Not Even the Bat of Gross Enough : Dodgers: Pitcher hits a three-run homer, but his teammates provide only three hits in a 6-3 loss to the Cubs.

Kevin Gross, the slugger, couldn’t contain the bats of the Chicago Cubs on Monday night, even though he tried to compensate with two hits of his own, including a three-run shot into the left field pavilion that earned him his first curtain call at Dodger Stadium before 37,569.

“It’s the first time this crowd has ever rooted for me this much here,” Gross said after the Dodgers’ 6-3 loss, which extended the Cubs’ winning streak to seven games.

The Dodgers, who scored 46 runs and had 81 hits in their last seven games, got only fivehits.

“It’s bound to happen, we hit a couple of balls hard and a couple right at them, but their pitchers did a good job,” said Mike Piazza, who singled in the eighth but was stranded at first. He is batting .385 in his last 14 games.

Against five Cub pitchers, who sure didn’t throw like they belong to one of the worst pitching staffs in the league, even Raul Mondesi’s 14-game hitting streak was laid to rest. In fact, Gross was the leading hitter in the game, getting two hits against starter Jose Guzman (2-2) before leaving after the sixth inning. By then, the Cubs were ahead by 6-3 after having put together a four-run sixth inning, aided by a three-run homer by Derrick May.

It was a chance to gain ground for the Dodgers because the San Francisco Giants lost to the San Diego Padres. And the seldom-used trio of Gary Wayne, Al Osuna and Roger McDowell held the Cubs scoreless for the final three innings, but that wasn’t enough as the Dodgers remained 3 1/2 games in front of the Giants in the National League West, losing only for the third time in the last 14 games.

“We are really getting good pitching and that allowed us to stay in the game,” Cub Manager Tom Trebelhorn said.

“We had a good job out of the bullpen with good defense and were able to take advantage of it.”

Despite some shoulder stiffness, Gross (3-2) had won his last three starts, but this time, even though he said he felt as good as he had in his last five starts, the Cubs got to him quickly.

“They won because they hit the ball out of the park,” Gross said. “They are a hot team right now and are playing well.”

Sammy Sosa worked Gross to a full count before he hit a two-run shot over the left-center field fence in the second inning, scoring Mark Grace, who had drawn a lead-off walk. That put the Cubs ahead, 2-0.

But Gross got more than even in the bottom of the inning. Guzman went to 2-and-0 on Gross before taking him to a full count. Gross unloaded on the next pitch for his sixth career home run. That earned Gross his curtain call.

“I’d rather get the win then the home run,” said Gross, who gave up six runs--five earned--and six hits, including two home runs.

“I made some not very quality pitches tonight and then there were others that I threw quite well.”

After that, though, the Dodgers didn’t get another hit until the fifth inning, when Gross grounded under the glove of Guzman and beat out an infield single.

It was a lull in the storm for the Dodgers, who lead the league in offense and a number of other categories. “It’s been a long time since I looked at the batting leaders and saw a few of my players listed,” Manager Tom Lasorda said.

Second baseman Delino DeShields made two star plays, before throwing a ball away in the sixth inning that eventually cost a run. “I was just trying to get Kevin out of the inning,” DeShields said.

But the loss came because of the Dodgers’ quiet bats. Before Monday’s game, the Dodgers had a collective batting average of .308 with runners in scoring position, with Cory Snyder’s .500 leading and Raul Mondesi’s .450 next best. Henry Rodriguez is batting .433, with Piazza at.362.

Brett Butler, who played his 300th consecutive game without an error, took himself out of the game in the eighth inning with a sore knee that occurred while running before the game. His status is listed as day-to-day.