Spring Training Day Three: Please leave the injuries in the desert

While I ate my first ever In-N-Out burger, Ryan Braun was injuring himself. We were a little late to the ball park for the second day in a row but that was because of road construction on our maiden voyage to the holy land of hamburgers. By the time we arrived in the bottom of the first inning, Braun had been taken out of the game with a strained intercostal muscle. Sort of the story of spring training. The In-N-Out burger did not disappoint. I found it meatier and juicier than a Culver's burger, although Seth said that he preferred Culver's.

Spring training injuries should be left in the desert (to die).

When we did arrive at the ballpark, I had to squeeze into my seat because the guy next to me decided that he needed my leg space more than I did. Initially, I was annoyed and plotted ways to spill my beer on him. Later, after I chatted with him a bit, he said he remembered me (or at least the team that I played on) way back when I played high school basketball in Wisconsin. To be honest, he probably remembered my teammates who were much better players, but this little bit of flattery made me forget about his meaty legs for a while.

Shaun Marcum was the starter against the Diamondbacks and he did not fare well. He gave up four runs in 3.2 innings. He did get down a nice bunt, however, so that made me feel more positive about him.  He also gave up a monster shot to Russell Branyan--which actually made me happy. Maybe that guy sitting next to me had more of an effect on me than I realized.

Is it a bad sign if Marcum's bunting was better than his pitching?

Branyan did not miss the next one.

Prince Fielder got hit by a pitch and went 2-for-2. Fortunately, the pitch didn't seem to dent him. He played on but took a long time walking to first. Casey McGehee followed with a deep shot to left field. I hope to see a lot of this in the coming year--two-run homers that is, not Prince getting hit by pitches.

In all, it was a pretty decent outing for the Brewers. After the game, I wanted to seek out player autographs or at least watch the players interact with fans seeking autographs but Seth said that it would "send him over the edge" so we headed back to the hotel instead.

Brewers 6, Diamondbacks 4
Game played 3-12-11

This passes as a partly cloudy day in Arizona. 

McGehee and Prince head back to the dugout after McGehee's home run. Yuni seems invisible to them.