Collins confident in Mets minus Cespedes

NEW YORK — Yoenis Cespedes is out indefinitely with a strained right quad, and Mets manager Terry Collins is preparing to contend without the power-hitting Cuban outfielder for the time being.

Cespedes has been nursing the injury since just prior to the All-Star break, but it flared up to the point of no return when he struck out in the ninth inning against Tyler Clippard on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Cespedes, the Mets’ designated hitter in the loss to the Yankees, came back to the dugout and told his manager that he had tweaked the injury.

“As soon as the game was over, we sat down in my office and he said, ‘I just can’t keep playing like this,'” Collins recalled before his club’s 4-1 win, powered by newcomer Jay Bruce’s three-run homer.

And with that, Cespedes went on the disabled list. There is no timetable for his return.

“We’re going to wait a few days for it to quiet down and to where he starts some activities down in Florida,” Collins said. “Right now they just want this thing to quiet down totally, and there’s no timeframe on how long that’s going to take.”

It’s not good news for a team trying desperately to make the playoffs and defend last year’s National League pennant. The Mets are going to need some help from others, and almost on cue Thursday night, Bruce smacked the homer during the fifth inning off Yanks starter Nathan Eovaldi, his first hit with the Mets after going 0-for-10 with a walk.

“I told some guys that it felt like it was my first Major League home run, running around the bases,” Bruce said afterward. “It felt good to make an impact that way. It was a big spot.”

Bruce was acquired in a trade with the Reds on Monday, and the acquisition of the left-handed power hitter now with 26 homers and 83 RBIs this season couldn’t have come a moment too soon.

“The atmosphere in our clubhouse the other day when we got Jay Bruce should have been that our front …

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