MILWAUKEE -- Junior Guerra insisted he didn't spend a lot of time on the journey that led him to the pitchers' mound at Miller Park Tuesday night, where he earned his first major league victory in his first major league start, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

If he had, though, it would be hard to blame him.

The 31-year-old spent six years out of organized baseball before the Chicago White Sox plucked him out of an independent league. When the Sox released him, the rebuilding Brewers scooped him up and when their rotation started the season in shambles, Guerra found himself headed to Milwaukee for his first career big league start.

"The only I was thinking was throwing strikes, getting ahead of hitters, going batter by batter, inning to inning, letting things work," said Guerra, who struck out three while allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk over six innings of work. "There's a lot of feelings there. I just have to thank God I was able to get my first win in the big leagues."

He started out a bit shaky, falling behind 1-0 on a first-inning RBI single by Albert Pujols. But he got out of the inning when Pujols was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double. Guerra ran into trouble again in the third, issuing a one-out walk to Cliff Pennington that turned into a 4-0 hole after three straight singles to Yunel Escobar, Rafael Ortega and Mike Trout.

Milwaukee's offense bailed Guerra out in the bottom of the inning, slicing the deficit in half when Chris Carter hit the first of his two home runs on the day. Guerra worked around a two-out double to Escobar in the fifth, and his offense came through again in the bottom of the inning when Jonathan Lucroy hit a two-run homer to tie it up and Carter's second of the day put Milwaukee ahead, 5-4.

All five of Milwaukee's runs came at the expense of right-hander Nick Tropeano, who gave up five hits and five walks while striking out five in five innings of work.

"His stuff looked good," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "He obviously had trouble not only getting the ball over the plate but into good zones. You get a (four-run) lead and he ends up walking five guys. It is not by design. He was just a little bit off."

With the heart of Los Angeles' order due up in the sixth, Counsell sent Guerra out for one more inning and he ended the day on a high note, retiring the side in order.

"I thought he was excellent," Counsell said. "I was really pleased with everything he did tonight. When he went out there for the sixth and had to get Ortega, Trout and Pujols; that was a big inning for us."

The Angels weren't quite done yet. They loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth against right-hander Michael Blazek, but second baseman Yadiel Rivera chased down a bloop fly in shallow right to prevent a run from scoring and Escobar bounced into a double play to get Blazek off the hook.

Milwaukee missed a chance to push across an insurance run in the eighth but Jeremy Jeffress worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save in as many chances this season.

"It was a good baseball game," Counsell said. "We played well, we did a lot of things really good. I twas certainly one of the more satisfying wins of the year."

NOTES: Brewers LF Ryan Braun was held out of the lineup Tuesday, a precautionary measure, according to manager Craig Counsell, as he tries to keep Braun fresh after undergoing offseason back surgery. Counsell added he had considered resting Braun even before he left in the 8th inning of Monday's 8-5 loss with what was called "general soreness." ... OF Domingo Santana was back atop Milwaukee's lineup Tuesday. He was a late scratch Monday because of shoulder tightness. ... Angels OF Daniel Nava was scheduled to continue a minor league rehab assignment Tuesday with Class A Inland Empire, where he went 0-for-1 with a walk Monday night. Nava appeared in eight games for the Angels, batting .286 (4-for-14) before he was placed on the 15-day disabled list on April 17 with a bout of patellar tendonitis in his left knee.