PHOENIX — At this early stage of the season, off to one of the best starts in franchise history, the Mets’ path to success has been obvious: Boast the best starting pitching in baseball, and the rest will fall into place.
But on Saturday, in a 5-2 loss to the Diamondbacks, they encountered about the only problem that could exist with such an approach: They didn’t have a starting pitcher.
Deploying a series of relievers instead of calling up a one-day fill-in, the Mets fell behind fast and never recovered. Trevor Williams, the first of those relievers, allowed four runs and seven hits in two innings (plus one batter in the third), and Arizona added another run against Adam Ottavino in the sixth.
