Finally, he let out a sigh, stood up, turned around and faced the media, reliving his ninth inning in typical Isringhausen honesty.

"It was all aggravating," Isringhausen said. "It was terrible. I was just fighting myself and fighting everything about myself."

Izzy allowed a three-run homer to Ken Griffey Jr., sending the Cardinals to a disappointing 8-7 defeat to the Reds on Monday night at Busch Stadium.

"This is a really tough loss, but this is the big leagues," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said.

With the defeat, the Cardinals dropped to 1-1 since Albert Pujols went on the disabled list. Also, Cincinnati moved within two games of St. Louis in the National League Central race.

The loss came despite three two-out homers from Juan Encarnacion, Chris Duncan and Yadier Molina, and it kept Jeff Suppan at 99 career victories after his third try at the century mark.

"I feel bad for Sup' for not getting him his 100th win tonight, and I feel bad for letting everyone down," Isringhausen said. "It's a feeling that not many people experience tonight. It's hard to deal with."

Isringhausen seems to have many eventful ninth innings -- allowing at least one batter to reach base in eight of his last nine saves -- but he has an ability to work out of jams.

On Monday, his inning started with a one-out double to Felipe Lopez, a thorn in the side of the Cardinals the entire night. It was Lopez's fourth hit of the game and his second for extra bases.

Isringhausen followed with a walk to Rich Aurilia, marking the right-hander's 22nd walk in 23 innings this season.

"I have not had this bad of command in my career," Isringhausen said. "Everyone can see how the walks happen. It's hard to keep fighting with guys on all the time."

And with Griffey up, Isringhausen lost the battle. He threw a 3-2 pitch that Griffey deposited into the right-field stands, inducing a loud chorus of boos from the crowd of 43,701.

"It was a bad pitch," Isringhausen said.

Isringhausen's inning, though, wasn't the only stumble for the St. Louis bullpen. The usually sturdy 'pen, ranked first in the Majors with a 2.96 ERA entering Monday, allowed a run in both the seventh and the eighth.

"I look at the whole game," La Russa said. "We missed a chance in the seventh and the eighth, and Sup' gave them two in the first. That was a big problem. We didn't shut them down."

Josh Hancock, pitching for the first time since throwing four relief innings in a 14-inning loss last Friday against the Cubs, allowed a seventh-inning run on a sacrifice fly, narrowing a three-run lead to 6-4.

In the eighth, Brad Thompson permitted two hits that yielded a run and cut the advantage to 6-5. The right-hander, usually one of the rocks in the bullpen, has allowed seven earned runs in his last seven appearances.

Other than the bullpen work, the Cardinals played a terrific game in Pujols' stead. On Sunday, they won 9-6 over the Cubs by manufacturing runs and delivering key singles and doubles.

On Monday, led by Encarnacion, Duncan and Molina, the Redbirds turned to the long ball, giving Suppan (six innings, three runs allowed) a chance at the century mark.

Down, 3-2, entering the bottom of the fifth, Scott Rolen walked with two outs. Encarnacion deposited a 2-0 pitch from Brandon Claussen into the left-field bullpen, providing the Cardinals with a lead they wouldn't relinquish until the ninth.

In the sixth, Duncan, called up on Sunday, delivered a two-out two-run monster shot off Rick White to right-center field, giving St. Louis a 6-3 lead. The blast also provided Duncan his first curtain call.

"That was one of my most favorite moments," Duncan said. "In the Minors, we don't have that, playing in front of only a few thousand fans."

In two Major League stints this season, Duncan, the son of Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan, has hit two homers and three hits in seven at-bats.

"The more at-bats I get, the more comfortable I feel," Duncan said.

Another player feeling very relaxed is Molina, hitting well over .300 in the past 10 days. After the Reds cut the deficit to 6-5, Molina parked a solo shot of Esteban Yan in the eighth for his first homer since Sept. 13, 2005.

"We put ourselves in a position to win the game," La Russa said.

But a struggling Isringhausen was unable to close the door.