Stiff Jay aims to play

ST. LOUIS — Jay Bruce left Wednesday night’s game with tightness in his right calf, but is hopeful that he will be back in the lineup Thursday night. “In San Francisco I fouled a ball off my shin, which I have done too many times in my career. I think it has to do with the way the swelling is dispersing through my muscle,” Bruce said of the calf issue. “I am shooting for (Thursday). We’ve been taking care of it in the training room. I didn’t feel anything all day, felt it as I ran out to the outfield in the first inning. It was kind of tight and it grabbed on me; it didn’t go away.”

Bruce told Terry Collins about the tightness when he came in for the top of the second, but said he wanted to try and hit and see if it would go away. Bruce doubled but when he got to second Collins said he could see him grimace.

“We’ll get some more work done on it (Thursday),” Bruce said. “Definitely, I don’t consider it serious at all. I just didn’t want it to get serious, wanted to head it off before it got too bad.”

Bruce has been struggling since the Mets acquired him from the Reds in a trade deadline deal. Bruce is 13-for-77 as a Met.

NIESE OUT FOR SEASON

Not even a month since rejoining the Mets at the trade deadline, Jon Niese is out for the rest of the season. The lefty left Tuesday night’s start after just four batters and was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his left knee. Niese will have surgery to repair it Thursday. Team doctor Struan Coleman will perform the procedure at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

Niese, 29, was 8-7 with a 5.50 ERA in 29 games this year with Pittsburgh and the Mets.

Still, the trade to reacquire Niese can be seen as a positive for the Mets. After trading him to Pittsburgh this winter for second baseman Neil Walker, Sandy Alderson got him back Aug. 1 in exchange for lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo and the GM’s mistake of a two-year deal for $12 million. Niese has a $500,000 team buyout for 2017.

Rookie Robert Gsellman, who pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in emergency relief Tuesday night, is scheduled to make Niese’s next start on Sunday.

Niese’s early departure stretched the bullpen pretty thin Tuesday night. The Mets recalled right-hander Erik Goeddel.

ACHES AND PAINS

Yoenis Cespedes’ right quad might be OK, but he’s banged up in other places. The left fielder took a seat in the bullpen Tuesday night during a pitching change in the first inning, leading some to speculate that he had tweaked the right quad that had put him on the disabled list earlier this month. Cespedes said that it was his heel that bothered him, not his leg.

“It is something I have had since I played in Cuba,” Cespedes said. “It is sometimes there, sometimes it isn’t. It’s not a big deal.”

Wednesday night, making a play in the outfield, he twisted his right ankle, but was able to play through it, Terry Collins said.

“His right ankle, if you remember, he’s done this a couple times,” Collins said. “He twisted his ankle a couple times, one time at first base coming off the bag.

“He said ’I’ll be OK,’ so that was a good sign.”

HAPPY DADDY

As he stated last week, Walker will use all of his collectively bargained right to three days of paternity leave to remain with his wife and daughter until Friday. The second baseman contacted Terry Collins Wednesday morning and said he would not be back until the team returns to New York.

Walker is the Mets’ hottest bat right now. Over the last 21 games, Walker is hitting .435 with six home runs and 14 RBI.

T.J. Rivera, who was hitting .324 with three RBI for the Mets before being demoted Friday, was called up to take Walker’s spot on the roster for the three days.

TAKE THE TRAIN

With the U.S. Open activities beginning over the weekend and ramping up to the actual tournament start on Monday, the Mets are warning fans that parking around Citi Field will be at a premium. The Mets are encouraging fans to take mass transit and arrive early for games during the upcoming homestand. Thursday at St. Louis, 7:15 p.m.; RHP Seth Lugo (0-2, 3.04) vs. RHP Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.71). TV: SNY