BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Worrell Put on 15-Day Disabled List

Todd Worrell was put on the 15-day disabled list after suffering a muscle strain in his left side Wednesday while pitching against the Montreal Expos. Worrell accompanied the team to San Francisco, then flew to Los Angeles on Thursday, where he was examined by Dr. Ralph Gambardella. X-rays were negative.

With Worrell sidelined, Manager Tom Lasorda said he will turn to Darren Dreifort to be the closer. Dreifort, destined for that role eventually, said he is ready. “If that’s what they want me to do, yes,” he said before getting the save in Thursday’s victory.

The Dodgers activated left-handed reliever Al Osuna from triple-A Albuquerque to take Worrell’s place on the roster, giving the Dodgers three left-handed relievers. Osuna, from Inglewood, was acquired by the Dodgers in a trade with the Houston Astros during spring training.

Osuna, 28, played at Cerritos College and Stanford and was a 16th-round pick of the Houston Astros in 1987. His best season was 1991, when, as a rookie, he had a 7-6 record with 12 saves and a 3.42 earned-run average in 71 appearances and 81 2/3 innings.

In nine games at Albuquerque, he has given up six earned runs in 12 innings for a 4.50 ERA, with one save.

In another move, the Dodgers released pitcher Nelson Castro, who was 3-2 with a 5.25 ERA in six starts for double-A San Antonio.

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Several Dodgers shouted insults at Matt Williams of the Giants during the season finale last year, but the loudest insults did not come from Orel Hershiser.

The Dodgers say the loudest guy on the bench that day was minor leaguer Jerry Brooks, who was with the team at the time. But when Williams went on television and accused Hershiser of yelling, Hershiser called Williams and told him he hadn’t said a word.

“I was standing next to (Kevin) Gross when he stood up and yelled out to Matt after a couple of our guys got knocked down (by pitches), Cory (Snyder) and another guy,” Hershiser said. “Gross (who was pitching that day) yelled to Matt that he was the leadoff hitter the next inning, and Matt yelled back, ‘Do what you have to do.’

“But Matt was getting badgered the entire game by our bench, one player was particularly loud, nothing ugly, just normal badgering, but given the value of that game for them, it made it more sensitive.”

Williams, who apologized to Hershiser publicly, said he took Hershiser at his word. “I went about expressing my emotions the wrong way and I don’t think that was characteristic of me,” Williams said.