PITTSBURGH — Francisco Lindor wasn’t expecting the half-day of sorts, but when he arrived at the Mets’ clubhouse Saturday he learned he would be the designated hitter for their game against the Pirates.

Such a break is rare for Lindor, who had started the Mets’ first 64 games this season at shortstop. Last year, he played 159 games at shortstop and two as the DH.

“I think it will be good for my body,” Lindor said before the Mets beat the Pirates 5-1 at PNC Park. “And we have a good shortstop sub.”

That alternate option, Luis Guillorme, returned to the Mets on Friday after Pete Alonso was placed on the injured list.

In the weeks since Guillorme had been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, the Mets’ backup options at shortstop were Eduardo Escobar and Jeff McNeil.

Guillorme committed a fielding error Saturday by mishandling a throw from first baseman Mark Canha that led to the Pirates scoring their only run, which was unearned against Kodai Senga.

Manager Buck Showalter said he would like to give Lindor another day off his feet Sunday, but it might be difficult given the shortstop’s desire to be on the field.

“He wants to play every inning of every game,” said Showalter, who removed Lindor from the game during the blowout loss to the Pirates on Friday. “He didn’t like coming out [Friday] … but that is something that we knew when [Guillorme] got here we looked at it more. We had the ability to do it when [Guillorme] wasn’t here, it would just be more of a fall off from his level.”

Lindor booted a grounder Friday for an error, contributing to a Pirates scoring outburst.

If he had fielded the ball cleanly, he almost certainly would have started an inning-ending double play.

Lindor went 0-for-4 at the plate as the DH on Saturday.

With the Mets in need of fresh bullpen arms, veteran Tommy Hunter was designated for assignment.

Hunter, 36, owned a 6.85 ERA in 14 appearances for the club this season. He had pitched in each of the previous two games, most notably allowing a walk-off homer to Ozzie Albies in the 10th inning Thursday in Atlanta.

Hunter, who had pitched previously for Showalter with the Orioles, was a solid clubhouse presence for the Mets.

“It was a tough morning — I called him early to see if he wanted to not come over [to the ballpark],” Showalter said. “But Tommy wanted to come back to say goodbye to everybody, but it’s never a ‘goodbye, see you later.’ Tommy has a way of cropping up in everybody’s lives. He’s a great teammate.”

Zach Muckenhirn was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to clear another roster space and the Mets recalled relievers John Curtiss and Josh Walker.