Heading into last night's contest against the Marlins, the Mets desperately needed a spark. They had lost five games on their six-game road trip, and Mets COO Jeff Wilpon saw a glimpse of the 2018 freefall and called a meeting with Mickey Callaway and Brodie Van Wagenen to figure out what the team could do better.

Callaway, then, gave a message to his team that he reiterated to reporters at Citi Field. And the inspiration behind his message comes from a little book called "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F--k."

"There comes a point where you just got to forget it," Callaway said. "Whatever has happened, if you are not injured, you are the same player you were two weeks ago when you were raking.

"The only thing different is your mindset because you've been struggling. There is a good book out there, I can't tell you the title of that book, I'm sure you guys know what it is and it's very true."

The message clearly got through, as the Mets burst out of the gate with an eight-run first inning much to the delight of the fans raving in the seats. That, along with another solid outing from Zack Wheeler on the bump, led to an 11-2 win.

It couldn't have started any better either. The Mets didn't get homer happy (with the exception of Amed Rosario's oppo-grand slam), but rather the entire rally began with a Jeff McNeil bunt. Then, the rest of the team began chipping away at Pablo Lopez.

"I loved it," Callaway said about McNeil's bunt -- a part of the team's game he wants to see more of. "It started everything off in the right way. It's a hustle play, a heads-up play. [McNeil] looked back into the dugout and everybody's going crazy. That's what baseball is about. That's how you get the team going. That's how you set the tone."

Consider the tone set after a statement win like that. The Mets needed to get out of their funk, and though there still is more work to be done, they seem to have gone with Callaway's message and said "whatever it," as he put it allowing the public to sub in another word.

The Mets have another great chance to see the same result on the scoreboard tonight, when Jacob deGrom takes the mound. Last time he faced the Marlins on the road, he not only dominated their lineup, but launched a homer to right field as well.

With Sandy Alcantara on the mound for Miami, the Mets' offense should be able to get men on base with his 1.62 WHIP on the season. And it looks like they'll be doing it in a variety of different ways, whether it's bunting, going the other way, or putting it over the fence.

Whatever it takes to get wins.

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