Narveson scattered six hits over eight innings and the Milwaukee Brewers kept rolling at home even after a small fire in the ballpark, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-0 on Friday night.
"I think you always need an outing like this," Narveson said. "It's definitely a good feeling to be able to go out there and just go out and get back to base one and get yourself set."
Narveson (3-4) began his career as a Cardinals draft pick, but he's being counted on to play an important role in Milwaukee's rotation as the fifth starter after having no competition in spring training.
"It was huge for me to see it," Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. "When I see things, I see things as I want him to get it going, not so much what the outcome of the game is. I know we're going to need him."
Tony La Russa managed his 5,000th game for the Cardinals, but even he saw something new
- a fire in a ballpark after smoke billowed in right field from a concession stand's malfunctioning popcorn machine in the sixth.
"No kidding? I hadn't seen that one," La Russa said. "I wasn't sure what it was."
Ryan Braun and Corey Hart homered as Milwaukee improved to 23-9 at home, the best mark in the majors. The Brewers could take first place in the NL Central from the Cardinals with a three-game sweep of this weekend series.
"I think that's the last thing on anybody's minds right now, we just want to go out there, play hard, play to win and whatever happens happens," Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy said. "If we play up to our potential we can beat anybody out there."
The Brewers got off to a solid start by roughing up Kyle Lohse (7-3) and chasing him after five innings. Lohse has lost five straight to Milwaukee and hasn't won in Miller Park for six years.
Not many other teams have, either.
Milwaukee dropped two of three against the Mets in its previous series, but has not lost consecutive games at home this season even without a big hit by Prince Fielder, who went 0 for 1 with two walks and a hit by pitch.
"I think the big thing is it's not going to be Prince and Braun every night," Craig Counsell said. "Those guys have really carried us offensively this year."
Narveson was sharp throughout after going 0-1 with a 10.66 ERA in his previous three starts. He only had more than one baserunner in the eighth and he sprinted off the mound after striking out Jon Jay to end the threat.
"I think it's a good start to the series and a good thing for him personally just being able to go out and get that confidence knowing that he can put away teams like that, of that caliber," Lucroy said.
