One of the Brewers' two young starting pitchers got the job done Friday. The other gets his first shot on Saturday afternoon.

Left-hander Manny Parra, who faltered at the end of Spring Training but won a spot on his first Opening Day roster, will make his season debut when the Brewers continue their series against the Giants at Miller Park. Right-hander Kevin Correia starts for San Francisco.

Parra and Thursday's starter (and winner) Carlos Villanueva were the youngest of five starting pitchers vying for three spots in the rotation behind Ben Sheets and Jeff Suppan, and Parra cruised to a 0.64 ERA through his first four Spring Training starts. But just as he closed in on a spot with the team, he faltered, allowing 13 earned runs over his final two outings and breaking camp with a 6.10 ERA.

"I talked to him a little bit, but most of the time you have to let him ride it out," Brewers manager Ned Yost said. "You explain to them what's going on and what's happening, and you hope they understand it and take a step back and relax a little bit."

Parra thinks he'll be successful in that effort.

"Trust my stuff is pretty much what he was telling me," Parra said. "I have shown that I can dominate hitters at times when I pitch aggressively, and that's what he wanted to see me do. He didn't want to see me trying to be fine and nip corners."

Parra's ability is finally showing after a few years lost to a shoulder injury. He was the Brewers' 2007 Minor League Pitcher of the Year after going 10-4 with a 2.45 ERA between Double-A Huntsville and Triple-A Nashville, including a perfect game in his second Triple-A start.

He finished the year with Milwaukee and would have had a chance to spend September in the starting rotation if he hadn't broken his thumb in a bunt attempt at Wrigley Field on Aug. 31. Still, Parra impressed Yost and the coaching staff in nine appearances.

Parra figures that his taste of the big leagues last season will help out Saturday.

"Experience," he said. "That's what it comes down to. I had some success here and I'm just going to take that into [the game] and just do what I do. Don't make it any more than what it is."

Parra knows that Brewers fans are expecting a lot this season.

"Sure, and that's fine," he said. "That gives us confidence, that they have confidence in us. When the people around you have confidence in you, that's going to bring your level of play up."

Hopefully, the Brewers saved some of their offense for Parra. The team tallied 16 hits and 13 runs for Villanueva in Thursday's home opener. Bill Hall hit a pair of home runs after going without one in all of Spring Training, and Gabe Kapler and Prince Fielder also had three hits.

"Our fans have been hearing a lot this spring about our team and we generated a lot of excitement," Yost said. "I think they got a good chance to see what they'll be rooting for all summer long."

Pitching matchup
MIL: LHP Manny Parra (0-1, 3.76 in 2007)
Three of Parra's nine Brewers appearances were against the Giants last season, but he didn't face them in Spring Training.

SF: RHP Kevin Correia (4-7, 3.45 in 2007)
Correia has never opened a Major League season in a starting rotation until now. He earned his shot by finishing 3-1 with a 2.54 ERA in eight starts at the conclusion of last season. In slightly more than three years in the Majors, Correia has made 27 starts and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 22 of them. Correia posted a 3.84 road ERA last year, compared with 2.93 at home.

Tidbits
Rickie Weeks has scored in 17 consecutive games dating to last season, setting a franchise record and tying the modern National League mark. He will tie the Major League record if he scores on Saturday, a distinction currently held by the Yankees' Red Rolfe (1939) and the Indians' Kenny Lofton (2000). The previous Brewers record of 16 straight games was held by Paul Molitor. ... Catcher Jason Kendall scored the 900th run of his career when Kapler singled in the sixth inning Friday. Kendall became the 12th catcher in Major League history to reach that plateau. ... The Brewers' 13 runs Friday set a record for a home opener. Their previous high came in a 12-3 win over the White Sox in 1995.

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Up next
• Sunday: Brewers (Ben Sheets, 0-0, 0.00) vs. Giants (Barry Zito, 0-1, 7.20), 1:05 p.m. CT
• Monday: Off-day
• Tuesday: Brewers (Jeff Suppan, 1-0, 2.84) vs. Reds (TBD), 7:05 p.m. CT