PITTSBURGH -- Sunday's outcome isn't how the Brewers wanted to go into the All-Star break.
After coming from behind twice earlier in the game, Milwaukee lost the five-game series finale with the Pirates at PNC Park, 7-6, when Josh Bell plated a pair of runs on a walk-off double to center field. It was the sixth straight defeat for the Brewers, their longest losing streak since dropping six in a row Aug. 6-11, 2017.
The loss marked the third five-game sweep the Brewers have taken in franchise history and the first in Major League Baseball since August 2006. They headed into the break having dropped eight of their last 10 games, falling to second place in the National League Central.
In addition to the losses they've accumulated over the past week, the Brewers went into the break having played 21 games over a 20-day span. The club placed three players on the disabled list over the weekend, bringing their current total to 10. It appears as though the four-day hiatus couldn't have come soon enough.
"One thing we stress on a lot is rest and recovery," Jeremy Jeffress said. "We just need both the mental and physical break. We'll go see our families and come back with a clear head, strong mind, recuperated body and get ready for [Friday]."
Jeffress entered the game in the eighth with a 5-2 lead after Brett Phillips -- who was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Sunday -- launched a three-run triple to break a tie earlier in the inning. Jeffress struck Jordy Mercer on three pitches and induced a Jordan Luplow flyout on just one pitch, but served up a double Corey Dickerson before allowing a run to cross on Starling Marte's RBI single.

The Brewers lifted Jeffress for closer Corey Knebel, who walked the first batter he faced but got out of the eighth unscathed. Knebel led off the ninth by giving up back-to-back singles to Colin Moran and Bell before walking Max Moroff to load the bases with nobody out. The lefty allowed a run on a double play before giving up an RBI triple to David Freese that tied the game and forced extra innings.
"I thought the walk to Moroff hurt," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "He's ahead in the count to Moroff, and [Moroff] figures out a way to walk. And then we get the great double play, and we're ahead in the count on Freese, too … We just didn't make a good pitch."
Phillips came through for the Brewers once again in the 10th inning. With runners on first and second base and the game tied, he laced an RBI single to center field to give Milwaukee a 6-5 lead.

"It was a fight until the end," Phillips said. "They capitalized more on the mistakes than we did, and that's the game of baseball. It was a well-fought game going into the All-Star break. Both teams giving it everything they've got like it's the last game of the season. That's how we're going to have to continue to play after the break."
The schedule doesn't get much easier for the Brewers coming out of the All-Star break, as they begin a six-game homestand with a three-game series against the resurgent Dodgers followed by a set against the Nationals.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
As rain began to fall, left-hander Dan Jennings took the ball in the 10th inning with two outs, a one-run lead and Gregory Polanco on first base. Jennings served up a single to Moran to put runners on the corners for Bell. After falling behind in the count, 1-0, Jennings hung an 89.4-mph two-seam fastball over the heart of the plate that Bell ripped to center field.
Lorenzo Cain corralled the ball and relayed it to Tyler Saladino, whose throw home bounced in front of the pitcher's mound before rolling through the legs of catcher Erik Kratz to allow Moran to slide in safely and end the game.

SOUND SMART
The Brewers hadn't been swept in a five-game series since Aug. 2-5, 1990, at the hands of the White Sox. The only other occurrence in franchise history was when the Royals completed a five-game sweep Sept. 5-8, 1985.
HE SAID IT
"You definitely have to say we've put ourselves in a good position. We can't change what's behind us. This one stings today. It's going to sting on the flight home. It is. It's the kind of loss that stays with you a little bit. But we've got a break, and we've got to take that and use it to our advantage. Come back a little healthier, and come back ready for an exciting second half." -- Counsell, on the Brewers going into the break
UP NEXT
The Brewers will look to turn things around coming out of the All-Star break when they open up a three-game series against the Dodgers at Miller Park on Friday at 7:10 p.m. CT. Milwaukee lost eight of their last 10 games going into the break, including six straight.