DODGERS NOTEBOOK : CLAIRE ADDRESSES `CURRENT EVENTS'.

Byline: Kevin Acee and Marc J. Spears Daily News Staff Writers

In the aftermath of a second manager-pitcher confrontation, Dodgers executive vice president Fred Claire addressed the players Monday before their usual team meeting.

``Current events,'' Claire said of what he talked about a day after Pedro Astacio yelled at manager Bill Russell and had to be escorted out of the dugout. That episode followed by three days an incident in which Ismael Valdes threw a tantrum after being taken out of a game and Russell giving him a slight push toward the clubhouse.

``It was a review of the first third of the season, of current events and a look to the future,'' Claire said.

Claire also met individually with Astacio, who returned to the dugout moments after his tirade to apologize to Russell. Claire would not say if Astacio had been fined, but he would not say he wasn't.

Something good: Wilton Guerrero will start at second base tonight, having served his eight-game suspension for using a corked bat on June 1.

The overlooked benefit to Guerrero being forced to sit was that he rested his sprained left shoulder. Guerrero has missed four games against left-handed starters due to the injury, which only hurts him when he takes a bad swing right-handed.

``This really helped my shoulder,'' Guerrero said.

Unit report: The Dodgers will face Seattle pitcher Randy Johnson on Saturday.

The only Dodger to have faced Johnson, perhaps the most feared pitcher in baseball, is Mike Piazza. He grounded out against him in the 1995 All-Star game.

``He's got good stuff,'' Piazza said, smiling. ``If you can lay off some of his pitches out of the strike zone, you should be able to hit him.''

Johnson is 9-1 with a 2.45 ERA.

Jr. Cruz-ing with Seattle: During Houston's last visit to Dodger Stadium (mid-April), Astros first-base coach Jose Cruz predicted his son, Jose Jr., would be playing with the Seattle Mariners by the time his club returned to Los Angeles. Cruz Jr. proved his dad's words when he was promoted from Triple-A Tacoma and played his first game with the Mariners on May 30.

As of Monday, the ex-Lancaster JetHawk owned an impressive .310 batting average with three homers and six RBI in 29 at-bats as Seattle's left fielder.

``I told you (my son) was going to be there soon,'' said the elder Cruz. ``They called him up when he was really doing good (in Tacoma) and he is really doing good in Seattle, too.

``The main thing is that he is having a good time. Plus, he said he has been playing good defense and making good plays.''