The Braves' 10.5-Game Lead Is Crumbling And The NL East Is Noticing
Holy smokes, baseball fans, what even IS June?! If you’ve been watching the Braves and the Cardinals lately, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Both these squads are looking like they hit a major wall, and it's getting wild out there. We're talking about two teams who have been straight up struggling, going a dismal 3-7 in their last 10 games. Forget about those early season vibes, because things are getting intense for these guys as they try to turn the page on a month they probably want to forget.
Atlanta's Offense Just Disappeared, And So Did Their Huge Lead
Remember back on May 22 when the Braves had a monster 10.5-game lead in the NL East? Yeah, well, that's practically vanished, dude. Now, they're barely clinging to a three-game lead over the Phillies! It's been a rough 9-13 run for them this June. Their offense is in a full-blown funk, no joke. Over their current 4-12 skid, they've been shut out twice, and get this: they’ve scored three runs or less in TEN different games! That's just brutal to watch.
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Even their star players are feeling the pressure. Austin Riley, who hasn't even homered since May 20, went a shocking 4-for-21 on their recent road trip, dropping his average to a measly .209. And Ha-Seong Kim? He's on an absolutely brutal 0-for-24 skid, hitting .068. Even Drake Baldwin, after coming off the injured list with a homer in his first at-bat, is now 2-for-43, watching his average plummet from .303 to .255. Braves manager Walt Weiss isn't shying away, saying, "Our sport is different than every other sport. We play virtually every day for seven months, so you've got to get past all that stuff. You've got to keep your head down and keep doing the work."
On the mound, Martin Perez has actually been a stabilizing force for Atlanta, which is huge with Spencer Strider out for the foreseeable future. Perez is 4-2 since rejoining the rotation in mid-May, even though his four-game winning streak ended with a shorter four-inning start on Wednesday.
Cardinals Are Just As Lost at the Plate
Across the field, the Cardinals are in their own offensive drought. Seriously, they only scored three runs in their entire three-game weekend series against Miami! Manager Oliver Marmol nailed it when he said, "You look at the games, we're successful, we come up with that key hit, that big hit and kind of keep it rolling. We haven't been able to do that recently." It’s painful to watch these guys. Their lead on May 31 for the NL Central was 4.5 games behind the Brewers, but now they’re trailing by seven games and are only a half-game ahead of the Padres and Marlins for that final wild-card spot. Talk about high stakes!
Their on-base streaks for Ivan Herrera (22 games) and Alec Burleson (career-long 25 games) both snapped in Sunday's 2-1 win, which at least broke their four-game losing streak. At least rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt is putting in work, with 23 multi-hit games on the season, including back-to-back ones recently. But St. Louis's starting pitching has its own headaches, with Matthew Liberatore struggling hard in June, going 0-2 with a nasty 10.34 ERA and getting shelled for six runs in 5 1/3 innings by Arizona on Wednesday.
This whole situation sets the stage for a wild three-game series between these two struggling teams, starting Tuesday. It's their first time meeting this season, with St. Louis's Matthew Liberatore (3-5, 5.56 ERA) facing off against Atlanta's Martin Perez (6-4, 3.00). Braves fans will remember they took the series 4-2 last year, but man, 2026 is a whole new beast. These teams need to find their groove, and fast. Meanwhile, our Mariners are out there fighting too: Seattle Mariners 5 @ Cleveland Guardians 6, FINAL.
This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.