MILWAUKEE -- Leading off the seventh inning against Brewers right-hander Devin Williams, Adam Frazier launched the second pitch he saw -- a 95 mph, center-cut fastball -- over the right-field fence at Miller Park.

Frazier’s 10th home run of the season ended the Pirates’ week-long stretch without a home run and the Brewers’ shutout bid. But it was far too little to stop a losing streak that reached seven games with Pittsburgh’s 10-1 defeat against Milwaukee on Friday night. The loss dropped the Bucs to a season-high 24 games under .500 with eight to play in the regular season.

“Just trying to stay focused, take it one day at a time. We’ve got eight games left to get better,” Frazier said. “Definitely, when you can see the end in sight, it’s tougher to do that. But we’re here. We’ve got eight games to give it all we’ve got and go into the offseason on a positive note.”

• Box score

Before the series opener, manager Clint Hurdle said the Pirates’ staff spent “extensive” time Thursday night and early Friday looking into their recent lack of power production. Since the fourth inning of last Sunday’s game at Wrigley Field, the Pirates have scored more than one run in only one inning.

In other words, over their last 44 innings, the Bucs have put up a crooked number just once.

The Pirates expected a tough time against the Brewers’ expanded and heavily worked bullpen. But it was starter Chase Anderson who held them scoreless for six innings on Friday while Bryan Reynolds (a 3-for-4 bright spot) accounted for half of their hits on the night.

“We took some better swings than we have in the past. We got under some balls,” Hurdle said. “We didn’t really catch the barrel enough again tonight.”

The Pirates would have needed a lot more offense to keep up with the Brewers, who are fighting to stay alive in the National League Central race while holding down the second NL Wild Card spot.

Friday was the 30th time in 154 games this season that the Pirates allowed their opponent to score at least 10 runs, the highest total in club history since 1894. The 2000 Rangers were the last team to give up double-digit runs in 30 games; the 1999 Rockies pitching staff allowed 10 runs or more in 34 games.

The Bucs fell behind early. Left-hander Steven Brault walked leadoff man Lorenzo Cain, which became a recurring theme for Pittsburgh’s entire pitching staff on Friday night, then Cain stole second. After Mike Moustakas hit an RBI single to shallow left with one out, Ryan Braun ripped a double to right-center.

Brault struck out Keston Hiura, giving him a chance to escape the inning and minimize the damage. Hernan Perez gave Brault the ground ball he was looking for, but two runs scored when shortstop Kevin Newman’s throw zipped past first baseman Colin Moran. In one inning, he struck out three but allowed three runs.

“We could’ve put away the first inning with one run. The turbulence came when we didn’t get the third out of the inning,” Hurdle said. “Then four zeros. He pitched extremely well against these guys; we’ve seen him do it here before.”

Indeed, Brault settled down after that, quickly working through the next four innings, but he ran into trouble in the sixth. Another leadoff walk, this one to Yasmani Grandal, came back to bite Brault after singles by Moustakas and Hiura.

The Bucs’ bullpen didn’t stop Milwaukee’s rally, as right-hander Yacksel Rios walked one batter then plunked another to bring in one run. He was relieved by lefty Williams Jerez, who walked in another run.

“Not exactly the ending I wanted,” Brault said. “I was very frustrated coming out because I feel like I had good stuff, and I wanted to finish it well and wasn’t able to. It’s just frustrating.”

Brault, who should have a chance to claim a spot in next year’s rotation, was still able to leave Miller Park with a better feeling than he had after his last two outings. After a 13-start stretch in which he posted a 2.84 ERA, Brault gave up a combined 15 runs his last two times out. He called Friday’s outing “a huge step forward” for himself, even if his final line didn’t show it and the final score didn’t reflect it.

“We don’t have the season we want right now, but we’re able to come into environments where we can get the feeling that we need for when we are in the spot we want to be,” Brault said. “We’re looking to do that next year. Getting this experience now is invaluable for everybody here. Obviously, it hasn’t gone our way recently, but I don’t think that’s showing much.

“We need to finish out our season. We need to work on some stuff and get ready for next year.”