Worrell Gets Rid of Slump, Expos : Baseball: After three blown saves, he holds off Montreal for 6-3 Dodger victory.

Todd Worrell began the season as one of the hottest relief pitchers in baseball, earning 25 saves in 26 chances for the Dodgers.

Worrell, however, was beginning to doubt himself after blowing his third consecutive save Thursday, giving up two runs on three consecutive ninth-inning singles to the New York Mets.

But he closed out his slump on Sunday by retiring the side in order in the ninth inning to earn his 26th save as the Dodgers defeated the Montreal Expos, 6-3, before a paid 33,180 at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers, who ended a two-game losing streak, remained half a game behind the first-place Colorado Rockies in the National League West.

After Antonio Osuna, who hasn’t given up a run in 10 consecutive appearances, struck out two of the three batters he faced in the eighth inning, Worrell took over and got Mark Grudzielanek to fly out to right field and Rondell White to fly to center.

Worrell, who had yielded five runs and nine hits in his last 3 2/3 innings, struck out David Segui on a called third strike to end the game.

“One, two, three, I hadn’t seen that in the last three or four outings,” Worrell said. “To get three outs in a row seemed to be hard to come by. We finally got a game to work the way we wanted it to.

“Antonio did a good job setting it up and I was able to come in and not make it too exciting. That’s the way you want it. I know the fans like the excitement, but I know the players and Tommy’s [Lasorda] stomach don’t like the excitement.

“I know I’ve felt the team has a lot of confidence in the way I’ve been pitching, and I want to maintain that. I don’t want guys second-guessing when I’m out on the mound if I’m going to get the job done. I want to instill confidence in my teammates that I can get the job done.”

Ramon Martinez (14-7), who gave up three runs on four hits in seven innings to record his second victory in his last three starts, says Worrell will play a key role for the Dodgers down the stretch.

“He’s done a great job for us all year long, and we’re going to need him,” Martinez said. “He’s our stopper. We’ve got Osuna to set him up, and Todd to close it out.”

Second baseman Delino DeShields, benched for almost a month after injuring his left leg, is going to be hard to keep out of the lineup if he keeps hitting the way he has for the last two weeks.

DeShields had two hits in four at-bats and his two-run single in the eighth inning gave the Dodgers a 6-3 lead and Worrell some margin for error. DeShields, who had extended his hitting streak to seven games with a third-inning double, is batting .364 with two doubles and six runs batted in on the home stand.

“Even though I really didn’t like sitting down for that long period of time, it was probably the best thing for me because it gave me a chance to get myself together,” DeShields said.

With the Dodgers trailing, 3-2, in the third inning, Eric Karros drilled a two-run homer for a 4-3 lead.

“I’m going to struggle,” said Karros, who went eight for 46 (.174) on the recent 11-game Eastern trip and is six for 27 (.222) since returning home. “I’m not going to hit .450 all the time or have a week like I did when I was at home a couple weeks ago.

“It goes in cycles, and different guys have to contribute day in and day out. One guy isn’t going to carry this team and one guy isn’t going to bring it down.”