2012 » Niekro. Oddly enough, in the five years they won the Ameri

WASHINGTON -- Junior Guerra outdueled Max Scherzer, Martin Maldonado homered, and the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Washington Nationals 1-0 on Monday, snapping a four-game losing streak.Guerra (6-1) allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings, while striking out seven and walking two. The 31-year-old rookie threw eight scoreless innings of two-hit ball in his previous start and has won three straight.Maldonado gave the Brewers the lead in the fifth when he sent a 2-1 Scherzer pitch over the visitors bullpen for his third homer of the season.Jeremy Jeffress pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.Scherzer (9-6) threw 114 pitches in six innings. He gave up a run and four hits, while striking out seven and walking three.One day after pounding six homers in a 12-1 win against the Reds, Washington hitters were stifled by Guerra. In one stretch, he retired 12 straight before Jayson Werth singled with two outs in the sixth. Then, with runners on second and third after a walk and a wild pitch, Guerra struck out Wilson Ramos.Shortstop Jonathan Villar made a sliding catch of Ben Reveres pop fly along the left-field foul line to end the eighth.Scherzer, whos allowed a league-high 21 homers, hasnt pitched more than six innings in three of his last four starts.Fans were still settling in for the traditional 11:05 a.m. July 4 game when the Brewers lost a hit for batting out of order in the first. After No. 3 hitter Ryan Brauns two-out single, Nationals manager Dusty Baker visited home plate umpire Cory Blaser.Ultimately, Jonathan Lucroy, who was listed third on the lineup card given to the umpires before the game, was charged with an at-bat and an out. Braun, who does usually bat third, hit fourth and led off the second inning.TRAINERS ROOMBrewers: 1B Chris Carter, 1 for 11 with seven strikeouts vs. Scherzer, was not in the starting lineup.Nationals: RHP Jonathan Papelbon (right rib muscle strain) returned from the 15-day DL and pitched a scoreless ninth. . Baker kept a `banged-up 2B Daniel Murphy out of the lineup, but Murphy flied out as pinch hitter in the eighth. . Baker said RHP Joe Ross trip to the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation was mainly precautionary, and that if this was late in the season Ross could have pitched.UP NEXT:Brewers: RHP Zach Davis (5-4, 4.22) allowed six runs on eight hits over 4 1/3 innings in his last outing, but had gone 5-0 with a 2.64 ERA over his 10 prior starts.Nationals: LHP Gio Gonzalez (4-7, 4.81) allowed six runs on six hits in a June 25 loss at Milwaukee. Hes given up three or more earned runs in his last eight starts.Cheap Authentic Air Max 1 . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. Air Max 1 Wholesale Australia . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. http://www.cheapaustraliaairmax1.com/ . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Cheap Air Max 1 Australia . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. Wholesale Air Max 1 . Parker had 26 points and eight assists and San Antonio beat Toronto 112-99 Monday night. "We won that game because of Tony Parkers aggressiveness," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "His juice; his aggression all night long.Last Wednesday in St. Petersburg, R.A Dickey tossed a two hit shutout as the Blue Jays blanked Tampa Bay 3-0 to savage the final game of the three-game set at Tropicana Field. It was the Blue Jays first shutout and first complete game of the season. That seemed unusual to me, even for a team that is sitting in the basement in the A.L. East at 40-41. Going back to last season - when the Jays starting rotation was devastated by injuries - they had five complete games for the entire season, and four shutouts. Brandon Morrow had three of each for a team that finished 73-89. Safe to say the Blue Jays are well on pace to have their worst totals in both categories ever. Complete games have been on the downswing for years and it is a rare year indeed when even one pitcher in all of baseball hits double figures in the category. James Shields of the Rays was the last to accomplish the feat in the American League when he hurled 11 in 2011. In fact, since the Blue Jays last World Series title in 1993 only four American League pitchers - including Shields - have had 10 or more complete games in a season. The other three were Angels lefty Chuck Finley, Scott Erickson of the Orioles and current Blue Jays bullpen coach Pat Hentgen. The last to do it in the National League was Randy Johnson in 1999. In 1970, 19.65 per cent of all American League games were complete games. As recently as 2007, that figure had dropped to 2.82 per cent in the American League and 1.85 per cent in the NL. Dave Stieb was the first Blue Jays pitcher to lead the league in complete games with 19 in 1982. Hentgen led with 10 in 1996. The following season, the Blue Jays had co-leaders in the American League, with Roger Clemens and Hentgen each having nine. The interesting thing about 1997 is that it was the final year of Cito Gastons first stint as Manager of the Jays. They had a horrible season, despite getting that kind of quality pitching from Clemens and Hentgen. Lefty David Wells led in complete games in both 1999 and 2000 with seven and nine, respectively. Then we get to the incredible run of one Roy Halladay. He tied for the American League lead in 2003 with nine complete games. Then he held the lead outright in 2005 (five), 2007 (seven), 22008 (nine) and 2009 (nine).dddddddddddd In Philadelphia, "Doc" topped the National League the next two seasons with nine and eight in 2010 and ‘11 respectively. But - perhaps as a harbinger of things to come - he had no complete games last season. It marked the first year without one in a decade. He is sidelined right now, rehabbing from shoulder surgery. Halladay wont be back ‘til August at the earliest and there is a chance he wont pitch at all for the Phillies for the rest of the season. The game has changed so much over the past 20 years, with pitch counts, increased specialization and reliance on relievers and of course the designated hitter thats been around 40 years. Its hard to discern, what the decrease in complete games really means. In more cases than not, if youve got a pitcher who can take the ball from first out to last, youve got a leader and youve got an ace. A Blue Jays pitcher has led the league or tied for the league lead in complete games 10 times over their 36 year history. They also employed former league leaders in Jack Morris, Dave Stewart and Phil Niekro. Oddly enough, in the five years they won the American league East, pitchers from other teams led in complete games. The fewest number of complete games to lead a league in any individual year is five, a record shared by Halladay (2005) and Dickey (in his 2012 NL Cy Young season). For the record, Clevelands Justin Masterson is leading the American League so far this season with three complete games while Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals is leading the National League with four. Cleveland enters Monday tied for first in the A.L Central with Detroit, while the Cardinals are second in the NL Central, two games back of Pittsburgh. There is no question July is make-or-break for the Blue Jays. They play 26 games: 17 at home and nine away. Its by no means an easy schedule since they have three-game sets with Baltimore and Tampa Bay, a three-gamer with Oakland and their current four-game set with Detroit. Just the same, with the heavy load of home games this month, the Blue Jays must make up a lot of ground in the Wild Card race, if the games in August and September are going to mean anything. ' ' '