PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. – Word of how Jason Isringhausen endangered the bats of his fellow teammates with his cut fastball Friday even reached the Cardinals’ clubhouse, not that veteran Russ Springer hadn’t already noticed.

“All I know is Izzy must have been dealing,” the righthander said, “because I looked out there and there was a blimp overhead.”

The blimp was hovering for the Honda Classic. The busted bats were all Izzy’s.

The Cardinals’ closer made his first appearance against hitters Friday, throwing 30 pitches and beguiling batters with a fadeaway change, a sinker that moved so much his pitching coach had to ask what it was, and a curve that froze a hitter. Within the first few batters he faced, Isringhausen had:

• Got a swing and a miss on a changeup to Cody Hearther.
• Froze Nick Stavinoha with a curveball. 
• Snapped Skip Schumaker’s bat with a cutter.
• Giggled as he did it, too.
• Caught Rick Ankiel watching a first-pitch strike. “Changeup?” Ankiel said. “I was looking for a curveball.”

“I heard,” Adam Kennedy said in the clubhouse later, “he was eating them up.”

Isringhausen said he’ll throw a couple more times to hitters and then make his first appearance in a game. He’s tinkering with a few things. For example, he wasn’t pleased with the location of his fastball. Schumaker certified the quality of the cutter, which snapped two bats and left a couple hitters wondering as they left the cage if their bat had busted. Isringhausen is fiddling around with a changeup that he’ll use for both sides of the plate. And there will be more on that and this batting practice session in tomorrow’s paper.

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So here’s a reason to keep Juan Gonzalez around, at least on the bench: He owns Johan Santana. The Mets nifty new lefty made his New York debut Friday, and this was no ordinary spring training start for the $137.5-million man. A firing line of cameras stood behind home plate to capture every, teeny, dramatic, moving detail of his … warmup tosses to Ramon Castro.

This was not your average fastball-changeup day.

And it may be remembered for the shot Santana gave up to born-again Gonzalez.

The Cardinals came out swinging against Santana, jumping on his first-pitch fastballs in the first inning. With Chris Duncan have fended off a pitch for a single to left field and Albert Pujols drilling a double down the third-base line, up came Gonzalez. The two-time MVP with a bit of an experience in the American League brought this career line into his at-bat against the two-time Cy Young Award winner:

6-for-7, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 0 Ks, .857 BA, 2.000 SLG

On the first pitch of the at-bat, Santana offered a fastball and Gonzalez deposited it deep over the left-center fence for a three-run jack. Somebody should have seen that coming. (Ahem.)

“He’s always been a great hitter,” Santana said after his start. “Today he was very aggressive. (The Cardinals) were swinging right away. He put a good swing and hit it out. Always been a great hitter.”

Especially against Santana.

***

A six-pitch second inning allowed Adam Wainwright to finish his scheduled three innings. The Cardinals’ righthander allowed two runs (both earned) off five hits. He struck out two and did not walk a batter.

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Mike Parisi got the win — thanks to a solo home run by Albert Pujols – in the Cardinals’ 5-4 victory against the 0-3 Mets. He and prospect Jaime Garcia combined to throw four innings, holding the Mets to one run (against Parisi) and striking out three. Manager Tony La Russa said Parisi settled into the game and wasn’t over-throwing like he had been in batting practice. The lefty Garcia has impressed, but isn’t going on the same track as, say, Sunday starter Kyle McClellan.

“He’s going to get the innings that are available to him,” La Russa said of Garcia. “I don’t think we’re in position to create inning for him. Yet. Things might change.”

***

Santana after his NY opening: “A lot of people were waiting for this. It’s finally done. This is just the beginning of my career with the Mets.”

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Seen! Late in game Friday, right fielder Ryan Ludwick played catch with a member of the bullpen to warmup for the final inning. This wouldn’t normally be news. Except the pitcher who tossed with him wore a catcher’s mitt. On his left hand. And threw right handed.

The pitcher? Tyler Johnson.

A lefty. So not only is he a switch-hitter, Johnson is apparently an ambidextrous thrower, too. Of course, the likelihood of Johnson whipping a few righthanded sliders in the future is about the same as the Cardinals converting him to starter. (So, can we end that discussion?)

***

Found! Ricardo Rincon is now warming up for the Mets.

***

Matt Clement threw a 35-pitch bullpen Friday back at the Cardinals’ campus. He said he felt the difference made by his long-toss schedule, though he’s not sure where it puts him on his schedule. He was likened to a pitcher making his first bullpen throw of spring, which could put his game debut a few weeks away.

***

It’s Leap Day, which means we can wish Pepper Martin a happy 26th birthday.

Born on Feb. 29, 1904, the Wild Horse of the Osage became a Cardinals legend at the tender age of … 6 1/2 … hitting .500 in the 1931 World Series. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Martin is one of a dozen former major leaguers born on Leap Day. The list includes, amazingly, two players born on the same Leap Day — back in 1896.

Roy Parker is one.

Born in Union, Mo. — a fine place to get a marriage license — the righthander’s career lasted six days. He made two appearances for the Cardinals, pitched two innings, did not strike out a batter and allowed six hits. He left the majors with an ERA larger than the month of his birth is long, 31.50.

***

Wainwright said he was hoping to bat in Friday’s game, not because he wants to get that career .794 slugging percentage as many warmup swings as possible before the season hits. No. He wanted to see Santana’s changeup from the best view possible. “I’m not saying that because I think I can hit it,” he said. “I just want to get a good look at it.”

***

So we’re talking with Russ Springer about his days in Houston and how his arrival there — really return from retirement there, but I digress — spurred them to the first of their consecutive second-half surges back in the 100-win days for the Cardinals. That’s when Springer explains how the Astros turned their slide around: Superstition.

He recalled one day, as a game in Milwaukee started, he told the relievers to stay in the dugout until the offense scored some runs. There the relievers sat, with their teammates instead of out in the bullpen. When Houston ripped off four runs, the relievers made their walk to the bullpen. The next day, the hitters told them they had to stay until they scored.

The next day, too.

And the next.

And soon enough Houston relievers left the dugout each game only after the team had scored run, explaining why the Astros alwawys had that parade out to the bullpen.

***

In the latest edition of Baseball America, the trade publication punctuates its offseason coverage with the release of its Top 100. Already detailed the three Cardinals ranked in the 100 — Colby Rasmus (5), Bryan Anderson (85) and Chris Perez (97) — but the issue offers more about the system:

• A head-to-head scouting take on Perez vs. another fireballer who could move ahead as Arizona’s closer, former Mizzou ace Max Scherzer.

• A list of the “best of the rest” — the players who just missed the top 100 cut but were ranked in the BA editors personal top 150s. The Cardinals have two players listed here: Brian Barton, who was listed on four rankings, including one as high as 98; and Jaime Garcia, who was listed on three ballots, including one that had him at 95.

***

Sig Mejdal, a member of the Cardinals analysis department (and scene-stealer in Sam Walker’s bestselling baseball book, Fantasyland), has sent out a letter to several sites in Cardinals Nation blogdom. Seems the Cardinals are opening up their scouting ranks to include fans in a search for an “under the radar” player. From the letter he sent to Future Redbirds (link at right):

The organization is looking for your help in identifying amateur college baseball talent that might be under the radar. By that we mean players that are college players and do not play for a D1 school. Our scouts spend many hours doing research and going to games, but every year there are young men from college programs that are off the beaten path that would make good professional baseball players.

There is more information at the official Web site: “Pick One for the Birds”.

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