Austin Riley's Bat is on Ice and Atlanta's HUGE Lead is Already Vanishing!

Alright, Emerald City, can we talk about what's going on with the Braves and Cardinals? Because if you're like me and you live and breathe this game, you gotta be shaking your head. June was an absolute nightmare for both these clubs, and now they're set to face off, probably hoping the calendar turning will magically fix everything. The Braves, who were cruising with a 10.5-game lead in the NL East back on May 22, have seen that cushion shrink to a terrifying three games over the Phillies. And the Cardinals? They've fallen seven games behind Milwaukee in the NL Central after being just 4.5 back on May 31, now barely clinging to a wild card spot, just half a game up on the Padres and Marlins! This isn't just a slump, folks, this is a full-blown crisis for two teams we expected more from.

Atlanta's Offense is in a Deep Freeze

Man, it's brutal watching a team go through an offensive funk like this. Atlanta has been on a 4-12 skid, getting shut out twice and scoring three runs or fewer in ten different games. That's just not gonna cut it when you're trying to protect a division lead. And the biggest head-scratcher? Austin Riley. This dude went a measly 4-for-21 on their last road trip out West, his average has plummeted to .209, and he hasn't even sniffed a homer since May 20. Ouch. Ha-Seong Kim is right there with him, stuck in an 0-for-24 black hole, batting an ugly .068. Even Drake Baldwin, who started with a bang, hitting a homer right off the IL, is 2-for-43 since, watching his average drop from .303 to .255. Braves manager Walt Weiss isn't sugar-coating it, saying you "gotta fight through it" b

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ecause the sport plays "virtually every day for seven months." He's not wrong, but "fighting through it" hasn't produced results. On the pitching side, Martin Perez has been a steady hand, going 4-2 since rejoining the rotation in mid-May, which is huge with Spencer Strider out, but even his four-game winning streak ended Wednesday, giving up three runs in his shortest start of the season.

Cardinals Aren't Hitting Their Way Out Either

Across the field, the Cardinals aren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard either. They scored only three runs in their entire three-game series against Miami! Three runs! Manager Oliver Marmol pointed to not getting that "key hit, that big hit" as a major reason they're in this mess. It's tough to watch. Ivan Herrera and Alec Burleson, two guys who had been getting on base consistently, saw their impressive streaks end on Sunday, even as the team snapped a four-game losing streak with a tight 2-1 win. Rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt is one of the few bright spots, racking up 23 multi-hit games on the season, including back-to-back ones recently. But St. Louis also has pitching worries, with Matthew Liberatore, who gets the start Tuesday, struggling big time. He's 0-2 with a staggering 10.34 ERA in June, getting shelled for six runs in 5 1/3 innings by Arizona just last Wednesday. This series marks the first time these two teams meet this season, and the Braves took the series 4-2 last year. With Liberatore facing Perez in the opener, can either of these squads finally hit the reset button? Or will their June woes follow them straight into July, turning those shrinking leads into disappearing acts? It's Tuesday, folks, and something's gotta give.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.