Izzy perfect fit for chair of bullpen

After trading Francisco Rodriguez during the All-Star break, Terry Collins has been forced to go with a closer-by-committee situation. But there's no question Jason Isringhausen is the chairman of that committee, with Pedro Beato and Bobby Parnell waiting in the wings and watching and learning from a 38-year-old pro.

Isringhausen was a perfect role model in the Mets' 6-5 victory over the Cardinals Wednesday night at Citi Field. He entered a game tied at 5 in the top of the ninth and got three outs, ending with a strikeout of Albert Pujols. When the Mets failed to score, Isringhausen went back out for the 10th and struck out Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman, and he came out with the win when Angel Pagan homered for the Mets in the 10th.

After three strikeouts in a row against three of the best hitters in the game, Isringhausen walked David Freese and allowed a single by Colby Rasmus, but he escaped the 10th clean when Gerald Laird's grounder forced Rasmus at second.

"To be honest, Laird was going to be his last guy," Collins said of Isringhausen. "We've got to give him one, if not two days off. I said when we lost Frankie, we've got to give other people opportunities."

On Tuesday night, Isringhausen picked up his 294th save, and his first since 2008. He'll have to wait for No. 295, but the win was even better.

"It was fun," Isringhausen said. "I told them I wanted to go back out for a second inning, so they said, 'We'll blow you out tonight.' "

Isringhausen will be a spectator for Thursday's 12:10 series finale, but he turned Pujols, Holliday and Berkman into spectators in the ninth and 10th. Of the 13 pitches Isringhausen threw the Cardinals' trio, 10 were strikes.

"I made some good pitches against some really good hitters," Isringhausen said. "If I can keep doing that, we'll be OK. It's fun facing Albert and Holliday and Berkman. Those are probably the best 3-4-5 guys in baseball in my mind."

With Isringhausen unavailable, Collins said he'll use Beato as the closer Thursday over Parnell, who gave up a run to the Cardinals in the eighth that gave them a 5-4 lead. Beato faced just one batter at the end of the seventh inning Wednesday night, but it was Pujols with a man on third and two outs. Beato induced a foul pop-up to end the threat.

"He had a look when he came to the mound that I hadn't seen in a long time," Collins said of Beato. "That's the biggest situation he's had in his career."

The rookie had a rough outing last weekend against Philadelphia, but he refused to be intimidated.

"I wanted to be very aggressive coming into a situation with a man on third and the game on the line. It's the job I have to do to get that guy out, and facing one of the toughest hitters in baseball, Pujols, it was a great out for me."