What Changed this Team?

It appears we have a little win streak on our hands. Man, do the Mets love Brad Penney or what?

But what changed since Monday? Why does this team all of a sudden look way better than last week?

Let's remove the issue of the Willie Randolph meeting with the Wilpons. If that was a motivator, we would have seen some life in this ball club on Monday, but they were completely dead.

Has the pitching been more effective of late? Not really. Our starters are still giving up 3+ runs every night. The bullpen has been more clutch, except for Duaner Sanchez's lone hiccup on Wednesday night.

Has the hitting magically gotten better? Kind of. Reyes is now on a nice streak. Beltran has been hitting the ball hard for over a week now, but just recently is starting to find holes. Wright showed some pop last night. And the super subs are filling in nicely.

Has the defense improved? Not really. Castillo, Delgado & Endy have all flashed the leather this week, but it's not like we're all of a sudden the impenetrable defense that was the 2000 Mets.

So what is the key? Timely hitting. It doesn't matter if you get a ton of hits or home runs, but it's that one hit at the right time that makes all the difference. Lee Mazzili made an excellent comment during the SNY Post Game last night. He said "Sometimes you don't get a 2 out base hit during an entire week. The Mets had 6 two out hits tonight."

Maz is right. That's how we won last night when we scored 4 runs in an inning all with 2 outs. The night before is the same story because we got hits with runners in scoring position. The Mets during this win streak have found a way to get hits with 2 outs or with runners in scoring position.

And that my fellow Mets Lifers makes all the difference. If the team continues to execute like that, we might finally see this team go somewhere.