ANGELS-DODGERS REPORT

Dodger Manager Davey Johnson handled the pressure of New York and led the Mets to a World Series championship.

Johnson dealt with eccentric Cincinnati owner Marge Schott while guiding the Reds to a division title.

He took an aging and limited Baltimore ballclub to the playoffs in consecutive seasons despite constant criticism from Oriole owner Peter Angelos.

The Dodgers? Johnson has been through tougher times than the team’s poor start (26-26). Although things have not begun as Johnson had hoped, the manager remains confident the team’s performance will improve.

When, though, he’s unsure.

“There are many things we can do better and should be doing better,” Johnson said. “I know we’re more talented offensively than we’ve shown so far. I know we can score more runs than we’ve been doing. We hit into too many double plays. We hit the pitch designed for a double play. We don’t sit back and wait for the right pitch.

“We don’t situational hit. We’re a veteran club and we’re supposed to know those things, but it looks like we don’t. I’ve been close to snapping. Sometimes I’m ready to snap and don’t. But I’m still confident and optimistic because I like the group we have. We’ve got talent on this club. Sometimes, it just takes a little time.”

Of course, it wasn’t supposed to take this long.

Fox officials Peter Chernin and Chase Carey said they don’t have unrealistic expectations for the Dodgers this season. However, they expect progress after Dodger officials persuaded them to spend $105 million to acquire pitcher Kevin Brown.

General Manager Kevin Malone raised the bar throughout the off-season because of his statements about the organization’s supposed return to glory. Fox’s spending and Malone’s comments made the Dodgers targets throughout the industry.

Johnson acknowledges that, despite the Dodgers’ talent, he realized the team had flaws during spring training. Those problems have not been addressed, and they might not be this season because the farm system is devoid of impact players.

“I knew coming out of the spring there were a lot of issues I had to deal with,” Johnson said. “It was going to take [catcher] Todd [Hundley] a few months under fire to feel like he could be productive again [rebounding from reconstructive elbow surgery]. The bullpen was going to take some time to get it right. Could I keep enough left-handed bats in the lineup to take pressure off Mondy [Raul Mondesi] and Sheff [Gary Sheffield]?

“We’ve had some injuries that have kind of exposed our lack of depth [in the minor leagues]. We have a ways to go before we’re strong enough as an organization to have injuries at this level and overcome them. Would I like to have some more flexibility right now? Yeah. But I’m sure we’re going to get it together. I believe that.”

*

Hundley is listed as day-to-day after X-rays of his sprained left wrist revealed no fractures, team officials said.

The switch-hitting catcher suffered the sprain during a collision with Ed Sprague during Wednesday’s 8-4 loss to Pittsburgh.

Hundley left the game in the sixth inning because of the pain in his wrist. He probably won’t play during the three-game series against the Angels.

ON DECK

* Opponents--Dodgers vs. Angels, three games.

* Site--Dodger Stadium.

* Tonight--7.

* TV--Channel 9 tonight, Channel 11 Saturday, Fox Sports West 2 Sunday.

* Radio--KXTA (1150), KLAC (570), KWKW (1330), XPRS (1090), KAVL (610).

* Records--Dodgers 26-26, Angels 26-27.

* Series record (1998)--Angels, 3-1.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ OMAR OLIVARES (6-3, 3.06 ERA)

vs.

DODGERS’ KEVIN BROWN (5-3, 2.62 ERA)

* Update--Fox and Disney haven’t gotten their money’s worth from their underachieving teams. The parent companies of the Dodgers and Angels, respectively, spent freely during the off-season. However, to this point, neither can claim an advantage in the unspoken battle for baseball supremacy in the Southland. The Dodgers are coming off an embarrassing performance in being swept in three games at Pittsburgh. They went 4-5 on their 10-day trip and trail the Arizona Diamondbacks by five games in the National League West. The Angels are in last place in the American League West and trail front-running Texas by 6 1/2 games. Again, the Dodgers turn to Brown for help. The right-hander was outstanding for seven innings in his last outing, Sunday against the Atlanta Braves. He gave up only one run through seven but faltered in the Atlanta heat in the eighth. The Dodgers hung on for a 5-4 victory in 11 innings. Left-hander Carlos Perez (2-6, 5.73 ERA) might start Sunday instead of right-hander Ismael Valdes.

* Saturday, 1 p.m.--Tim Belcher (3-4, 7.08) vs. Chan Ho Park (4-3, 4.66).

* Sunday, 1 p.m.--Ken Hill (2-4, 4.61) vs. Ismael Valdes (5-3, 3.69).

* Tickets--(323) 224-1HIT.