Dodgers Turn Up the Juice : Baseball: Butler and Offerman hit back-to-back homers, and Offerman’s check-swing single beats Giants in 10th, 3-2.

In a most unexpected way, Kevin Gross, that Giant killer, backed by Brett Butler and Jose Offerman, those powerhouses, led the Dodgers to a 3-2 victory in 10 innings Saturday at Candlestick Park.

“If I’m going to get a win, it might as well be funky,” Gross said.

Gross now is 10-8 against San Francisco, so his success was no shock, but what happened in the sixth inning was completely out of character. Butler led off the inning with a home run--his second in three games--and Offerman followed with another--his first of the season--both against a stunned Mark Portugal, who hadn’t given up a hit since Butler’s leadoff single in the first inning.

“I hope you enjoyed it, because I don’t think you will see them anymore,” Offerman said.

The home runs surprised everyone except Manager Tom Lasorda, who claims he called the homers before the inning started.

“As Butler was walking up to the plate, I said, “back-to-back-to-back homers,” Lasorda said, including Mike Piazza, who grounded out, in that prediction. “So after Offy hits his, Orel Hershiser turns to me and says, ‘If Piazza hits this out, I’m taking you to Vegas.’ ”

Portugal, who held the Dodgers to four hits in eight innings, said the homers didn’t surprise him, either. “When you get behind in the count, they can turn on on a ball, and when both balls were hit I knew they had a chance.”

The home runs, which made the score 2-2, were the only runs the Dodgers scored until the 10th, when Offerman’s check-swing single against reliever Mike Jackson (2-1) scored Delino DeShields from second base for the winning run.

“The ball was hit soft and died before Barry (Bonds) got to it, but it would have been a close play at the plate with DeShields’ speed,” Jackson said. “It was tough to lose on a hit like that, but that’s baseball.”

Bonds, who hadn’t played since Wednesday because of a bruised elbow, entered the game in the ninth and led off the 10th inning against left-hander Al Osuna, who arrived Thursday from Albuquerque. Osuna struck out Bonds, then turned the game over to Darren Dreifort, who retired the next two on ground balls to earn his fourth save.

“With Barry coming out and trying to do it when maybe he should have waited another day, it just shows you the rivalry between these two teams, and it will last the whole year,” said Butler, who is batting .404 with 18 runs scored in his last 16 games. Against the Giants, he has a .310 career average.

Butler said his home run was about as well as he can hit a ball. “It was a mistake, I’m supposed to hit line drives and hit the ball on the ground,” he said.

Offerman has hit only two homers in his two full seasons in the majors and Butler has 45 in 13 seasons, before this series. But it is Butler’s recent power surge that has raised questions about the so-called juiced ball.

After Butler homered Saturday, Giant Manager Dusty Baker merely shrugged. “When Butler and Offy hit back-to-back homers, it makes you wonder,” he said. “Both of them were no-doubters. I just hope they start juicing them our way.”

When Gross last faced the Giants, on the final day of last season, they had the best offense in the league, but Gross held them to six hits in a 12-1 rout. The Giants’ offense this season is the worst in the league, but the result for Gross was the same.

When he started getting his fastball up, he adjusted by mixing up his pitches, changing speeds and throwing slow curveballs. It kept the Giants off balance, and helped Gross hold them after giving up runs in the first two innings.

“I used to be a Met killer, now I’m a Giant winner,” said Gross, who had a no-hitter against San Francisco in 1992. “I’ve had good success against them.”