All right, we’re going to make this one quick.

It was a long day back and forth from Citi Field - well worth it, but long.

And I have a lot of other work to do.

This is going to happen sometimes - I’ll feel like I’m just squeezing in a post to get it in there for posterity.

But this one is well worth writing about.

I went into this game believing one thing - Jose Quintana had to bounce back from his bad start against the Giants and give the Mets a great start, and it wouldn’t hurt if he went deep into the game. (And the Mets needed to win and avoid a sweep.)

And then Quintana struggled to complete the first inning, finally doing so after 26 pitches.

It did not look like either was going to happen.

He settled in wonderfully, though, and gave the Mets both - going 8 innings and allowing just one run on a squeeze bunt.

Francisco Lindor provided the offense with a solo opposite-field home run.

He also provided the scare in the 8th inning going with a headfirst slide into home plate as he was tagged out as the go-ahead run. I haven’t heard anything about his health but I wasn’t sure about the condition of his shoulder - he looked like he was treating it gingerly in the field afterwards.

Anyway, it was 1-1 into the 11th. Then the Cardinals got their extra innings run, and ran into a double play which probably helped the Mets out…

Because it meant they just needed one run to tie, which they got thanks to a Harrison Bader single with 2 strikes and 2 outs to bring home DJ Stewart.

And then Mark Vientos walked it off with his own opposite field home run and the Mets won 4-2.

It was ridiculously exciting and I have to admit I didn’t love when Carlos Mendoza pinch hit Vientos for Brett Baty, but it turned out to be the game-winning move.

Good for Vientos.

I’ll tell you this story and then we’ll wrap things up:

Last year my middle daughter and I went to the Mets-Guardians game on Friday night - the one where the Mets tied it at 7 on Pete Alonso’s grand slam and then won in extra innings after giving up runs in the top half of the inning.

My daughter went to the bathroom in the 7th inning and Pete Alonso hit the grand slam, so she missed it live.

Fast forward to today’s game, when the Mets tied it up, it went to extra innings, and then they fell behind and tied it in extras.

Since we had a long ride ahead she decided to go to the bathroom - as Mark Vientos came to the plate. I smiled because I knew he was going to homer.

That’s just what happens now.

The Series Against St. Louis: 1-2

Overall Record: 14-13

Standings: 3rd place in the NL East, 5.5 games behind Atlanta (I accidentally wrote 4th place in the last recap but the nice thing about nobody reading this is that it’s OK to make a little mistake like that)

Up Next: The Cubs come to town after losing a close one on Sunday Night Baseball in Boston. The Cubs are 17-11, and despite losing two out of three to the Red Sox, they’re pretty good. And Shota Imanaga, who the Mets will face Wednesday, is for real. It will be a tough 4-game set at Citi Field. I don’t love that the Mets are now on a series-losing streak, but maybe they can build some momentum from Sunday’s exciting win. I don’t want to see them drop below .500 on the season.

I might recap the month - watch out for a possible post before Thursday.

I’ll leave you with a celebratory image from this afternoon’s game.

Let’s Go Mets.