The Atlanta Braves' lead atop the NL East has dwindled to just three games amid a rough June, but manager Walt Weiss isn't sweating yet.
"Yeah, I don't care what (the division) lead is. I (couldn't) care less," Weiss said after Sunday's 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, according to Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "It's early. We knew we had a big lead early and there was several months to go."
The Braves looked like a juggernaut until recently. They've been alone in first place since April 8, were the first team to reach 40 wins, and entered this month with MLB's best record.
But in the last few weeks, it's been all downhill for the Braves, who are now 9-13 in June. They're coming off a disastrous 1-5 West Coast swing and have won just four of 16 games since June 9. Atlanta scored 13 runs over six games in San Diego and San Francisco.
Meanwhile, the rival Philadelphia Phillies - buoyed by a managerial change in late April - have surged up the standings to close the gap in the division. The Phillies were 10.5 games back of Atlanta on May 22 before making up ground over the last six weeks.
On Sunday, the Braves struggled to support ace Chris Sale on both sides of the ball. Sale struck out 10 and allowed only one earned run in six innings of work, but Atlanta only managed six hits against Giants starter Robbie Ray and closer Caleb Kilian.
Third baseman Austin Riley and second baseman Ozzie Albies made throwing errors in the sixth inning, leading to two Giants runs that helped decide the game. Albies and Michael Harris II both had rough at-bats in the sixth and eighth innings that ended rallies and stranded baserunners.
Weiss acknowledged the Braves' sloppy play, saying it needs to be tightened up with the Phillies closing in on the lead.
"These are the way things go when you're not going well. Their stuff falls and yours doesn't. That's just the way it is right now," Weiss said. "We don't have a lot of margin for error, even for scoring runs. Every run we give up is a big one because we're having a hard time scoring."
