Mets Make Low-Hit History ... Again!

"Hey, kid!  Can you hit?  We can use you in the lineup!"  (Photo by Anthony Causi via ABC News)

Let's face it.  The 2014 Mets would have trouble hitting water if they fell out of a sinking ship.  But as bad as they've been with their bats this season, they've become historically bad over the last five games.

Beginning with Thursday night's game against the Nationals, the Mets have collected just 19 hits in their last five games.  They've failed to amass more than four hits in any of those games, banging out three hits in the series finale versus Washington, followed by four hits in each of their four games against Chicago.

It's only the seventh time in history (since 1914) that a team has played five consecutive games in the same season without collecting more than four hits in any of them.  See the chart below and pay close attention to how many times you see "NYM" in the first column.

Team	Strk Start	End	Games	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	BA	Opp
NYM	2014-08-14	2014-08-18	5	142	13	19	3	0	2	.134	WSN,CHC
NYM	2004-09-03	2004-09-08	5	141	4	17	4	0	3	.121	PHI,FLA
DET	2003-03-31	2003-04-05	5	147	4	16	2	0	2	.109	MIN,CHW
CIN	1993-08-10	1993-08-15	5	138	3	14	2	0	2	.101	SFG,ATL
OAK	1980-06-25	1980-06-30	5	150	7	20	2	0	2	.133	MIL,CHW
NYM	1963-09-12	1963-09-15	5	150	4	17	1	0	1	.113	SFG,HOU
BOS	1946-05-11	1946-05-16	5	147	8	15	3	0	2	.102	NYY,CHW,SLB

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 8/18/2014.


The Mets are responsible for three of the seven times in big league history that a team has played five straight games with four or fewer hits.  The 1963 squad was the only one to accomplish the feat between 1946 and 1980, while the 2004 club was the last one to do it before this year's team joined them.

The 2003 Tigers actually carried over their low-hit frustrations from the previous year, as Detroit's 2002 club closed out the season with a two-hit game against the Toronto Blue Jays.  The 2003 squad then failed to collect more than four hits in each of their first five games of the season.  Their six-game streak has never been matched in baseball history.  However, it stretched out over two seasons.  The 2014 Mets (as well as the '63 Mets and the '04 Mets) kept it all within the confines of one campaign.

It doesn't get any better over the next three games, as the Mets face Scott Kazmir (.226 batting average against him in 2014), Jeff Samardzija (.238) and Clayton Kershaw (.198) in succession.

Will the Mets collect five or more hits against Kazmir tomorrow?  Or will they become the first team in history to be held to four or fewer hits in six straight contests in the same season?  The hitters will have plenty to say about that tomorrow.  Assuming they show up.