BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Candiotti Back With the Team

Tom Candiotti rejoined the Dodgers Sunday after spending a week attending his divorce trial in northern California.

The Dodgers won’t know how much of his arm has returned, however, until his Tuesday start against the New York Mets.

Candiotti threw three times during his weeklong absence but faced no hitters. He threw once against a wall, and twice with a college catcher on a makeshift mound in a gym.

“I really think I’ll be fine, because in my last start before I left, I could have gone a lot longer,” said Candiotti, who pitched four innings against the New York Yankees on March 12.

He said his mental state is certainly improved, even though closing arguments in the trial are not until Tuesday.

“It’s great to finally get that behind me,” Candiotti said. “I was sitting in the courtroom thinking about curveballs.”

Brett Butler held a 30-minute meeting Sunday with National League President Bill White concerning problems between players and umpires.

The meeting was requested by White, who heard that Butler has been complaining about overall problems between the two groups.

“I told him that players are coming to me and saying that certain umpires have grudges against them, or one guy is doing this, and another guy is doing that,” Butler said. “I really want to see if there is a way we can smooth things over.”

Butler said White could give him no answer, although Butler has suggested a meeting between a group of former players and umpires.

The Dodgers are happy with Tom Lasorda’s lineup switch that has moved the platoon of Lenny Harris and Mike Sharperson in the second slot while dropping Juan Samuel to sixth.

“A lot of us have been thinking about it and talking about it, we’re glad he is going to do it,” outfielder Darryl Strawberry said. “Lenny and Sharpie are really good hit-and-run guys, while Samuel is a good RBI guy to have in that sixth spot. With (Eric) Davis and him batting back-to-back, left handed pitchers won’t have such an easy time with us.”

Tim Wallach homered Sunday to lead the Montreal Expos to an 8-5 victory over the Dodgers at Vero Beach. . . . Davis had two hits in his first appearance in five days. . . . Jose Offerman committed an error, but had three hits, half of his spring total, including a triple. . . . Tim Crews gave up two home runs in one inning for the second time this spring. Crews has given up four home runs, twice as many as any other Dodger pitcher, in 12 innings.