PHOENIX -- Brewers catcher Jason Kendall provided the voice of reason on an otherwise frustrating afternoon for right-hander Braden Looper.

Looper finally made his unofficial debut for the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, nearly a month after he was scratched from his scheduled debut because of a strained rib cage muscle on his left side. He surrendered six runs to the Rangers, five of them earned, on seven hits and was lifted from the game in the third inning without recording an out in that frame.

Along the way, Kendall strode to the mound with some advice.

"He could tell I was getting frustrated because I wasn't locating like I was used to," Looper said. "He's like, 'Look, dude, it's good to see you out there. Just relax a little bit and don't get so mad at yourself.'

"He's right," Looper said. "I've been through enough to know that, but when you're a competitive person, nobody likes to go out there and get their brains beat in."

He won't have much time to iron things out. Looper is scheduled for one more Cactus League start on March 31 against the Padres in Peoria, Ariz., and then he'll remain in camp while the rest of the team leaves for a pair of exhibition games against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Looper's day to pitch falls on the first of two team off-days before the April 7 regular-season opener in San Francisco, so Looper will stay behind to face Minor Leaguers at Maryvale Baseball Park.

"I've got enough time," he said. "I didn't throw a lot of innings today but I threw a lot of pitches, so I'm getting my pitch count up there, which is the main thing. If I can get the ball down a little more consistently, I'll be all right."

The conditions may have also played a role in Thursday's wild 11-10 win. The wind was whipping yet again at Maryvale Baseball Park and the teams combined for five errors, including a drop by sure-handed shortstop J.J. Hardy in the first inning that contributed an unearned Rangers run.

"It was an 'Arizona day' again and [Looper] had a couple of bloopers, but he had some balls up [in the strike zone]," Brewers manager Ken Macha said. "He left his split [split-finger fastball] up a number of times. The best I can say is, he got to his 60 pitches and he'll have two more times out there. We need to see some improvement there."

Looper is used to getting ready for a season in a hurry. He pitched exclusively in relief from midway through the 1997 season -- his first year as a pro -- through 2006, amassing 103 Major League saves along the way. Looper switched to the starting rotation in 2007 for St. Louis and made 63 starts over the past two years.

Milwaukee gave him a $4.75 million, one-year contract to bolster a starting rotation that had lost free-agent aces CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets. Looper pitched in two Minor League games before Thursday, when Brewers officials got their first real look at Looper against a Rangers starting lineup that included outfielder David Murphy and third baseman Hank Blalock but not All-Star Josh Hamilton.

"I wasn't near as consistent as I need to be," Looper said. "I was probably a little juiced for my first game. But the positive to take out of it is I feel good physically. My side feels good, my arm feels good. I just have to go to work to get the ball down."

Depending on how Looper bounces back from Thursday's start, the Brewers could alter Seth McClung's workload. McClung worked the final five innings against the Rangers and was "outstanding" and "tremendous," according to Macha, except for the fact he issued five walks.

McClung is the Brewers' Plan B for Looper but also for closer Trevor Hoffman, who has a strained oblique muscle of his own and remains sidelined. The Brewers may have to start the year with Hoffman on the disabled list -- they could backdate the assignment so he would miss only Milwaukee's first four regular-season games, assistant GM Gord Ash clarified on Thursday -- and the versatile McClung is a leading contender to work the ninth inning in Hoffman's absence.

Like Looper, McClung said Kendall provided advice along the lines of, "settle down," during his outing. McClung picked up the win when Mike Cameron scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

"When I try too hard, I start aiming a little bit," McClung said, explaining the walks. "I told Kid [Kendall] to punch me in the face the next time I do that. He said he would oblige. I don't think he would have a problem with that."