MILWAUKEE — Brewers manager Craig Counsell says every day is going to be difficult during the final two weeks of the regular season, and the Pittsburgh Pirates showed why.

Jesus Aguilar and Domingo Santana hit back-to-back home runs to begin the ninth inning for Milwaukee, but the NL wild-card leaders couldn’t complete the rally and lost 3-2 on Sunday.

“You’ve got to bring it every day,” Counsell said. “It’s a good message for us the rest of the season — every day’s a tough day. We’re treating it like that.”

The Brewers remained 2½ games behind Chicago in the NL Central after the Cubs’ 2-1 loss to Cincinnati. The Brewers lead the NL wild-card chase by 2½ games over Colorado.

“We’re not trying to think about that,” Aguilar said. “All we can control right now is going out there and winning games.”

Pirates starter Trevor Williams (13-9) pitched six scoreless innings.

Santana followed with a home run on the next pitch. But Vazquez settled down from there to convert his 24th consecutive save and 34th overall this season. Ryan Braun struck out, Mike Moustakas popped out weakly and Erik Kratz grounded out to end it.

“That game gets away from a lot of closers,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “But it didn’t get away from ours.”

No Help

Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin (14-8) was moved up in the rotation because of his past success against Pittsburgh. But, without any run support, it didn’t matter.

Milwaukee is 5-11 against Pittsburgh this season and has scored three runs or less in 10 of those games.

Meanwhile, Williams sparkled again. After a so-so first-half, he is 6-2 with a 1.19 ERA in 10 second-half starts. He struck out seven while scattering two hits and two walks and has allowed just one run in 13 innings against Milwaukee.

“To be able to get a series win against a good division rival this late in the year is good for us,” Williams said. “It is good for us to carry this momentum into our final home stand.”

Spoiler Alert

Pittsburgh will remain a major factor in who ultimately wins the NL Central with three more games at home against Milwaukee beginning Friday and a four-game trip to Chicago starting Sept. 24.