METS NOTES

“I’ve hit a few home runs in my career and I’ve never gotten close to missing a base,” Bruce said after the Mets beat the Cardinals 6-5 at Busch Stadium. “That would be a new low for me.

“I did not expect [the challenge] to happen, but everybody has their reasons, I guess. They felt like they needed to challenge it.”

Jason Vargas passed his final test and can prepare for his Mets debut on Saturday.

A day after throwing four innings in a rehab start for Triple-A Las Vegas against El Paso, in which he allowed three runs on three hits and two walks, the veteran lefty rejoined the Mets on Tuesday. He will be activated from the DL on Saturday to start in San Diego.

“He is ready to go,” manager Mickey Callaway said before the Mets faced the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Though Todd Frazier was never teammates with Danny Farquhar, the Mets third baseman placed a call to the White Sox to express concern over the reliever, who recently underwent surgery for a brain aneurysm.

“I called up Herm Schneider, the trainer with the White Sox over there, and he said [Farquhar] is still in critical condition, but he is doing better,” Frazier said.

Asdrubal Cabrera, who went 1-for-4 with a walk is on a 12-for-29 (.414) tear with seven RBIs over his past seven games.

“It looks like he feels good,” Michael Conforto said of Cabrera’s fast start.