MILWAUKEE -- Colin Rea walked only five batters in five July starts, but he issued three bases on balls in the first two innings against the Pirates on Friday night and the rare bout of wildness put the Brewers in a deep early hole.

Rea gave up a season-high six runs, all by the second inning, and Milwaukee went on to an 8-4 loss that evened the series at one game apiece in the four-game set at American Family Field.

Despite the loss, Milwaukee’s sixth in its past seven games, the Brewers (59-52) maintained a half-game lead in the National League Central over the second-place Reds (59-53), who fell 6-3 in 10 innings to the Nationals on Friday.

Rea, who has been an important cog in the Brewers’ rotation, appeared as though he’d have a relatively easy first inning, but a two-out walk to Jack Suwinski led to the start of serious trouble for the right-hander, compounded by a bit of back luck.

Cleanup hitter Henry Davis hit a chopper up the middle that looked as though it would be a routine play to get Rea out of the inning. Instead, the ball hit second base and caromed into center field as Suwinski raced to third. Alfonso Rivas followed with his first home run of the season, which barely cleared the center-field wall just beyond the glove of Joey Wiemer.

“When stuff like that happens, I’ve got to make better pitches,” Rea said.

Manager Craig Counsell agreed.

“We gave up a homer after that. We didn’t pitch well enough around it,” Counsell said. “It’s bad luck, no question about it, but that game is filled with that every single day.”

After Jared Triolo singled, Rea issued another walk to Endy Rodriguez before finally getting out of the inning after facing eight batters.

Counsell spoke of Rea’s impeccable control before the game, but noted that he’s been susceptible to the long ball.

“Colin’s been a little bit vulnerable with the home run. You can be vulnerable with that, but then you can’t walk people,” Counsell said. “That’s one thing you can’t do. It’s how Colin has to pitch. It’s how he has to be to be successful. 

“He’s got a really good feel for the strike zone.”

Rea, however, struggled with his command from the start against the Pirates.

A leadoff walk to Vinny Capra to start the second would further haunt Rea. Capra, who was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the week, scored on Bryan Reynolds’ double. With two outs, Rea surrendered a two-run homer to Davis as the Brewers fell behind, 6-2.

“Command was not really there,” Rea said. “Overall, just poor execution on my part.”

Rea (5-5) had walked three or more batters only three times in his previous 18 starts. He issued a season-high four walks on April 24 in a six-inning start against the Tigers. Against the Pirates, Rea lasted just four innings, his shortest outing since May 14 against the Royals. He also gave up a season-high eight hits.

Whether Rea remains in the rotation with the expected return of Brandon Woodruff on Sunday remains to be seen.

“We’re going to have to look where we’re at and look at how the rotation plays out,” Counsell said.

Rea, for his part, said he’s unsure of what to expect.

“We’ll see,” he said. “But I’m looking forward to watching [Woodruff] throw on Sunday, I know that.”

The Brewers pushed across a pair of runs in the first and appeared poised for a big rally when they loaded the bases with none out in the fourth against Pirates starter Quinn Priester. But the rookie pitched out of the jam without allowing a run.

Carlos Santana’s lead-off homer in the fifth off Priester cut the lead to 6-3, but Josh Palacios and Bryan Reynolds hit back-to-back homers off Bryse Wilson to start the sixth. 

With Suwinski batting next, Brewers bench coach Pat Murphy was ejected by home-plate umpire Edwin Moscoso for arguing balls and strikes. Counsell said Murphy’s frustration stemmed from Christian Yelich being called out on strikes in the fourth with the bases loaded.

“That was a huge at-bat,” Counsell said. “That was a ball and that was a big moment in the game, a huge moment in the game. It felt like the zone was moving around tonight. There was a little bit of frustration on both sides, frankly.”

On the bright side for Milwaukee, Mark Canha, who entered looking for his first hit since being acquired from the Mets on July 31, logged three singles and drove in a run in the seventh.