After a nightmare trip to California, Braves limp home with slimmer NL East lead
SAN FRANCISCO — To say the Atlanta Braves are ready to leave the West Coast is an understatement. After Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, the Braves ended their two-city California road trip with a 1-5 record. Atlanta’s precious double-digit NL East lead they had a month has been cut to three, following the Philadelphia Phillies’ 5-4 win over the New York Mets.
The Braves have dropped their second straight series — including a three-game sweep to the San Diego Padres — and have lost 12 of their last 15 games.
“I don’t care what the lead is,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “I could care less. We had a big lead early. There (are) several months to go. I’m not worried about anybody else but ourselves right now.”
The offense was the team’s forte during the stretch where they had the best record in baseball. Heading into Sunday, their 19 home runs in June were tied for the fewest in the majors. The club’s .601 OPS is the worst in baseball, and -0.5 fWAR is also a league worst for the month.
In May, they ranked in the Top 10 of each of those categories.
But the struggles also extend to the mound. The starting pitching staff similarly were among the best in key categories, including ERA (3.57), innings pitched (151 1/3) and strikeouts (164). In June, those are all within the bottom 10.
“It’s part of the game, and I know fans aren’t probably the biggest fans of hearing that,” starter Chris Sale said. “But we do have to kind of get things going and find a way to get over that, (and) not get complacent with what it is.”
Ronald Acuña Jr. is still a ways from returning from his second stint on injured list with a strained left hamstring, Drake Baldwin is 2-for-43 since being activated from a right oblique injury, with his last 33 at-bats failing to result in a hit, the longest such streak in MLB. Robert Suarez, who has the lowest ERA by a reliever, being placed on the injured list Friday with right forearm tightness doesn’t help things, either.
That both Austin Riley and Ha-Seong Kim are having the worst season of their careers is also something that Atlanta must contend with. Kim, like Baldwin, is currently in the midst of a hitless streak; his 27 consecutive at-bats without a hit is second to Baldwin in all of baseball.
Perhaps it’s what comes with a 162-game season. However, according to multiple players, there isn’t a sense of panic in the clubhouse with how many games are left in 2026.
“It’s baseball, man,” Mauricio Dubón said. “We had a s— month, we had things that didn’t go our way. I think it’s good that it’s happening right now, and not late in September. It’s just a matter of just coming out here and flushing this month.”