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USATSI

The New York Mets have been the carrier of bad vibes at several different points in the 2023 season. After their Sunday afternoon sweep, however, it's fair to say they have some incredibly positive vibes at the moment. They took the first game of a day-night doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians, 5-4. In the nightcap, the Mets were victorious by the count of 2-1. 

Together, these marked the Mets' fourth and fifth consecutive wins, respectively. They also ran their string to five straight one-run victories. These were the third and fourth games of the five that had some late-inning drama, too. 

In the afternoon tilt, it looked like the Mets might be able to avoid sweating out the win. They took a 3-0 lead to the eighth inning. The Guardians would rally, though, with a José Ramírez two-run home run putting the Guardians up 4-3. Were the negative vibes seeping back in? 

Not this time. In the bottom half, Starling Marte played hero with a two-run blast. 

Aside from bringing back the good vibes and staving off the bad ones, that had to feel pretty nice for Marte. He entered the game hitting .231/.298/.279 (63 OPS+) with just one home run. He was an All-Star last season. This homer was part of a 3-for-4 game, so perhaps this will be the game that turns things around for the 34-year-old. 

In the nightcap, the Mets entered the bottom of the sixth inning trailing 1-0 with Guardians' ace Shane Bieber on the mound. Francisco Lindor -- who walked off his former team two days ago -- came through with a game-tying shot: 

Thanks to the excellent mound work of Justin Verlander along with Bieber, the game would remain tied heading to the bottom of the eighth. Rookie sensation Francisco Alvarez led off the inning with a single and was replaced with pinch runner Marte. With one out, Lindor came to the plate and when things are going your way, stuff like this will happen: With Marte running, Lindor checked his swing and a light little liner/grounder found its way through the hole that was created with the shortstop leaving his position to cover second. This allowed Marte to get to third with contact man extraordinaire Jeff McNeil coming to the plate. Sure enough, McNeil did his job with a productive out, bringing home the run with a sac fly. 

A doubleheader sweep and a five-game winning streak all in one. That's how you keep those good vibes flowing. 

The Mets just went through a stretch where they lost 16 of 22 and most of those losses were to bad teams (such as the Nationals, Rockies and Reds). They then had a comeback, walk-off win over the Rays on Wednesday, beat the Rays by one on Thursday, had a comeback, walk-off win over the Guardians on Friday and before this dramatic wins on Sunday. 

It's been a wild ride in Queens and we aren't even to June yet.