MILWAUKEE -- The Pirates were a few inches, or maybe two feet, away from being on the wrong side of Major League history on Sunday afternoon.

With one out in the seventh inning, Bryan Reynolds broke up the Brewers’ bid for the Majors’ first combined perfect game with a broken-bat line drive that kicked off the glove of diving shortstop Orlando Arcia. It was ruled a single, snapping a streak of 19 straight Pirates retired by the Brewers, in part because Arcia left his feet -- going beyond ordinary effort -- to make the play.

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The Bucs could not break up their losing streak, however. Their skid reached nine straight, tying their longest losing streak in a season full of them, with a 4-3 defeat at Miller Park.

In the past, Pirates general manager Neal Huntington has compared this year’s team to the 2012 club. That team went 20-39 down the stretch then won 94 games and advanced to the National League Division Series in ‘13. But the way this season has gone, it’s hard for anyone to imagine the Pirates returning to the postseason anytime soon.

They’ve allowed 87 runs -- one shy of a modern-day franchise record, according to MLB Network research -- while being out-homered, 24-1, during their nine-game skid.

The Bucs have clinched fifth place in the NL Central, their first last-place finish since their 105-loss season in '10. They are 21-46 in the second half after going 44-45 before the All-Star break.

Huntington said that the Pirates’ brass is “deep into the assessment, evaluation” process that will last until the end of the season. There will be no action, in other words, until the final out is recorded next weekend at PNC Park and their offseason officially begins.

“While it feels very far away, we do have some components that we believe in. We have some players that we believe in,” Huntington said before Sunday’s game. “We also know there’s a lot of areas that we as a group need to get better.”

The Pirates’ latest losing streak has by no means come with the team at full strength. They’re missing two of their Opening Day starters, Jameson Taillon (Tommy John surgery) and Chris Archer (right shoulder inflammation). Their lineup lacks punch without Starling Marte (sprained left wrist) or Josh Bell (strained left groin). Their bullpen’s lack of depth has been revealed without Felipe Vazquez (arrested) and Kyle Crick (right hand surgery), along with all the other injuries they’ve sustained this season.

Across the field, however, was a perfect representation of moving forward amid adversity. The Brewers recently lost reigning NL MVP Award winner Christian Yelich for the rest of the season, but they are surging toward the finish line and into the postseason. On Sunday, Eric Thames played the role of hero by homering once against starter Trevor Williams and again off reliever Michael Feliz.

“They’re playing for something. They’re playing for not only a Wild Card spot, but they’re trying to win the division as well,” said Williams, who allowed two solo homers in five innings. “You can tell in the way that they’re coming out in their ABs, the pitches that they’re taking. You can tell in their pitchers out of the bullpen, they’re pitching like their life’s on the line -- and it is, to a certain extent, for a spot in October.

“We’re fighting for each other in this clubhouse. We’re fighting for each other to finish strong at the end of the year.

The Brewers unloaded their bullpen to beat the Bucs for the 15th time in 19 meetings this season. Right-hander Brandon Woodruff began the day with two perfect innings and three strikeouts. Reliever Jay Jackson struck out the side in the third. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez took over and worked three spotless innings before giving up Reynolds’ single in the seventh.

“They threw a lot of good pitchers at us,” Reynolds said. “You can’t really get in a rhythm as much if you’re facing a new guy every at-bat, pretty much. You’ve just got to roll with it at that point.”

Reynolds at least eased some of the tension in Pittsburgh’s dugout by securing the first hit of the day. Off the bat, though, he wasn’t sure if Arcia would get to it.

“I hoped he wouldn’t,” Reynolds said. “Yeah, just glad he didn’t.”

If he had, or even if it had been ruled an error, who knows how the rest of the afternoon might have played out?

Lefty Drew Pomeranz finished the seventh, then an error by Arcia helped the Bucs as they rallied for three unearned runs against Freddy Peralta in the eighth. But it was too little, too late.

“We’re not hitting mistakes, and they’re not making a lot of them,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “Their bullpen game handled us. We got close, but we couldn’t get ahead of them.”