This should be the Braves mantra considering how they have been playing the last month.  The team still remains 5 games up in the National League East.  The play over the last month however lends itself to a feeling of being thankful for still being here.

The team has suffered a rash of the infamous 1 run losses.  They are playing very badly on the road at 20-24.  Two in their lineup are batting below .200 and one of them is getting a team high salary that is going to keep increasing over the next 4 years.  The RISP is beyond abysmal.  And the shutouts just keep on coming.  How then are they still in the top spot?

The rest of the NL East with the exception of the Marlins is 6-4 over the last 10 games including the Braves.  This keeps things at the status quo as it were because everyone’s win-loss line is the same over the last 10 games.  The Braves however have lost 3 games in a row.  The latest game against the Phillies was another 1 run loss.  The failure to capitalize on RISP is costing the Braves game after game.

Back to the less than .200 high costing hitter.  BJ Upton is down to a .175.  When he comes to the plate in a game tying or winning situation, there are not many at this point who are holding out hope that he can get the job done.  He has 94 strikeouts and many of them coming in critical situations.  BJ and Dan Uggla are carrying the worst batting averages in the majors.  Uggla has seen a bit of an improvement but not so for BJ.

The Braves have managed to keep their heads above .500 on the season and to keep the team ahead of the other NL East teams including the Nationals who are the team now in 2nd place at 5 games back.  They should be happy to be here and should also be hoping they can stay there and find a way to improve their game.