MILWAUKEE -- Craig Counsell gave Junior Guerra an opportunity to complete a shutout.But once the Pittsburgh Pirates put the tying run on first base, the Milwaukee manager decided to go to his closer. It took Jeremy Jeffress one pitch to work out of trouble to give the Brewers a 3-1 win Friday night.The Pirates managed Andrew McCutchens RBI groundout off Guerra (7-2), who departed with two on and two outs in the ninth. Jeremy Jeffress got Jung Ho Kang to ground out to third base on one pitch to record his 25th save in 26 chances.He really earned the right to get through that inning, I thought, and I did want him to get through the inning, Counsell said. I really wanted him to get through the inning. I thought he pitched like he deserved to, and I dont think he was tiring or anything like that.Guerra entered the ninth with a scoreless streak of 19 1/3 innings. He allowed four hits, struck out five and walked one. During one stretch, the 31-year-old rookie retired 12 straight Pirates.Counsell visited the mound after Guerra walked John Jaso to put two on with nobody out in the ninth. The right-hander thought he was coming out of the game, but his skipper kept him in.Gregory Polanco and McCutchen then hit into fielders choices before Starling Marte chased Guerra with a single up the middle that hit off the second-base umpire.I really wanted it, Guerra said through an interpreter. Im thankful Craig had confidence in me to get it. Unfortunately I didnt get it. But thats baseball for you. Sometimes it doesnt go your way.Making just his second major league start, Pirates rookie Steven Brault (0-1) gave up three runs and seven hits over six innings. Recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, Brault kept Pittsburgh in the game. He stranded a pair of runners in scoring position in the second and fourth innings.There wasnt a clean inning out there, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. However he made pitches.Chris Carters two-run home run in the first inning was his 23rd of the season and his first since July 8.Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli had to be helped off the field in the eighth inning after a pitch from Juan Nicasio glanced off Scooter Gennetts leg and hit him directly on the inside of his right foot.Guerra has been a pleasant surprise for the Brewers since coming to the major leagues on May 3. He is 4-1 with a 1.47 ERA over his last seven starts.Fastball command was really solid, Hurdle said. Hes got swing-and-miss stuff after that whether its the split or the breaking ball, changeup.HOME COOKINGCarters home run Friday was his 17th of the season at Miller Park, giving him the most by any player in his home ballpark this season. Colorados Trevor Story and Baltimores Mark Trumbo each have 16.STOLEN BASE RACEBrewers SS Jonathan Villar and Marte entered Friday tied for the most stolen bases in the major leagues at 36. Villar took the lead by swiping his 37th base of the season in the seventh inning.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: RHP Ryan Vogelsong made his fourth rehab start Wednesday. He allowed two runs on five hits over seven innings. Vogelsong has been out since May 24 with facial fractures.Brewers: LF Ryan Braun missed his second consecutive game Friday with right side tightness. Counsell hopes to have Braun back Saturday. Just a little bit tight; waiting for it to loosen up, Braun said.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Jameson Taillon (2-1, 3.60 ERA) will make his eighth career start and his second against Milwaukee. He allowed one run on five hits over six innings July 19 against the Brewers.Brewers: RHP Chase Anderson (5-10, 5.40) will try for his first quality start since June 8 when he faces Pittsburgh. He snapped a four-game losing streak last time out by allowing two runs in five innings July 25 against Arizona. Matt Bartkowski Jersey . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Michael Frolik Jersey . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. http://www.cheapflamesjerseyschina.com/ . -- Quarterback Will Finch threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns, and Yannick Harou rushed in two scores as the No. Wholesale Flames Jerseys . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak. Discount Flames Jerseys . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. DETROIT -- While the Detroit Tigers continue their playoff push, the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals find themselves battling to finish above .500.Kansas City reminded Detroit and everybody else on Saturday that the Royals are, after all, the defending World Series champions. They scored five times in the ninth inning to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 win that brought them back above break-even at 78-77.For me, its extremely important, Royals manager Ned Yost said Saturday about moving above .500. This group has made history the last couple years and we still have a chance to do it.If we finish over .500, it will be the fourth consecutive year that weve had a winning record and thats only been done one other time in this organization.So we need to do everything we can do to achieve that because we feel next year, getting Moose (Mike Moustakas) back, getting (Lorenzo) Cain back, getting some big pieces back in our lineup, that were going to have an opportunity to be the first club in the history of the Royals to go five winning seasons.Its been a struggle here for us lately, but thats a huge goal for us.Detroit, which finished last in the American League Central a year ago after four straight division titles, is unlikely to overtake first-place Cleveland but expects to be in the thick of the battle for one of the two wild-card spots. The Tigers trail Baltimore by one-half game for the second spot.We just need to play well to get to whatevers nnext, quite frankly, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.dddddddddddd. Then anything can happen.Ausmus recalled his time as a catcher with the Houston Astros a decade ago.In 2006, the Cardinals were playing like crap the last two weeks of the season, he said. They won the World Series.They lost like nine out of 11. We swept them four straight games in Houston and they went in a tailspin.The Astros trailed the Cardinals by 8 1/2 games with 13 left but rallied to within a half-game with three games remaining. St. Louis hung on to win the division.Detroit will send a third straight young starter out Sunday to face Kansas City. Left-hander Matt Boyd (6-4, 4.16 ERA) is coming off a career best eight-inning start at Minnesota in which he allowed just one run and three hits with seven strikeouts.This will be Boyds second start against the Royals this season. He was beaten in his other start, allowing seven runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. Boyd has started five times against Kansas City in his two seasons with Detroit, going 1-2 with a 7.43 ERA.Right-hander Edinson Volquez (10-11, 5.25) is on record as saying he would like to return to Kansas City next year. His contract is a mutual option situation.Volquez is 2-0 with a 4.05 ERA in three starts against the Tigers this season and is 3-4 with a 5.46 ERA in 10 career starts against Detroit. ' ' '