Johnson Gets Frustration Off His Chest

The themes were accountability and unity, and when Manager Davey Johnson emerged from a 45-minute team meeting before Sunday night’s game he had done a fair amount of talking to the Dodgers, who had lost six games in a row.

“If Chan Ho [Park] struggles, we all struggle,” said Johnson, using the pitcher as an example after his nine-runs-in-four-plus-innings performance Saturday afternoon. “I think what you saw out of Chan Ho yesterday is what you’ve seen out of the whole team. It’s frustration. . . . a frustration of failure.”

It has been a universal problem. The Dodgers haven’t been scoring runs and have been giving them up, in part, Johnson said, because the pitchers have been trying to be too precise for fear that giving up a run will beat them.

They have been right.

“Everybody seems like they’re taking the burden on themselves,” Johnson said, and so he told the Dodgers, “if one guy messes up, we’re all in it together. . . . It’s no secret. There’s no hiding. If one guy messes up, we all need to pick him up instead of burying him. That’s for the press to do.”

Johnson said the meeting was the product of another sleepless night, and the talk appeared to work, as the Dodgers ended their losing streak with a 7-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Johnson stressed that the season has yet to reach the halfway point.

“I still like the makeup of this club. . . . We’ve run the spectrum of people being really excited about us, and [now] people write us off,” he said. “We need to see how we respond to it.”

*

Raul Mondesi left the game in the seventh inning because of a tight hamstring. No prognosis was given.

*

Shortstop Mark Grudzielanek, who has missed 27 games since going on the disabled list because of a broken right hand, had one hit in five at-bats for San Bernardino on Saturday night. Grudzielanek, on a rehabilitation assignment, added two hits in a Sunday night game.

*

A day later, pitcher Antonio Osuna emerged no worse for wear after pitching to three Dodgers in batting practice Saturday. Osuna, who underwent arthroscopic surgery May 20 to remove a bone spur in his right elbow, could be sent to a minor league club for rehabilitation.

ON DECK

* Opponent--Colorado Rockies, four games.

* Site--Coors Field, Denver.

* Tonight--6 PDT.

* TV--Channel 5 tonight, Fox Sports West 2 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

* Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

* Records--Dodgers 35-44; Rockies 36-43.

* Record vs. Rockies--2-1.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’ KEVIN BROWN (9-5, 3.43 ERA)

vs.

ROCKIES’ DARRYL KILE (4-6, 5.77 ERA)

* Update--The Dodgers went through a pitching cycle--all five starters--without a victory, and that included Brown, their stopper, who gave up nine runs at San Diego in his last start. He has a history of prosperity against Colorado, with a string of 20 consecutive scoreless innings against the Rockies that dates to Sept. 15 of last year. It includes an eight-inning effort at Dodger Stadium on April 10, when he beat Kile.

* Tuesday 6 p.m.--Darren Dreifort (6-7, 5.69 ERA) vs. Pedro Astacio (7-7, 5.56).

* Wednesday 6 p.m.--Carlos Perez (2-9, 7.06) vs. Bobby Jones (4-7, 5.76).

* Thursday noon--Chan Ho Park (4-7, 6.19) vs. Brian Bohanon (9-6, 6.31)