By Morris Phillips

The rumblings have grown louder over the recent weeks.  And on Monday night with the game on the line, the evidence was there for everyone to see.

The Giants’ bullpen, so good in both of their most recent World titles, has slipped from its lofty status among the game’s best pens.  While the faces may be familiar and trusted, the relievers’ performances are not.

Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla both allowed a pair of hits in a three-run, ninth inning rally that carried the Mets past the Giants, 3-0.  The Giants long day that started with a cross-country flight ended with a seventh consecutive loss on the heels of a winless road trip.

In the Giants’ case, symmetry isn’t pretty.  The loss dropped the team back to .500 (42-42) with identical 21-21 records home and away.  After moving to a season-best 30-20 record on May 29, the Giants have slumped badly, losing 22 of 34.

“This offense right now, we’re sputtering,” manager Bruce Bochy admitted.  “We had five runs last series, and got shutout today.  That’s not going to work.”

Chris Heston no-hit the Mets on June 9 in New York, and he was almost as good Monday, pitching into the eighth inning, allowing no runs, three hits and navigating through traffic off his making on the base paths with four walks issued and an errant pick-off throw that allowed Curtis Granderson to take second base in the third inning.  In five starts since the no-no, Heston has thrown himself into the Rookie of the Year conversation, posting an ERA of 3.23 while throwing a quality start each time.

“He did all he could and a really, really great effort by him, had great stuff again,” Bochy said of Heston.  “They saw him not too long ago and he still pitched quite well against them.”

As good as Heston has been, his efforts since the no-hitter have only amounted to a 2-2 record.  Every major leaguer needs some pick-me-up from his teammates, and Heston’s guys were apparently too jet lagged to do their part on Monday. Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik were named All-Star reserves on Monday, and Bochy elected to give his double play guys a day off.  Angel Pagan’s been scuffling, but he landed in the five-hole on Monday, and Gregor Blanco, Ehire Adrianza, Joaquin Arias got spot starts.

In the end the bullpen let the club down.  Romo came on with runners at second and third in the eighth, and got Mets’ slugger Wilmer Flores to ground out to end the inning.  But the ninth was different story.  Romo allowed a single to Michael Cuddyer, then with Kurt Nieuwenhuis hitting .098 (6 for 61) and down 0-2, the reliever delivered three straight balls to take the count full where Nieuwenhuis doubled down the right field line.  Inexplicably, Cuddyer didn’t score on the play, which put the next pitcher, Casilla, in the pickle of assuming two baserunners with no one out.

Casilla threw a pair of strikes to his first batter, Johnny Monell, the Mets’ backup catcher who started his big league career with the Giants, playing in eight late-season games in 2013.  But like Romo, three consecutive balls brought the count full where Monell doubled in a pair of runs.  After pinch hitter Lucas Duda struck out, Juan Lagares singled home Monell, and the Giants’ closer who earlier this week allowed a three-run, ninth inning homer, taking a loss against the Marlins, was done.

Already, the Giants have seen Jeremy Affeldt’s struggles land him on the disabled list when he likely would have been demoted if healthy.  Now Romo and Casilla, the current set up man and closer, are showing signs of wear and tear.

Romo has allowed seven runs in his last 11 appearances, and Casilla was returning from a tired arm that took him out of the mix for the remainder of road trip after his meltdown in Miami.

Is the bullpen a concern?  As much as Bochy would admit publicly, it is.

On Tuesday, the home fans get to see Matt Cain in his second start after his return from injury and rehab, in a matchup with New York’s Bartolo Colon, who has nine wins.