The New York Mets have improved to 6 - 0 since their adopted new mascot, Grimace, threw out the ceremonial first pitch last week before a game against the Miami Marlins.
The winning streak is the Mets' longest of the year, and sorely needed after the team plummeted in the standings in May. On Monday, the Mets hammered out 22 hits including two home runs en route to defeating the reigning World Series Champion Texas Rangers 14 - 2.
Grimace, the mysterious but lovable purple McDonald's mascot who was apparently designed to represent an anthropomorphized taste bud, threw out the pre-game first pitch at Citi Field on June 12, his birthday, according to the fast-food giant.
While the pitch itself was no thing of beauty, the Mets earned an essential needed 10 - 4 victory that night, and another the next night in walkoff fashion to take the series against Miami. Then over the weekend, the Mets swept the San Diego Padres for the first time in 18 years, picking up much-needed ground in the hunt for a National League wildcard spot.
The Mets six-game win streak is only the second time this season in which they've won more than three games in a row. The Mets are now three games under .500 and inching closer to position for one of three National League wildcard playoff spots.
Skeptics will note that the Mets' improved play has corresponded with an easier schedule after a grueling spring and a jetlag-inducing weekend trip to the U.K. for the two-game London Series with the division leading Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets also got their closer Edwin Díaz and their 21-year-old star catcher Francisco Alvarez back from the injured list when they returned from London. Plus, manager Carlos Mendoza, who has tinkered with the batting order all season, appears to have found a lineup he likes with shortstop Francisco Lindor, outfielder Brandon Nimmo, designated hitter J.D. Martinez and first baseman Pete Alonso taking the batters box respectively in that order each night.
Whatever the reason for the midseason surge, the outlook is a little brighter for the orange and blue (and now purple).