Winners of the NL East in 1987, the Cardinals faced the San Francisco Giants, whom Worrell had posted a 7.36 ERA against, in the NLCS. Worrell entered Game 1 in relief of Mathews with one out on the eighth and a runner on first with the Cardinals leading 5–2. He got one out but gave up an RBI double to Candy Maldonado and left the bases loaded before getting replaced by Dayley, who finished the game without letting any more runs score to earn the save. He gave up one run in the final three innings of Game 3, earning the save in a 6–5 Cardinal victory. In Game 6, Worrell relieved Tudor with one out in the eighth and the Cardinals leading 1–0. He got the last two outs of the inning and the first out of the ninth, then was replaced by Dayley because a left-hander was due up. Thinking he might want to use Worrell later on if right-handed hitters came up later, Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog left Worrell in the game, moving him to right field. He spent the rest of the game there, as Dayley retired both of the hitters he faced.