MILWAUKEE — There was an odd feeling surrounding the Milwaukee Brewers' home opener Friday afternoon.

Much of that had to do with the fact that the Brewers didn't get into town until early in the morning after a three-game series in San Francisco. Most players didn't arrive at the stadium early like you'd expect for the opener at Miller Park, and the team didn't hold batting practice out on the field. Instead, they worked in the cages.

"That's just part of this gig," first-year Milwaukee manager Ken Macha said. "You're a professional baseball player. You play games at night and you travel and you get in late. That's just what happens, so you've got to get used to it and go out there and mentally overcome."

Macha was asked before the game about how he thought his team would respond. He said in his experience, the second day back off a cross-country trip is the toughest. So it will be interesting to see how the Brewers fare Saturday.

- One move that paid dividends for Macha on Friday: the double switch he made in the top of the ninth inning. He inserted center fielder Chris Duffy into the pitcher's spot in the lineup, and brought in fill-in closer Carlos Villanueva in the sixth spot.

Duffy had a good at-bat, drawing a one-out walk and then scoring on second baseman Rickie Weeks' double to left field.

- Jeff Skiles, the Oregon resident who was the co-pilot of the U.S. Airways flight that landed safely in the Hudson River in January, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Oddly enough, pilot Chesley Sullenberger had that honor in the Brewers’ season opener Tuesday in San Francisco.

- The Brewers have now won five straight home openers.

- Ryan Braun's view of the winning run?

“I was just making sure I got down the line because obviously if they try to turn the double play, I needed to make sure that I was able to beat it out," he said. "Great baserunning by Rickie and quite an exciting game to get us started here at home.”

- Braun was asked about the start time (3:05 p.m.) and the challenge of hitting with shadows on the field.

"It's miserable," he said. "This is definitely the worst place to hit in baseball for a 3 o’clock game. I think guys on both teams were really struggling. … Definitely doesn’t help, but they have to deal with it just like we do."