Following Monday's 4-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs, the New York Mets have become the first team in the last 10 years to record four or fewer hits in five consecutive games, per ESPN Stats and Info.
The rare streak may sound familiar to diehard fans of the Amazin's, as the 2004 Mets were the last team to compile such a run of futility.
In fact, per Complete Baseball Encyclopedia (via GammonsDaily.com), the Mets are responsible for three of these unwanted single-season streaks, of which there have been only seven in the major leagues since 1914.
The third such streak in franchise history came back in 1963 during the team's second year of existence.
While no team has ever gone more than five straight games in the same season with four hits or fewer, the 2002-03 Detroit Tigers had a six-game run which began on the final day of the 2002 campaign.
While that '03 Tigers squad and the '63 Mets were both historically bad, the same hasn't been true for the other teams, a group rounded out by the 1946 Boston Red Sox, 1980 Oakland Athletics and 1993 Cincinnati Reds, per Complete Baseball Encyclopedia (via GammonsDaily.com).
The 1946 Red Sox won 104 games as American League champions, before losing the the St. Louis Cardinals in one of the all-time great World Series.
The 1980 Athletics and 1993 Reds were rather unremarkable, finishing 83-79 and 73-89, respectively.
The '04 Mets were a bit worse at 71-91 while this year's version sits at 59-67 heading into Tuesday's game against the A's.
A matchup against tough Oakland lefty and former Met Scott Kazmir means history could be in the making, though the southpaw has struggled over his last few starts.
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