Francisco Lindor backs up ‘MVP’ chants by doing a little bit of everything to help Mets win

The Mets’ MVP candidate did nothing to dissuade voters as his team returned to Queens to start a pivotal homestand.

Hearing “M-V-P” chants from the Citi Field crowd on Monday night, Francisco Lindor obliged by getting on base three times, going first-to-home to score on Brandon Nimmo’s third-inning double and recording an RBI of his own an inning later.

In this 4-1 win over the Red Sox where the strike zone was a little larger than Mets hitters preferred at times — a problem more than offset by Luis Severino’s sterling seven innings of work — that essentially provided the winning margin.

All in a day’s work for Lindor, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games and an on-base streak to 31 games.

“It was pretty cool,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the chants, which have gone on at Citi Field for some time. “I felt it, too, and I was like, ‘Wow.’ Looking back to April and here we are, the first week of September and we have 35-40,000 people chanting, ‘M-V-P,’ that’s pretty cool.

“Special player, special person. Again, he’s everything you ask for in a player. Just proud to write his name in the lineup every day.”

The Mets have never had an MVP winner and Lindor cannot consider himself the favorite as Shohei Ohtani closes in on baseball’s first ever 50-50 season in Los Angeles — getting to 44-46 by swiping three bases on Monday.

If Ohtani makes more history, then Lindor’s combination of durability, defensive excellence and high-end consistency at the plate could understandably go unrewarded by voters.

But if Lindor continues to play a leading-man role on a Mets side that pulls itself into the playoffs, then the MVP conversation will give way to something more important.

The shortstop’s value to the Mets was underscored on Monday as the Mets pulled within a half-game of the Braves for the NL’s last wild-card spot.

Without J.D. Martinez (paternity) or Francisco Alvarez, who was given a rest and has struggled recently anyway, the Mets got some damage from the guys at the bottom of the order — DJ Stewart and Luis Torrens — during a two-run fourth.

Stewart singled and Torrens doubled, with Stewart scoring on an error by left fielder Tyler O’Neill. Lindor promptly singled in Torrens, reliable as ever.

“When you’re able to see the type of player and the type of season Lindor’s having, both personal and the way he’s helping the team, it’s special to see,” Torrens said through an interpreter. “And you’re starting to see [chants] more and more when the team wins, especially.”