A pitcher who is given the tag of "closer" for his team can lose games and still survive. He just can't lose his confidence. If he does, I would suggest keeping those feelings private.

These basic truths of the game of baseball were very much in evidence in the series between the Cardinals and Brewers that concluded on Monday night.

It's the reason why Jason Isringhausen of the Cardinals and Eric Gagne of the Brewers were not pitching in their normal roles in Monday night's game that Milwaukee won, 8-3.

Isringhausen and Gagne both have proven themselves to be two of the game's most accomplished closers. Their managers and their teammates are counting on them to be the guys who are on the mound when a victory is celebrated.

The sudden problem in all of this is that this past weekend both Isringhausen and Gagne expressed the thought that someone else might be better off pitching the final inning with the game on the line.

The expressed lack of confidence by Isringhausen and Gagne was enough to cause St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and Milwaukee skipper Ned Yost to rethink the alignment of their bullpens for the present time.

"I'm just getting sick of embarrassing myself and letting my team down," Isringhausen said after blowing his fifth save of the season in Friday night's game.

One game later, Gagne -- already with five blown saves -- took the loss, and he responded after the game by saying, "Every time we get a little momentum going, I mess it up."

All of this shows the pressure on the men who have the assignment of nailing down victories for their teams.

Isringhausen has posted 11 saves this season and Gagne has nine, but it is the blown saves that have stuck with the two pitchers.

Once Gagne had a couple of days to think about his statements and his feelings, he told a group of reporters on Monday he was ready to go back to the role of closing games for the Brewers "whenever [Yost is] ready."

Both La Russa and Yost handled the emotional statements of their closers in a professional and experienced manner, stating that a little break from the pressure-packed role would serve them well.

You can be assured neither manager was happy to see the quotes provided by their pitchers. How can a manager send a pitcher to the mound at the most important part of the game when that pitcher has expressed doubt?

During the time I was the general manager of the Dodgers, I recall a case when one of our relief pitchers, Jim Gott, told reporters he was going so badly he wouldn't blame manager Tommy Lasorda if he never got into another game.

Gott is one of the best people you will ever meet, but he had let his emotions over a bad outing or two get in his way of good judgment in dealing with the media. I called Jim and asked if his quote was accurate, because if it was, we had a real problem.

I explained to Jim that if he didn't believe in himself, how was the team going to believe in him? Gott acknowledged that his quote was a mistake, said he hadn't lost confidence and we went on from there.

La Russa and Yost know that if their teams are going to reach the postseason, their assigned and experienced closers are going to have to return to their roles and get through the early season gloom and self-expressed doubt.

The fact is, only a few pitchers can handle the pressure of pitching in the ninth inning.

"The last three outs are different and more difficult [than the seventh or eighth]," La Russa said. "It takes a special guy to be there. Isringhausen is that guy; we just have to do what it takes to get him right."

"There's something about being on the mound in the ninth inning," said Yost. "It takes a certain mentality to do it. I haven't been able to figure it out. It's three outs, but it's much more than three outs."

It's the very reason why the Brewers signed Gagne to a $10 million contract as a free agent, knowing the former bullpen ace of the Dodgers had racked up 152 saves during a three-year span between 2002-04.

At this point in time, it's a safe bet that La Russa and Yost will do everything they can to rebuild the confidence of their beleaguered closers.

Both Isringhausen and Gagne have proven they can get those final three outs during the course of a tough season.

A veteran pitching coach once provided the best description of a successful closer by saying, "Your closer needs good stuff and a bad memory."