Complex sentence: Nevertheless, the Pilots managed to stay in reasonable striking distance of a.500 record for the first three months of the season, and were only 6 games back of the division lead (and in third place in the AL West) as late as June 28.
Split into simpler sentences: Nevertheless, the Pilots managed to stay in reasonable striking distance of a.500 record for the first three months of the season. The Pilots were only 6 games back of the division lead as late as June 28.