By COLIN FLY
AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE(AP) -- Chris Narveson had the chance to leave the
Brewers in July. General manager Doug Melvin convinced him he
should stay.

Narveson struck out 10 for his first win as a starter and Prince
Fielder hit his 42nd homer to give him a majors-best 131 RBIs,
helping the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on
Wednesday night.

"I think it all lies in your heart. I knew that Doug Melvin, he
had always been honest with me, he'd always been upfront," said
Narveson, who got a face full of shaving cream as a
congratulations from his teammates. "I knew that we could win
and I wanted to be able to get back up here and put myself in
position to actually compete and help out."

Jody Gerut homered for the Brewers, who avoided a three-game
sweep but had been eliminated from the postseason on Tuesday.
Chicago is still mathematically alive since St. Louis lost 3-0
to Houston, but the Cardinals clinched at least a tie for the NL
Central title and now have a magic number of one.

The Cubs dealt with the Milton Bradley distraction for another
day.

The suspended outfielder released a statement apologizing for
his behavior, but Chicago has been better off without him with
three wins in four games since he was banished for the season.

Narveson (2-0) was designated for assignment by the Brewers in
July, but returned last month and was sharp into the sixth
inning in his third start for the Brewers. He could make two
more to show he deserves consideration for the rotation next
season.

"We'll see what happens," Brewers manager Ken Macha said.
"Sometimes when you take a backward look at things, guys get
through waivers and then there's a lot of clubs kind of kicking
themselves that they didn't pick him up."

Narveson's only mistake came when Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija
(1-3) led off the sixth inning with a homer, his first career
hit.

"I'll keep it," Samardzija said. "I've got all my little league
ones with how far it went and the date. We'll add a couple
feet."

After a single by Ryan Theriot, Narveson struck out Tyler Colvin
and the surging Derrek Lee to end his night. Narveson left the
mound smiling after he asked catcher Jason Kendall about
Samardzija's homer.

"I asked Kendall, 'Hey, did I get that pitch away?' And he goes,
'That was a bomb,' and that was all he said, so I kind of smiled
and just walked off," Narveson said.

Lee, who is hitting .387 in September, went 0 for 4 with two
strikeouts against the Brewers after coming in 6 of 8 with two
homers and six RBIs.

Bobby Scales' pinch-hit RBI double off reliever David Weathers
in the seventh cut Milwaukee's lead to 3-2, but Claudio Vargas
pitched the eighth and Trevor Hoffman worked around a one-out
single by Jeff Baker in the ninth for his 35th save.

Fielder's opposite-field homer in the fourth off Samardzija gave
Milwaukee a 2-0 lead. He already has the franchise mark for RBIs
and is two ahead of Albert Pujols.

"I think that's the story of his year, using the whole field,"
Macha said. "He's got power to all fields."

Gerut's homer off Samardzija made it 3-1 in the sixth and
Samardzija, making his second career start, was chased after
Ryan Braun followed with a single.

"I thought he was much improved," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said
of the hard throwing right-hander. "He's starting to look like a
major-league pitcher, and he sure as hell looked like a
major-league hitter."

Bradley signed a $30 million, three-year contract with the Cubs
in the offseason, but hit .257 with 12 homers and 40 RBIs and
has been booed loudly at Wrigley Field.

The organization suspended Bradley for the season on Sunday for
a series of incidents. Bradley said he signed with Chicago to
help bring a title to Cubs fans, but didn't have the season he
expected and his frustration boiled over.

"I wish that I handled certain things differently," Bradley
said. "And I apologize for those things that did not work out
for the better."

NOTES: Narveson's 10 strikeouts were the most by a Brewers
rookie since Steve Woodard had 11 on July 29, 1998, at St.
Louis. ... Cubs OF Reed Johnson doubled in his first at-bat
since returning from the 15-day DL on Monday. Johnson broke his
left foot on July 29 and went on the DL the next day.