PITTSBURGH -- There was no save opportunity to worry about on the first night of the post-Josh Hader era. The Brewers didn’t play well enough in any phase of the game for that. 

The hitters smacked three home runs, but all came with the bases empty in the sixth inning before they let a bases-loaded, one-out opportunity go by in the seventh. Defenders made two costly errors. And starter Corbin Burnes, the reigning National League Cy Young winner who has been searching for a sustained stretch of command for much of this follow-up season, set a career high with five walks and saw three of them come around to score in a 5-3 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday at PNC Park. 

“It’s not just this outing, it’s been all year,” Burnes said. “[I’m] constantly searching to find something to keep consistent with and get in that good groove and get that good feeling. [I] just haven’t done it yet.”

Willy Adames, Rowdy Tellez and Kolten Wong all homered off Pirates starter Bryse Wilson for a 3-0 lead, but Burnes lost the advantage four batters into the bottom of the same inning. He issued consecutive one-out walks, unable to throw his signature cutter for a strike, before Oneil Cruz flicked his bat at a changeup for a three-run home run. After another walk, Burnes was lifted for Brad Boxberger, and the Pirates tacked on two more runs with help from Adames’ throwing error and catcher Victor Caratini’s run-scoring passed ball.

Not since Burnes was a 22-year-old Double-A pitcher facing the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp had he walked five batters in a game. It’s a credit to his excellence that as he explained his season-long frustration, his 2.49 ERA was seventh best among MLB qualifiers and his 32.3% strikeout rate was best in the NL. Burnes is an NL Cy Young Award contender again, and yet he said, “It’s back to the drawing board again tomorrow and try to find some good feeling, some confidence, going into the next one.”

It had been an emotional couple of days. Burnes’ best friend on the team was fellow All-Star Hader, who was traded Monday to the Padres in a deal that made business sense for the Brewers and netted two good arms including an All-Star closer in Taylor Rogers, plus prospects, but seemed to some at odds with their World Series aspirations.

Burnes was saddened by Hader’s departure but not surprised.

“There’s two ways you can look at it,” he said. “The side of him being one of my best friends on the team, and losing him is obviously going to suck. But we’ll still be best friends. We live together in the offseason, and our kids are going to grow up together. That’s tough to lose on that side of it.

“But the other side of it is, it’s a business. They’ve got to make moves to do what they feel can win now and in the future, and that was the move they felt. Trying to fill the shoes of that guy is going to be tough, but we’ve got plenty of good arms that can do it.”

Now the Trade Deadline has passed and the Brewers have their team for a run at a fifth straight postseason appearance.

“I’m just happy it’s done and now everybody has the time to focus on the team,” Adames said. “Let’s fight together and try to finish this job.”

Said Christian Yelich: “We got some really good pieces. It's not like our season's over because we traded Josh, no matter how good he is. You don't want that to be the message or how it's taken. Obviously, he's a big part of this group and it's tough to lose a guy like that, but we have to keep going. You can't stop and let it throw you for a loop.”

The Brewers, after parting with Hader on Monday and coming up empty in bids to add a bat on Tuesday, still have World Series aspirations.

“We're one of those teams that I don't know will ever be a favorite on paper, but I don't think you have to accept that being in this room,” Yelich said. “I think we are a really talented team. If this team is a playoff team, we can match up with anybody in a short postseason series because of our pitching. We hit the ball out of the park, so we're a three-run homer every game away from making it tough on another team, regardless of what it looks like on paper. That's no slight against us. …

“If you go in and frame it as, I don't want to say it’s an underdog mentality, but being a team that's maybe not at the forefront of everybody's mind, you can use that to your advantage if you do it the right way.”