NEW YORK -- The Braves lost to the Mets, 8-5, at Citi Field on Sunday night despite holding a two-run lead entering the bottom of the eighth inning, but overall, the team enters July hitting its stride after going 6-4 on a three-city road trip.

“These guys have been pushed hard,” manager Brian Snitker said after the game. “These have been 10 tough games. It’s a tough road trip, we come out on top -- won two series and split one. [It] kind of just took a lot out of us and kind of caught up with us tonight a little bit.”

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The Braves' bullpen entered Sunday with a 3.65 ERA, fourth best in the Majors and second in the NL, as well as a 2.79 ERA since May 15 -- which led the Majors by more than half a run in that span -- a fact Freddie Freeman was aware of.

“We had the best bullpen in the last month and a half,” he said. “It’s just one game. It’s going to happen. As much as we want them to be perfect every time, it’s just not going to happen. We have all the confidence in the world, and they’ve been the best for a long time.”

The Braves have built their division lead over the Phillies to 5 1/2 games. To put that in perspective, Atlanta was three games behind in the NL East entering June. How much might that division lead matter? Last year, all but one of the teams leading a division entering July went on to win that division title -- including the Braves.

The Braves won 20 games in June, their most wins in a calendar month since winning 20 in August 2013.

“20 wins, that’s pretty impressive, it’s hard to do that,” Freeman said. “Sometimes you just got to look back and take a step back and see what you really accomplished during a month. We extended our lead, 5 1/2 games, and we got [the Phillies] coming in now, so hopefully we can get off to a good start in July.”

One player who had a particularly strong June for the team was Freeman, who hit .322 with a 1.065 OPS, nine home runs and 33 RBIs over the course of the month. His RBI total was the most in a calendar month in Atlanta-era history and the most by a Braves player since Hank Aaron had 35 in June 1962.

“Freddie’s just going to continue to rewrite our organizational record books,” Snitker said.

The team is one game ahead of its pace from last season -- with 50 wins through 85 games as opposed to 49 in 2018.

“I think we’re getting better,” Snitker said. “Guys are maturing. As a club, we’re maturing. We’re still young, very young, but we’re improving, which is good.”

Starter Max Fried, who allowed three runs over five innings and departed with a lead, was similarly optimistic about how June went for the club.

“We have a really good team,” Fried said. “Everyone’s been playing really well, and I think, you look around this locker room and we’re excited about how we’re playing, and we have a chance to win every single game. Going out there, putting it all on the line, and trying to do just that.”

Following an off-day, the Braves return to SunTrust Park to face the Phillies for three games starting Tuesday, before a weekend series hosting the Marlins heading into the All-Star break. The Braves will be represented by three players in Cleveland: Ronald Acuña Jr. -- who hit his 20th home run Sunday night -- Freeman and Mike Soroka.