Dodgers Remain Sure, 6-2 : Baseball: Anderson, Gross again help dispel uncertainty of early season by leading a sweep of the Cubs. L.A. streak reaches five.

Dave Anderson looked above the media crowd around his locker and over to the next locker, where platoon third baseman Dave Hansen was quietly dressing.

“Let’s see, tomorrow there is a right-hander pitching,” he said. “So tomorrow, everybody will be over there.”

That is the way the Dodgers are feeling these days after increasing their winning streak to a season-high five games Sunday with a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs before 32,050 at Wrigley Field.

The accolades move from locker to locker as the team that spent 22 consecutive days in last place has won 11 of 14 games, moving within one game of .500 and 3 1/2 games of first place.

Once tentative, this team has been uncertain only of the identity of each game’s hero.

One star Sunday was a veteran utility player who began this season in the minor leagues for the first time in eight years.

Another was a starting pitcher who earlier this season was sent to the bullpen, and earlier this week was sent home because of flu.

Dave Anderson homered for the second time in 10 at-bats, and Kevin Gross gave up two runs or fewer for the fourth consecutive start, striking out six in seven innings.

The Dodgers also were helped by a season-high five errors by the last-place Cubs, who replace the Dodgers as the league leader in that category with 43.

It was appropriate that when Lenny Harris threw the game ball into the stands afterward, several fans dropped it back onto the field.

“It was not pretty, it was not well played,” Cub Manager Jim Lefebvre said.

It also was not well pitched by Danny Jackson, who is two weeks away from the first anniversary of his last victory. He has not won in 20 starts and quickly fell behind Sunday after walking three in a row during the first inning.

Todd Benzinger then hit a fly ball to deep left-center field that came within a few feet of giving him his second grand slam in four days. Sammy Sosa caught the ball near the ivy, but then dropped it while attempting to throw it, the second of two runs scoring.

Anderson’s homer during the fourth inning gave the Dodgers all the runs they needed.

The last time the Dodgers swept a series here--they won five games--was in 1988.

“This is not the first time that Dave Anderson has done some special things in a Dodgers uniform,” said Fred Claire, Dodger vice president who brought Anderson back home this winter as a free agent after he spent two years with the San Francisco Giants.

Anderson was thought to be the back-up for Jose Offerman and had to start the season at triple-A Albuquerque. But with the injury to Juan Samuel, another infielder was needed, and Anderson’s second life here began.

“I’ve never hit two home runs in a week,” Anderson said. “I’ve never even hit two home runs in a month.”

Actually, during his nine-year career, seven with the Dodgers, Anderson has averaged two home runs per season.

Gross left the game after giving up four hits in seven innings, including a two-run homer by Sosa during the seventh.

Roger McDowell then pitched two scoreless innings. He didn’t qualify for a save, but he still saved the day by retiring Andre Dawson on a grounder with the bases loaded during the eighth inning to end the Cubs’ final hope.

“I wasn’t 100%, but I’m not about to give in right now,” said Gross, who sat out his scheduled start Saturday because of flu, which caused him to sleep all day Friday.

“I just drank a lot of water, blew my nose a lot, coughed a lot . . . and kept changing my shirt because I did not want to get cold. Now, I’m gassed. I think I can sleep for 20 hours.”

Since mid-May, Gross has been the National League’s best pitcher, giving up five runs in 30 innings (1.50 ERA) with 40 strikeouts.

“I’m pitching as consistently as I’ve ever pitched. . . . But then, everybody around here is getting it together,” Gross said.