Dodgers Now 0-5 at Home

There was no groundswell for the Los Angeles chapter of the Kevin Gross fan club Tuesday night as the Dodgers’ free-agent signee was beaten for the third start in a row and the Dodgers remained winless at home.

Behind Tom Glavine’s four-hitter, the Atlanta Braves beat the Dodgers for the second consecutive night, 4-0, dropping them to 0-5 in Los Angeles--matching their worst home start since leaving Brooklyn.

The Braves, 4-0 on the road this year, beat the Dodgers again with a left-hander--Glavine was following the example of Steve Avery Monday--while the slumping Dodgers sent the struggling Gross to the mound.

With Glavine winning for the second time in three starts and recording his fifth career shutout--his first since 1989--the Braves moved into fourth place in the National League West, dropping the Dodgers into a last-place tie with Houston.

“I threw a lot of pitches over the plate and let them get themselves out,” Glavine said. “Especially tonight, when they’re in such a slump.”

Glavine, who had a career record of 4-7 against the Dodgers, struck out a personal-best 10 and walked none. He gave up only two hits after the second inning and didn’t allow a runner past first base. He even got credit for a run batted in, drawing a 3-and-2 bases-loaded walk from Gross.

That was more offense than the Dodgers could muster as they threaten to start 0-6 at home for the first time since they moved to Los Angeles. The last time the Dodgers were 0-5 in L.A. was 1970. The Dodgers have scored only one run and gotten eight hits in the first two games of this home stand, and haven’t scored in 16 innings.

Gross, who entered the game with a 16.50 earned run average, fell to 0-3 and was jeered by the crowd of 27,737 from the time leadoff batter Deion Sanders got a single. Unlike his first two starts, Gross kept it close until the fifth inning, when he left to a chorus of catcalls in the midst of a rally that would become a 3-0 Brave lead.

The Braves didn’t batter Gross, getting four hits against him, but his wildness--he walked three in the fifth, including the last two batters in the order--cost him.

“I had a lot of life in my fastball, but the walk (to Glavine) cost me the game,” Gross said. “I went into the game ready to go. I felt I went in with the right frame of mind. From day one, a lot of people felt I shouldn’t be here. It is hard when you’re booed before you throw a pitch.”

With the Braves leading, 1-0, on David Justice’s second-inning home run, Gross opened the fifth by walking Sid Bream, but made Terry Pendleton his third strikeout victim in four batters. Then Greg Olson doubled and Gross walked light-hitting Rafael Belliard and Glavine before being removed. Reliever Tim Crews was greeted by a run-scoring single from Sanders to make the score 3-0.

The Braves scored their last run in the sixth on doubles by Ron Gant and Bream.

Glavine gave up a bloop single to Brett Butler in the first and a single to Eddie Murray in the second, then retired 17 in a row before giving up harmless hits in the eighth and ninth.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever felt that strong from start to finish with my fastball,” Glavine said. “In the last couple of days, we’ve gotten good pitching, timely hitting and played great defense. You’re supposed to win when that happens.”

Said Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda: “We just aren’t scoring. Nobody wants to win more than (the Dodger players) do. Sure it’s tough, playing five games at home and not winning.”

Brave Manager Bobby Cox noted: “It’s a lift any time you win on the road. We just seem to have a problem at home--like the Dodgers.”