ATLANTA -- Freddie Freeman knows how challenging the second half will be without Ronald Acuña Jr., and he understands there is no guarantee he’ll receive his wish to remain with the Braves beyond this year.

But Freeman says his only focus is helping the Braves win a fourth consecutive National League East title. That’s what made Friday night’s 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Rays at Truist Park that much more disheartening. His four-hit performance went to waste as the Braves’ bullpen extended its woes by blowing yet another late lead.

• Box score

“When you score six runs, you should win, really,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

Well, the Braves are now 20-7 when scoring six runs. The only clubs that entered Friday with more losses in such games are the Orioles and D-backs, a pair of teams on pace to lose more than 110 games.

Even with Acuña set to miss the remainder of the season with the torn right anterior cruciate ligament he suffered on Saturday, the Braves still think they can win another division title. But to do so, they must spend this next week or two giving the front office reason to buy more, instead of selling before the July 30 Trade Deadline.

The Braves showed they aren’t quite ready to fold on Thursday night when Joc Pederson was acquired from the Cubs. Pederson arrived too late to start Friday’s game, but he did ground out as a pinch-hitter to end the game.

• Late-arriving Pederson held out of starting lineup

“It’s nice to have [Braves president of baseball operations] Alex [Anthopoulos] show we’re still going for it,” Freeman said.

But eventually, Anthopoulos will have to determine when it’s time to drop hope. A win in this series opener would have evened the Braves' record through 90 games. But they’re now two games under .500 at 44-46 and still searching for their first winning record of the season.

Still, they are just four games back of the first-place Mets in an NL East race nobody seems intent on winning.

“Doing anything I possibly can to get this team in the playoffs, that's my only goal,” Freeman said. “We know what kind of stretch we have going into the Trade Deadline. So my job is to try and make it easy on Alex to go and add. I have no distractions. Right now, all I care about is getting more runs than the other team, and I thought we were on a good track tonight.”

While recording his third four-hit game of the season, Freeman drilled his 20th homer, marking the eighth time in his career he has reached that mark. He has done so every year going back to 2016, minus last year’s shortened season, which concluded with him being named NL MVP.

Freeman exited this loss hitting .281 with an .890 OPS. His slow start is in the distance, and he seems destined to gain a hefty payday in the near future. But until a contract is provided, there will continue to be speculation about whether he’ll receive his wish to stay with the Braves.

“I felt good going into the break, and I felt good coming out of it,” Freeman said. “Tonight was a good start for the second half [offensively], and hopefully I can continue to do it, because I'm gonna have to.”

Without Acuña, the Braves need enhanced production from their two other All-Stars -- Freeman and Ozzie Albies. They also need both Austin Riley and Dansby Swanson to step up like they did when they both homered Friday against Rays starter Michael Wacha in Atlanta’s three-run third. Swanson’s solo shot was his third homer in a span of four at-bats going back to Sunday.

But instead of celebrating those homers or Orlando Arcia’s two-out single that scored Freeman in the seventh, the Braves were lamenting another missed opportunity. A.J. Minter recorded just nine strikes during a 21-pitch seventh that included metro Atlanta-area native Austin Meadows’ sacrifice fly.

Meadows also accounted for one of the four singles Chris Martin allowed in the Rays’ game-tying two-run eighth. He tallied the game-winning single against Jesse Chavez in the 10th.

But the damage was done in the prior innings by Martin and Minter, whose extended troubles wasted the efforts of a lineup attempting to prove it can be productive without Acuña.

“We scored six runs tonight against a very good pitching staff,” Freeman said. “I truly believe we have the guys to be able to do it and to make it easier on Alex to go get more if we need to. He already showed us once yesterday getting [Pederson].”