Isringhausen, Duncan not shaken by bullpen's shaky start to season

ST. LOUIS -- A shaky outing never will ruin Jason Isringhausen's day.

The St. Louis Cardinals closer gave up a grand slam in Chicago on Sunday night. In the home opener on Monday, he surrendered an RBI single and a walk and the go-ahead run was at the plate before he got the final out.

The bottom line: He gets the job done almost all the time. Isringhausen blew only four of 43 save chances last year and is 3-for-4 this season.

His job is all about being on the edge, and he can't allow himself to obsess over the failures. He won't hide in the trainer's room, either, to avoid facing the music.

"This ain't my first time doing this," Isringhausen said. "One home run ain't going to kill me, it ain't going to kill us as a team.

"As long as they keep calling down there, I'll keep going out there."

Isringhausen's early season adventures mirror the overall ineffectiveness of the Cardinals' rebuilt bullpen. The Brewers' two ninth-inning runs in St. Louis' 6-4 victory on Monday were charged to scuffling setup man Braden Looper, who failed to get the last three outs despite being handed a four-run lead.

Overall, the relievers were 0-2 and had allowed 11 runs in 18 2/3 innings heading into Wednesday night's game against the Brewers.

The team isn't worried about the group that includes three other newcomers -- Ricardo Rincon, Adam Wainwright and Josh Hancock -- along with holdovers Randy Flores and Brad Thompson. Pitching coach Dave Duncan notes it's a small sampling, only seven games.

He also joked after the home opener that Isringhausen "looked better today than yesterday."

"These guys have just got to get some games under their belt, that's all," Duncan said. "There's been many a team that early in the season the bullpen has been a concern and we've always pulled together.

"It doesn't concern me."

Isringhausen, who needs 18 saves to pass Lee Smith and become the franchise's career leader, can't totally ignore the failures. He confessed to aiming the ball a bit.

"You try to throw the perfect pitch and it doesn't always happen," Isringhausen said. "So you press a little bit and get booed and all of that good stuff.

"That's part of my job."

Still, he said the opportunity to get a save with a three-run lead and one out to go was an ideal situation for him to work out any early difficulties. He noted wryly that his typical save isn't a 1-2-3 slam-the-door ninth inning, either.

"It's perfect," he said. "I made it kind of interesting, but it wouldn't be me if I didn't."

Looper, the former Mets and Marlins closer, got a three-year, $13.5 million free agent deal despite finishing last year with a shoulder injury that required surgery. He struggled throughout spring training to rediscover his form.

Looper induced a double-play ball to the first batter he faced before running into trouble. Duncan said the ball slipped out of Looper's hand on a split-fingered fastball that Bill Hall hit for a double.

"His stuff is there, it's just going to be a matter of time," Duncan said. "He'll get into the swing of things."

Duncan noted that goes for the rest of the bullpen.

"The more they get out there, the more comfortable they get, the more relaxed they become, the more focused they become," he said.