MILWAUKEE -- Practically hidden beneath the misery that has marred the Blue Jays' season has been a masterful campaign from Shaun Marcum. Wednesday night was no exception, though another solid effort from the starter went for naught.

The fact that Marcum's performance during Toronto's 5-4 loss to Milwaukee was one of his worst outings of the year served as a testament to just how strong he's been. With an offense that seemingly can't bail out its pitchers, Marcum took the loss in his season of no-decisions.

"It's about the team," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "Of course, you'd like to see him get rewarded for the way he's pitched, but it's about the team."

It was just the third decision Marcum has received in his past eight trips to the mound, but two of those three have been losses. In each of the five turns, Marcum walked away neither winner nor loser after relinquishing no more than two earned runs.

This time around, Marcum was on the hook for four runs, which is a mountainous margin for the Blue Jays to overcome these days. True to that unfortunate trend, Toronto's offense came up empty in its attempts at a rally, sending the club to its 12th loss in the past 16 games.

The loss dropped Marcum's record to 5-4, even though he entered the night with an American League-leading 2.43 ERA, and he saw his ERA rise to just 2.65 on Wednesday. The Jays (35-38) have now lost four games and six series in a row, falling to 3-5 in Interleague Play this season.

Ever the perfectionist, Marcum shouldered the blame after the loss, which pulled Toronto three games below the .500 mark for the first time since May 13.

Marcum's reasoning stemmed from the fact that, twice during the game, he gave up runs to the Brewers (38-33) a half-inning after the Jays scored. Had Marcum delivered a zero in either situation, the Blue Jays might have picked up the win -- a result that's proved elusive this month.

"It's just one of those games where I didn't do a very good job," Marcum said. "Every time we scored, I went out and gave up some runs. I can't really have that going on. You've got to go out there and try to keep the momentum on our side."

That may be true, but the two runs Marcum allowed in the fourth inning, when Milwaukee claimed a 3-1 lead, came courtesy of a slow roller in front of home plate and a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt -- both plays scoring a runner from third base.

The additional pair of runs that the Brewers tagged on Marcum's pitching line were much louder. Russell Branyan sent a 1-0 offering from Marcum bouncing off the scoreboard in center field for a solo homer in the second inning, and Mike Cameron turned a hanging slider into another solo blast in the sixth.

Prior to Wednesday, Marcum hadn't allowed a home run since May 31. The four runs he gave up matched the most he'd allowed in a start all season, while the six innings he logged -- a rain-shortened, one-inning appearance on May 18 aside -- marked his shortest start since April 21.

"He didn't pitch bad," said Gibbons. "He kept us right there. He's good. He always keeps us right there."

Toronto certainly had its chances, but labored through the first six innings against Brewers right-hander Ben Sheets (8-1), who struck out five and allowed four hits en route to a win. The Jays touched Sheets for two runs, one of which came on a double by catcher Gregg Zaun in the fourth inning.

With Toronto trailing 5-3 in the eighth inning, Zaun tried to jump-start a late rally. The Jays' catcher contributed a two-out homer against Milwaukee's Salomon Torres, and Toronto proceeded to load the bases with only a one-run deficit to overcome.

Jays second baseman Joe Inglett grounded out to first to end the threat, and Torres held Toronto in check in the ninth.

"One hit short again," Zaun said. "But, we battled. It was one of those games where we clawed and we scratched and we just couldn't seem to stop the momentum. Every time we scored, we'd go back out and give up one or two."