The mentor owns two World Series championship rings as a manager and came within a Game 7 of winning another. The pupil manages the hottest team in the National League since the All-Star break and is trying to navigate the wild-card race for a playoff berth that seemed so unattainable five weeks ago.

It’s now more than ever the Mets could use Mickey Callaway to morph into Terry Francona and not only get his club into the postseason derby, but provide staying power in October.

Francona brought the Indians to Citi Field on Tuesday leading the AL wild-card race and watched the crew led by his former pitching coach Callaway clobber Cleveland’s bullpen in the Mets’ third straight victory, 9-2.

The playoffs are old hat for Francona, who is regarded among the game’s best managers based largely on his track record and his communication skills.

But he wasn’t always a genius. He arrived to Boston before the 2004 season as something of a gamble, after an unremarkable tenure managing the Phillies, and there were questions whether he was fit for such a high-profile job as the Red Sox.

Interestingly, Francona had been a candidate for the Mets job after Bobby Valentine got fired in 2002, but Art Howe unexpectedly became available and “lit up the room” in a meeting with Fred Wilpon, sending the franchise into a downward spiral.

Francona earned his credibility by the Red Sox ending the Curse of the Bambino, winning the World Series after becoming the first team to rebound from a three-game postseason deficit, beating the Yankees in the ALCS. It’s the same kind of odds Callaway was facing July 12 after the Mets lost in Miami and fell 11 games below .500. Playoffs? Playoffs?

Somehow, the Mets have climbed back. Callaway deserves credit at this point for preventing the season from becoming a disaster and helping ensure the Mets will most likely play games of significance into September.

After getting crushed for his decision last week to remove Steven Matz to start the seventh inning in Atlanta with the pitcher rolling, Callaway let the left-hander begin the seventh on this night with a 4-2 lead. Matz only got one out before he was removed, with the tying runs on base. But Callaway inserted Justin Wilson and the left-hander struck out Francisco Lindor and Oscar Mercado. That was pretty much the ballgame. This time Callaway got it right.

“When you’re in a market like this, if you don’t win you are going to get criticized or picked at,” Francona said, when asked about Callaway, who served as his pitching coach for five seasons in Cleveland. “If things don’t go the right way it’s obviously the wrong way. That’s why I felt for a while as manager you do what you think is right, have enough confidence in what you’re doing, answer the questions and then move on. I think that is the best way to do it.”

If Callaway had a better bullpen he would be much smarter, but until Edwin Diaz gets on track and Jeurys Familia proves he’s worthy of pitching in big spots, the search for right answers will be complicated.

Francona said he and Callaway remain in contact through text messages, but the communications are almost always light-hearted in nature.

“I would never tell him how to manage his team,” Francona said. “When you’re in Boston or you are here, if things don’t go right the manager is going to hear. That is part of the deal. I have always known Mickey to be confident enough in himself to do what he thinks is right and stick by it.”

I asked Callaway what he learned from Francona during those years at his side, especially during crunch time.

“You try to keep things as relaxed as possible,” Callaway said. “It’s the same game. The games probably do mean more. There is going to be more pressure on the players, so you just have to keep a calm, relaxed atmosphere and allow them to perform to the best of their abilities. I think Tito probably does that better than anybody I have ever been around.”

Mickey Callaway is no Terry Francona. But Terry Francona wasn’t always Terry Francona, either.