Zambrano remained winless in his last six starts as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cubs, 11-3, on Monday. Despite the loss, Chicago maintained a 1 1/2-game lead in the National League Central Division over the Milwaukee Brewers, who lost to Houston.

Zambrano (14-12) gave up eight runs on seven hits and five walks over 4 1/3 innings while striking out six. As he came off the field in the middle of the Dodgers' four-run fifth to a chorus of boos, he yanked his jersey out, then pointed to his ear, saying something to the fans behind the Cubs' dugout. Apparently, he heard them.

"I don't accept the fans were booing me," Zambrano said. "I don't understand that. I think these are great fans of baseball, but they showed me today they just care about them. That's not fair.

"When you're struggling, that's when you want to feel support from the fans," Zambrano said. "I don't accept it. I just pointed to my head because I will remember it. The great moments of my career will come."

Not soon enough for the Cubs. Zambrano has not won since July 29, and is 0-5 with an 8.29 ERA since, giving up 31 earned runs over 33 2/3 innings. Fifteen of those runs have come with two outs in the inning. Zambrano also has not won since signing a five-year, $91.5 million contract with the Cubs on Aug. 18.

"His stuff was plenty good today," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "I think he's letting things bother him when things aren't going right.

"I think he's fighting himself a little bit and probably trying to overdo, like rounding third with no outs and running through a stop sign," Piniella said. "I contend he's going to get his stuff together and go on a nice streak here for us at the end of the year."

Zambrano struck out two of the first four batters he faced in the first inning, which was encouraging. Alfonso Soriano led off the Cubs' first with his 20th home run, but the Dodgers tied it in the second on Russell Martin's run-scoring groundout.

Then it got sloppy. Zambrano singled to lead off the third and tried to score on Soriano's double, running full speed through third-base coach Mike Quade's stop sign. It was ill-advised, as Zambrano was easily thrown out at the plate. Ryan Theriot then singled to drive in Soriano and provide a 2-1 lead.

"I'm still standing, so he didn't run over me," Quade said. "He's a competitor, and he made up his mind he was going to score on that play. It was a fairly easy decision from my end. He dropped his head prior to getting to third.

"You talk to baserunners about making their own decisions, and that's not one of them," Quade said. "You're trying to make all the right decisions at third as far as sending guys and stopping guys, and I wish he would've picked me up a little sooner. You admire the desire -- most pitchers don't run that hard."

What happened?

"I didn't see him," Zambrano said of Quade. "That was my fault. I should've stopped. I was thinking at that moment that the ball went away from [left fielder] Luis Gonzalez. I didn't see the stop sign. If I see the stop sign, believe me, I stop."

"You can't run through stop signs, and Carlos understands that," Chicago's Derrek Lee said. "Mistakes come back to bite you at this time of year, so we have to play a little bit smarter."

Zambrano got two quick outs in the Dodgers' fourth, but then walked two batters back to back and gave up an RBI double to No. 8 hitter Andy LaRoche and a two-run single to Dodgers pitcher Esteban Loaiza to give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead. Piniella said it wasn't "Zambrano-like." The right-hander said the baserunning didn't wear him out.

"I wasn't tired," Zambrano said. "It's not an excuse. I got mad after that because there were two outs, bam, bam, right quick [and then he got in trouble]. I should've done the job, and it's all my fault."

The Dodgers sent nine batters to the plate in the fifth with Zambrano getting chased after facing five and giving up a run-scoring groundout to Jeff Kent and an RBI single to Martin. James Loney greeted Will Ohman with a two-run single to open an 8-2 lead. Never mind the rest of the scoring.

"This one's over with," Piniella said. "I think from now on, you'll see him put together some good ballgames for us. We need him. He's our No. 1 pitcher, and in a way he sets the tone. I've got confidence in him, I really do. We'll just wait and see what happens."

There are high expectations placed on the No. 1 starter, especially after signing such a mega deal.

"They pay to see a good show, they pay to see a good pitcher," Zambrano said. "Right now, I'm not doing too well. I just tell the fans I want a little support. When you have a brother or somebody, and he's struggling, you show him love. You don't show him that you want to kick him out."

LaTroy Hawkins, Corey Patterson and Dusty Baker know all about how the fans can turn on them. Zambrano heard it.

"That happened before with some of my teammates, and that's not right," Zambrano said. "I think we're going to try to give Chicago Cub fans a good show and go to the playoffs. Nobody wants to do a bad job. Every single player in that clubhouse wants to do a great job for the city, believe me. Everybody."

The booing at Wrigley Field toward the Cubs has increased since the 2003 season.

"I'm not a big fan of booing at home," Lee said. "Maybe if it's lack of effort, or something like that [it's OK]. Z's been a big part of this organization, so I have a hard time with that."

Can the Cubs win without Zambrano?

"We can, but it'd be a lot easier to get him straight," Lee said. "I kind of like it that he's angry. He might turn it around and use it for his next start."

Zambrano did accept the blame for his poor outing.

"The ball is in my hands," he said. "It's all my fault because I'm the pitcher. Everything is my fault because I'm the one who has the ball, and I'm the one who is supposed to pitch good, especially after my contract and whatever happened this year -- the wins, the pennant race. I'm supposed to do a better job.

"The good thing about this is, right now I'm struggling, but the other pitchers are pitching good," he said. "That's teamwork, to support each other. That's how you're supposed to play the game. Whoever is struggling, you're supposed to come and pick them up."

Since the end of July, the Cubs and Brewers have been within 2 1/2 games of each other in the standings.

"It makes for a race," Piniella said, "and we have St. Louis who has joined the party, too. We've just got to win baseball games. If we win enough games, everything will take care of itself."

They need Zambrano to get back on track to do so.