St. Louis -- A freak accident in the clubhouse during their 5-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night has knocked one of the Milwaukee Brewers' starters out of his next turn in the rotation.



Left-hander Chris Narveson was trying to fix some laces on his glove with a pair of scissors when his hand slipped. He sliced the tip of his left thumb deeply enough that he had to have eight stitches, and left Busch Stadium with his digit bandaged and in a splint as a result.



"I was just fixing my glove," Narveson said. "I guess the screw on the end of the thing between the scissors was sticking through the bolt a little bit, I had my thumb up there and ran it across. Next thing, I look down and I've got a gash in my thumb.

"It's the freakiest thing I've seen. (Head trainer) Roger (Caplinger) was sitting right there, and I said, 'Uh oh.' He looked over and said, 'That's not good.'

"The doctor was here and he was able to come up and stitch it up right away, so we got it taken care of. Now, it's how fast can you heal?"

Narveson, 8-6 with a 4.49 earned-run average on the season, was scheduled to start Friday's series opener with the Pittsburgh Pirates at Miller Park. Now, the Brewers will have to evaluate their options, as Narveson is no longer an option.



"He's obviously going to be out a little bit," manager Ron Roenicke said. "We're going to sit down tomorrow with (general manager) Doug (Melvin) and talk about it, and figure out what we need to do."

Narveson appeared confident the gash wouldn't keep him out too long.

"I don't think it'll be that big a deal," he said. "I pitch off (a different part) of the thumb, and it didn't get to the nerve or anything, which is good. I don't expect it to be too long. I mean, hockey players play the next day, so I figure I can tough it out.

"It's just unfortunate it happened. You're sitting there, trying to be careful, and something silly pops up."

Narveson was asked if he would let the team's equipment people handle issues like that from now on.

"Definitely," he said. "Sometimes you don't like to ask, and do stuff on your own. I was just messing with some of the strings and trying to fix things up. It's in between starts, and you're trying to get your equipment ready. You don't want to mess with it on game day.

"I think maybe I'll have him do it next time."

Narveson is the third Brewers starter to suffer a weird injury.

Zack Greinke's broken rib from playing basketball in spring training was the first, and wound up sidelining him until May 4.

Shaun Marcum wrenched his neck fielding a bunt in Colorado last month, but didn't miss any time as a result. Marcum also injured his hip in a game in Boston.

Speaking of Marcum, he was hit with some leg cramps in the win Tuesday night before exiting after six innings.

"Just some leg cramps," he said. "Nothing to be alarmed about or worried about. I felt it a little bit when I slid into second, and then obviously at third (in the fifth inning). Just one of those days, I guess. I wasn't drinking enough water."