Prince Fielder had three hits, including a three-run double in the first inning, to lift the Brewers to a 6-2 victory Wednesday night over the Cubs, whose magic number to clinch the National League Central remained at four.

"We lost tonight -- so what?" said Aramis Ramirez, who provided the only offense when he hit his 25th homer in the second. "We have to come back tomorrow and win a game."

Jason Marquis (10-9) took the loss, which snapped the Cubs' winning streak at five games. Chicago has an eight-game lead in the division with 12 games to go, including the final three at Miller Park.

"They threw a lot of different pitching at us and got the job done," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "You can do that in September. In the summer, it's hard to do."

The Brewers used eight pitchers in the game, prompted in part because starter Ben Sheets had to leave after facing seven batters over two innings because of tightness in his right elbow.

"We've been playing pretty good baseball in these last five, six days," Marquis said. "The Brewers are out there fighting for their lives also. We just ran into a tough lineup and they put some runs up early and their bullpen did a great job shutting us down."

The Cubs can still celebrate at Wrigley Field, just not when the Brewers are in town. The two teams will close their series Thursday, then the Cardinals arrive for the final regular-season series.

"We'd love to [clinch at home] but at the same time, we still have to go out and play," Chicago's Mark DeRosa said. "We know we put ourselves in a good position. We just want to keep playing good baseball."

Marquis, whose schedule had been readjusted because of Hurricane Ike, was pitching for the first time since Sept. 6. He served up three runs, six hits and five walks over 5 1/3 innings, losing for only the second time in his past seven starts.

"I was just trying to find my release point, and it took a little bit to do that," Marquis said. "I put my team in a hole and had to battle the rest of the way through it."

Was the extended layoff a problem?

"I don't know if it did [cause a problem] or not, but the two walks didn't help," Piniella said.

Mike Cameron led off the game with a single, and Marquis walked the next two batters to load the bases for Fielder, who cleared them with a double to right.

"Any starter will tell you they like the routine of getting the ball every five days," Marquis said. "Sometimes outside circumstances won't allow it. You have to find a way to go out there and make pitches. It took me a few hitters to find my release point and get it where I wanted it to be. Unfortunately, it cost us the game, and I gave up some early runs. I battled and tried to keep my team in there. That's all you can do."

Ramirez made it 3-1 with his leadoff home run in the second inning off Sheets. This is the sixth straight season Ramirez has hit at least 25 homers, and seventh overall. Mark DiFelice (1-0) picked up his first big league win in relief.

That was nearly it for the Cubs, who collected just four hits over eight innings, but they added a run in the ninth.

Fielder is a one-man wrecking crew, batting .405 (17-for-42) against Chicago with four homers and 12 RBIs. He has an eight-game hitting streak and needs seven RBIs to record his second straight 100-RBI season.

"He's a dangerous hitter and swinging the bat well," Marquis said of the Brewers' slugger. "You have to make pitches on him. Both pitches were middle, middle. One was a cutter, one was a sinker. He's seeing the ball real well right now, and you have to make sure you keep him out of situations where he can break the game open."

Even though the Brewers took the early lead, the Cubs were confident they could get back in the game. They just couldn't muster much as interim Brewers manager Dale Sveum kept his bullpen busy.

"We fell behind, 3-0, but we still felt comfortable we could get back in the game," DeRosa said. "We didn't get that big hit, we didn't get a lot of guys on. We had three or four hits there until the ninth inning. They tacked on runs and threw the ball well. We didn't hit, period. The end. We have to regroup and try to win the series tomorrow."