MILWAUKEE -- An ageless philosophical baseball debate played out on Wednesday afternoon as small ball took on power.

In the end, power prevailed as the Milwaukee Brewers slugged five home runs in a 7-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, extending their winning streak to four games and keeping the pressure on Chicago in the NL Central.

"It's certainly fun when you hit home runs," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "It was a fun game today. We kept coming back. We took advantage of three mistakes and drove them out of the park."

Keon Broxton hit two homers, giving him three in the last two games, while Neil Walker and Travis Shaw also went deep. But it was Manny Pina's two-run blast in the eighth inning that did the most damage, wiping out a late deficit.

"That's our team, and it started in the first half," Pina said of Milwaukee's current streak. "Swinging the bat, hitting homers, bringing in a lot of runs. Now we are almost in the same spot, pitchers and hitters together. That's why we're winning."

Gerrit Cole had only allowed three runs total in three starts against Milwaukee this season but topped that through six innings Wednesday. He allowed four on five hits, including three homers, while striking out nine.

"They are a dangerous club," Cole said. "They have led the division for three quarters of the year and they are right there still in the hunt. They are historically an offensive team since I've been here. Sometimes you get clipped and you just have to keep making pitches."

The Pirates chipped away at Brewers starter Jimmy Nelson, collecting eight hits off the right-hander. Nelson allowed five runs, but only three earned thanks to a pair of errors and struck out seven over 6 1/3 innings.

Nelson's own defensive miscue put him behind early. Starling Marte reached on a leadoff single and Nelson botched the pickoff attempt, sending Marte to third.

Josh Bell sent him home with a two-out single and came through again in the third as Pittsburgh made it a 4-0 game with three straight run-scoring singles.

"You have to stick to your plan and not make the at-bat bigger than it is," said Bell, who finished with three hits on the day.

Broxton put the Brewers on the board with a home run to lead off the bottom of the inning. Walker cut the deficit to a run later in the frame with a two-run shot, his first as a Brewer.

Nelson had retired 11 in a row when Chris Stewart singled with one out in the seventh. Jesus Aguilar botched the throw on a John Jaso grounder, putting two on for Marte.

Marte bounced into a force that got Stewart at third but Josh Harrison followed with a single to left that scored Jaso, giving Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead.

Broxton came through again, leading off the bottom of the seventh with his second homer of the game. Bell opened the eighth with a triple off Anthony Swarzak (5-3) and scored two batters later on Adam Frazier's single, putting the Pirates back in front.

The Brewers weren't quite done, though. Aguilar hustled for a one-out infield single and Juan Nicasio (1-5) hung a 2-1 slider to Pina, who belted it to right for his ninth of the season.

Corey Knebel worked a scoreless ninth for his 24th save.

"We just kept coming and they kept coming back," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "We got on top of them twice after they tied it up. We put the three-spot up. They answered with three. Then they tied it up and we kept exchanging punches. It is one of those game you can see here at Miller Park now and then."

Milwaukee closed to within a game of the NL Central-leading Cubs, who were hosting Cincinnati later Wednesday evening.

NOTES: The Brewers were without SS Orlando Arcia (back spasms) and LF Ryan Braun (day off) but had RHP Anthony Swarzak available out of the bullpen after he missed four games with neck stiffness. ... Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said C Francisco Cervelli was "improving" but sat out again Tuesday as he recovers from a sore left wrist. ... Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell flipped his starters for his team's weekend series at Colorado. RHP Matt Garza will now start Friday and Brandon Woodruff will go Saturday.