To make the playoffs, the Mets may have to make history.
They completed play Monday averaging an NL-worst 3.43 runs per game. Since the expansion to four divisions in 1969, no team has made the playoffs averaging so few runs. The worst was the 1972 Tigers, who won the AL East for manager Billy Martin despite averaging 3.58 runs per game (Nate Purinton of MLB Network did the research).
If these Mets are looking for inspiration, the second-lowest run average in this period to reach the playoffs — in a season not shortened by labor problems — was the 1973 Mets.