In this paper we are concerned with the existence of optimal stationary policies for infinite-horizon risk-sensitive Markov control processes with denumerable state space, unbounded cost function, and long-run average cost. Introducing a discounted cost dynamic game, we prove that its value function satisfies an Isaacs equation, and its relationship with the risk-sensitive control problem is studied. Using the vanishing discount approach, we prove that the risk-sensitive dynamic programming inequality holds, and derive an optimal stationary policy.