BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Gagne Improving, but Still Not Playing

Shortstop Greg Gagne sat out his fifth consecutive game because of a sprained left ankle and remains day to day.

“He’s slowly improving,” physical therapist Pat Screnar said. “He’s shown steady improvement, but it’s been slow. He doesn’t feel comfortable running yet, and until he does it’s difficult for him.”

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After losing 12 of their first 20 games, the Dodgers had won 16 of their last 27 going into Wednesday night’s game against the New York Mets to go over the .500 mark.

“We’re doing much better because EK [Eric Karros] has started hitting, [Mike] Blowers has started hitting a little bit and I started hitting,” said right fielder Raul Mondesi, who was batting .320 with four doubles, four homers and and eight RBIs in his last 12 games. “We’ve got about five guys that can hit home runs, [Mike] Piazza, Karros, Blowers and me. If we continue working hard we’ve got a good chance to win.”

Of the 11 Dodger home runs hit in the first 10 games of the home stand, Karros (4), Piazza (3) and Mondesi (3) have accounted for 10 of them.

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Met catcher Todd Hundley, who hit a career-high 16 homers in 1994, has hit 12 this season, including four in his last five games. Hundley had two homers and seven RBIs against the Giants last Saturday.

“I’ve just trying to hit the ball hard and win some ballgames, and some balls have carried out of the ballpark for me,” Hundley said. “I don’t think there’s any magical solution or secret. I struggled a little bit, but on this trip things have started to come together a little bit.”