NEW YORK -- Over the course of a baseball season, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Friday, various inflection points exist in which organizations can alter the makeup of their rosters. For the Mets, one such period could be fast approaching.

As Stearns noted, the club has surprised -- if not shocked -- the baseball universe in stringing together one of the finest months in franchise history, briefly moving back over .500 despite a wretched April and May. New York’s offense has done well to maintain its midseason renaissance. But its pitching staff -- and particularly its bullpen -- remains on shaky ground.

The losses of Edwin Díaz, Brooks Raley and Drew Smith were apparent Saturday afternoon in a 9-6 loss to the Astros at Citi Field, which featured a lead tied for the largest the Mets have blown this season. New York relievers allowed five runs in the eighth and ninth innings to halt the club’s four-game winning streak. And there are only so many internal fixes Stearns can make.

“It’s part of where we’re at right now,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “We will continue to piece it together here. We’ll mix it and match it. Guys are going to have to get big outs for us.”

During a press conference Friday, Stearns did not tip his hand regarding a desire to pursue bullpen help in advance of the Trade Deadline on July 30. But he did acknowledge the current reality of that unit, which is missing six of the eight relievers who were on the Opening Day roster.

“We’re going to need guys to step up,” Stearns said. “This is not unique to us. Bullpens throughout baseball change over the course of the year. Relievers, unfortunately, get hurt over the course of the year. There’s underperformance over the course of the year. And we’re going to need guys to step up.”

Saturday’s issues were in some ways inevitable, given what has transpired in recent weeks. Late last month, the team learned that Raley would undergo Tommy John surgery, probably ending his Mets career. Smith is likely to do the same after suffering ligament damage in his right elbow. Díaz isn’t injured, but New York still must play six more games without its closer as he serves a sticky stuff suspension.

It has forced the Mets to rely heavily on pitchers such as Reed Garrett and Danny Young in high-leverage spots, including the one that unfolded in the eighth inning Saturday. Handed a five-run lead in the early innings, Tylor Megill and New York’s bullpen slowly bled it all back.

The pivotal punches came in the eighth, when Jake Diekman walked consecutive batters to open the inning, and Garrett issued two more two-out free passes plus a run-scoring wild pitch.

That set up a confrontation with Alex Bregman, who ran the count full before lashing a two-out, go-ahead two-run single into right field. The Mets never recovered.

“I didn’t execute to the best of my abilities,” Garrett said. “Sometimes, that’s how it is. It stinks.”

Although Garrett brushed off talk that he’s been overworked, it’s obvious that the lack of experienced bullpen arms has created a compounding effect in Flushing, where the Mets are searching for answers wherever they can find them. Entering Saturday’s play, Mendoza hoped Megill might last deep into the game. Instead, the right-hander needed 101 pitches (66 strikes) to record 16 outs, as the Astros strategically tried to drive up his pitch count.

“The message was they’re pitching a man short, so if we grind and continue to put good ABs together, we’re going to get to the ‘pen and we force them to throw more pitches,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “That’s not only going to help you win today but sets you up good for tomorrow.”

So where do the Mets go from here? In the short term, they’ll continue trying to bolster their bullpen with moves at the margins. Following Saturday's game, for example, they optioned Megill to Triple-A Syracuse to clear space for another reliever, according to a source. (The organization’s Minor League starting depth, including Christian Scott and José Buttó, offers that luxury.)

But eventually, if the Mets wish to push for a postseason spot, they may need to supplement their bullpen mix from outside the organization -- something that Stearns hasn’t committed to but could clearly and obviously help his club.

“In theory, you can take it all the way up to the actual Deadline if you wanted to,” Stearns said. “[But] at some point, you have to make decisions.”