MILWAUKEE -- Adrian Houser got the first out of the seventh inning Tuesday with his 104th pitch. It was already a career high. His Brewers had a four-run lead. The Pirates had no hits. Two of their next three scheduled hitters were left-handed. Craig Counsell stood at the foot of the dugout steps facing a decision.

Let Houser keep pitching?

Or tap the bullpen?

“There was no debate, really,” Counsell said. 

Counsell moved decisively toward the mound, making Houser the first Brewers pitcher ever to be removed from a game beyond the sixth inning with a no-hitter intact, and then watching the game turn into a rollercoaster ride of an 8-5 loss in 10 innings at American Family Field.

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The Brewers went from having a 4-0 lead with Houser working on a no-hitter with one out in the seventh inning, to facing a 5-4 deficit -- still with one out in the seventh inning.

Avisaíl García managed to tie it in the bottom of the seventh with his third run-scoring hit of the night, but it was the Gregory Polanco show after that. The Pirates right fielder made a leaping catch of Eduardo Escobar’s long fly ball with two outs in the ninth inning to send the game to extras while the crowd groaned, then hustled for a two-out, run-scoring infield hit for the go-ahead run in Pittsburgh’s three-run 10th.

“I guess it's called baseball,” said Brewers shortstop Willy Adames, who ran the gamut from hitting his 14th Brewers home run in the third inning to committing a devastating error in the topsy-turvy seventh. “That's how it goes sometimes. It goes from perfect to losing the game.”

Here’s how this game turned on its head.

For 19 outs, Houser did his best Juan Nieves impersonation, even matching Nieves’ five walks in the only no-hitter in Brewers history in 1987. The fifth walk was Ben Gamel leading off the seventh. When Houser retired John Nogowski on a fly ball in foul ground down the right-field line -- with García making a nice catch as he banged into the wall -- Houser was at 104 pitches. Up next was Polanco, who’d already walked twice.

It was the decision point. On one hand, the Brewers have four relievers, including All-Star closer Josh Hader, on the COVID-19 injured list. Two other higher-leverage relievers, lefty Brent Suter and righty Brad Boxberger, were off-limits Tuesday because of recent work.

On the other hand, left-handed hitters have always given Houser trouble, and pitch count was an issue because he was coming off a midseason break of sorts. His last start, also against the Pirates, was 70 pitches. Before that, Houser threw 28 pitches in a tandem with Freddy Peralta. And in the bigger picture, the Brewers have erred on the side of caution at every turn this season after playing only 60 games in 2020.

For all of those reasons, the dugout determined before the seventh that Houser had at least the first two hitters. If he got them both out, he would face Polanco. If either reached, newly acquired lefty Daniel Norris was ready.

So, with Gamel aboard, Counsell walked to the mound, raised his left hand and took the baseball from Houser.

“He wasn't going to finish the game,” Counsell said. “But he was fabulous. He was excellent. He pitched really, really well again.”

Was Houser surprised?

“Kind of, a little bit, but I understand it,” said Houser, who crossed the 100-inning threshold with a 3.55 ERA. “It's a new season, a long season compared to last year. We're at a point we haven't been in the last year and my pitch count was obviously pretty high. Way too many walks tonight. But obviously, I wanted to stay in there, get one more guy and get a double play or something like that to get out of the inning.”

Was he fatigued?

“I felt pretty good going out there for the seventh inning,” he said. “A little bit tired, sweaty, but nothing out of the ordinary. I felt good. I felt like I could keep going, for sure.”

The pitchers who followed were not as effective, starting with Norris, who didn’t get an out. Polanco ripped a single through the right side of the infield for the Pirates’ first hit. Kevin Newman doubled to left field for the Pirates’ first run. Michael Perez walked to load the bases.

Enter another Trade Deadline acquisition, right-hander John Curtiss, who induced a spinning cue shot from pinch-hitter Bryan Reynolds that might have been an inning-ending double play had it not bounced up and hit Adames in the leg for a run-scoring error. The Pirates piled on when Hoy Park pulled a bases-clearing double over first base for a 5-4 Pittsburgh lead.

“It was a tough play, I'd say. But I should have made that play, and didn't,” Adames said. “Didn't do it and I put the pitcher in a bad situation. And they took advantage of it. It's my fault. You can blame that on me."

The Brewers still had chances to win. But after Polanco robbed Escobar of a big hit -- Would it have been a home run? Statcast says no; Adames and Houser both said yes -- it was yet another bullpen newcomer, Blaine Hardy, who took the loss in the 10th while becoming the 58th player to appear for the Brewers this season.

Hardy’s 31-pitch inning finished a night on which six Brewers relievers threw 95 pitches for 11 outs.

“It lined up the way it needed to line up and we got guys in the right spot. This is our bullpen right now,” Counsell said. “We've been hit by COVID in the bullpen. It's taken a pretty big chunk out of our bullpen, and for the next week to 10 days, this is going to be our group. We didn't get it done tonight, but they'll get it done. We'll put them in spots that they're likely to succeed, and they will.”