlando Arcia.

The Brewers did some bullpenning again, using six different pitchers on the afternoon, including three in the first four innings.

They finished allowing four hits, all singles, striking out 14 and not walking a batter.

"They threw a lot of good pitchers at us today," Reynolds said. "You can't get in a rhythm as much."

The Pirates scored three unearned runs in the eighth, two of which came on a Cole Tucker two-out bloop. Reynolds came up next, representing the go-ahead run, and while he hit it hard, Arcia was able to range to his right and make the play.

Now for the aforementioned home runs: Orlando Arcia got the Brewers on the board in the second, while Eric Thames homered off Trevor Williams in the fourth and Michael Feliz in the sixth.

Despite the two home runs, Williams turned in a good start. He walked two and allowed three hits and two runs over five innings, striking out six. He was pinch-hit for in the top of the sixth with Kevin Newman. He was at 78 pitches, but the Pirates were desperate to try to generate offense.

“I know he didn’t want to come out,” Hurdle said. “I didn’t want to take him out. There comes a point in time where I need to do what I feel is best for the structure of the game. We need to respect the game and try to win the game.”

"I get it, I understand," Williams said. "They're throwing a perfect game. I get it's one of those tough situations. Out of 30 starts in a year, it happens four or five times where you know you can go out there for a sixth and possibly a seventh, but your spot came up in the lineup and we need to score some runs."

Newman flew out to right to end the inning.

And that fly out had some historical significance, too. Had he recorded a hit, Newman would have finished the season with the highest road batting average for National League rookies since 1913, edging out Jimmy Welsh of the 1925 Boston Braves by percentage points. Welsh batted .354 that season.

Instead, Newman finished with a .350 road batting average. Still the second best all-time among qualified rookies.

Bryan Reynolds hit .335 on the road this season, which ranked eighth among NL rookies on the road.

Reynolds Watch: A 1-for-4 day dropped Reynolds' batting average down to .318. He currently sits in fourth in the NL batting chase, trailing Christian Yelich (.329), Ketel Marte (.329) and Anthony Rendon (.325). He would need to have the best week of his young career to win the crown at this point.

• Erik Gonzalez got the start at third base. He has been in the starting lineup the last seven games, playing center field, left and third.

"Really, just an opportunity of finding at-bats for him here and there," Huntington said on Gonzalez's recent increase in playing time.

Gonzalez made a couple nifty plays in the field, including this one ranging to his left where he made the throw against his body:

Offensively, he went 1-3 with a run scored.

The Pirates had two extra-base hits over the series. Both came in the first game on Friday. Reynolds turned a single into a triple due to an ill-advised dive by the outfielder and Adam Frazier hit a 358 foot home run.

“We’re not hitting the mistakes, and they’re not making a lot of them,” Hurdle said.

Over the course of the nine game losing streak, the Pirates have allowed 24 home runs and hit only one.

Six more to go. Six.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore

• Video highlights

• Scoreboard

• Standings

THE INJURIES

• Chris Archer (shoulder, out for season)

• Gregory Polanco (shoulder, out for season)

• Josh Bell (groin, likely done for year)

 Lonnie Chisenhall (60-day IL, waiting for his UberPool)

Here’s the most recent full report.

THE SCHEDULE

After an off-day Monday, the Pirates will return to PNC Park for a three game series with the Cubs. Mitch Keller (1-5, 7.74) will take on Kyle Hendricks (11-9, 3.37), with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m..

THE COVERAGE

All our baseball content, including Mound Visit by Jason Rollison, can be found on our Pirates page.

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