The Mets have a new good luck charm but it's something else causing the winning

The days of the Rally Pimp are over with; unless of course he’s actually the one who was underneath the Grimace costume worn on Wednesday when the well-known sidekick of Ronald McDonald threw out the first pitch at Citi Field. Ever since Grimace took the mound and launched one to home plate, the New York Mets have won.

Who would’ve known it would take Grimace to end the Mets’ losing streak in the City Connect uniforms? Forget J.D. Martinez powering up. It’s all Grimace and his laser beam delivery.

What has really livened up the Mets these last few games?

The Mets’ success extends prior to the Grimace era. But don’t tell that to the fans having fun with it on social media. 

The rock bottom sweep against the Los Angeles Dodgers with Jorge Lopez throwing his glove into the stands seemed to represent all that was going wrong for the team. The team meeting which followed seemed to be a jumping off point for when the team came alive.

They won their first two against the Arizona Diamondbacks only to drop the next two. A sweep against the Washington Nationals on the road followed by their split in London versus the Philadelphia Phillies, they then took two out of three versus the Miami Marlins and have defeated the San Diego Padres twice in as many chances. 

Part of what has helped the Mets could be the pitchers they’ve faced. They roughhoused Jordan Montgomery then got to take down last-minute Nationals substitution DJ Herz before manhandling Patrick Corbin as everyone seems to. Against the Phillies, their win came late but it was the game started by Taijuan Walker for whatever that’s worth.

The lone loss to the Marlins was with Jesus Luzardo on the mound. Braxton Garrett took a loss and then it was struggling closer Tanner Scott who dropped the second.

The Mets have been lucky to draw weaker Padres pitchers in the first two games, but with Dylan Cease on the mound on Sunday, they finally go up against someone both seasoned and tough. They barely scraped together a win on Friday versus Matt Waldron who held them at bay with the exception of 3 hits with the more important one being the two-run double by J.D. Martinez.

Regardless of what happens on Sunday, the Mets have passed an important test by winning their series against the Padres. We’ll see what the Mets are really made of when they go against the pitching staffs of the Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees next. All three teams have multiple tough customers in the rotation. It’ll get a little harder on the offense before it eases up again.