Francisco Lindor isn’t going to let the Mets’ party end

Fans chanted “M-V-P” when Francisco Lindor came to bat with the Mets down a run, the bases juiced and one out in the sixth. The Citi Field faithful was thinking partly with its heart, and partly with the vast knowledge about how much this guy means to the Mets. In a word: Everything. 

As if spearheading a second comeback and clinching the playoffs at hated Atlanta for a team that was supposed be in a transitional phase wasn’t enough, Lindor encore heroics were like from a movie. With the crowd chanting and Lindor badly needing any kind of hit after five innings of Mets offensive frustration, he cranked a grand slam home run to beat the almost-as-hated Phillies and send the Mets to the National League Championship Series that everyone figured they’d be watching at home. 

Phillies star reliever Carlos Estevez was acquired for just this occasion and inserted specifically to turn around Lindor to his allegedly weaker lefty side. Instead, Lindor turned around Estevez’s 99.4 mph misplaced 2-and-1 fastball, sending it over the wall in right-center and ultimately giving the Mets a 4-1 victory in the latest biggest game of their crazy season. 

“Of course. Why not? He just comes through again and again and again,” Mets owner Steve Cohen crowed in the champagne-drenched clubhouse. “Let’s keep it going.” 

This team doesn’t want to stop. And Lindor, always the MVP of this team at least, isn’t about to let them. 

Citi Field fans, who’ve been staging a two-day party while watching this team progress before their very eyes, increased the volume while Lindor calmly circled the bases. His tranquil demeanor never wavered from the very start of their winning five-stop, three-city journey until they finally returned to Queens. 

“He’s poised. He is a cold dude. He is the coldest dude I’ve ever been around,” Harrison Bader said as the celebratory bubbly flowed. 

“He’s colder than this champagne, baby,” Bader decided. 

Lindor, dubbed Mr. Smile, grinned slightly at the thought, but no one remains calmer throughout this wild ride. He wears a look of determination, and flashes that famous smile sparingly now. He has his eye on the big prize, and knows there’s a long way to go. 

They’ve come a long way already, of course, and in style, winning elimination games, games in their last at-bat, games in places they hate against teams they hate more. And while they wouldn’t say it, this was close to a must-win. 

They couldn’t have relished the idea of going back to Philly for a deciding Game 5 against Zack Wheeler, the ex-Met who’s transformed into the league’s best pitcher and who they didn’t touch in their Game 1 comeback win. It was like Mike Scott in 1986. The Mets did not want to go back. 

Speaking of the best, Lindor is the best hitter on the team, maybe the best defender in the league, and from here the very best leader, too. He won’t win that MVP award the crowd keeps calling for. But before Ohtani turned superhuman, he had a case. Folks in LA never got this, and it’s easy to understand why. The numbers don’t add up. But sometimes you just have to be there. 

Follow The Post’s coverage of the Mets in the postseason:

• Mets overcome arch rival Phillies to advance to NLCS as Lindor hits game-winning grand slam
• Francisco Lindor lights Citi Field on fire with wild go-ahead Mets grand slam
• Mets catch break on controversial Phillies foul ball
• Heyman: Mets have real chance to turn Amazin’ party into World Series run

He is the rock this surprise team needs, and everyone around it knows it. He thanked Bader for his thoughts and praised Bader for being such a great teammate. 

“I’m celebrating inside, but at the end of the day the job is not finished,” Lindor said. 

Alonso called the blast “the swing of a lifetime.” 

There have been a few of those lately, but the same could be said for the team that started 0-5, struggled through late May and looked like a possible seller. Indeed, it’s been one wild swing. 

Now there’s a party going on in Flushing, and the way things are going, it may last awhile. Lindor’s walk-up song, “My Girl,” was playing on the field 30 minutes afterward. The crowd behind the dugout didn’t budge longer than that. 

That endless trip of theirs was just the prelude to the biggest soiree of all, a homecoming fit for the surprise Kings of Queens (and maybe the National League). 

Lindor is getting help. Alonso happily remade his Mets legacy. Jose Iglesias redid his whole career rep. Mark Vientos established himself as a star. So did David Peterson, who’s gone from borderline rotation guy to star starter to shutdown reliever. 

It’s the guys. More than that, it’s the journey. Someone could write a book on it. 

They sneaked into the dance, becoming one of the first two to qualify on a paper tiebreaker, thanks to that Lindor home run in Atlanta, when he was carrying the team on his hurting back. Now he’s feeling better and doing the same. 

“It feels amazing to be able to move forward,” Lindor said. 

In this season of unparalleled parity, a rare year with no 100-game winner, the Mets have all they could ask for. That is a chance. 

“Guess where we’re going?” Steve Cohen said. “We’re going to California.” 

These Mets became the first team to qualify for a championship series. They are full of surprises.