the cardinals and rockies are barely above .500 with run differentials that are barely positive. I dont see how a home stand against them is considered a tough stretch Here is the complete list of 13 game stretches where we only play teams over .500 besides this one: That’s the list. We have a 12 game stretch of Mil-StL-Mil-Oak in the second half. You probably think that’s not tough because the Cards are barely .500 and Oakland is only .500. We also had a 9 game stretch of Tex-Atl-Mil and another 9 gamer of Ari-LAD-Ari. Those are the only sets of 3 straight series against .500 or better teams this year (based on current records). So either what we just went through is a tough stretch or there isn’t a tough stretch on the schedule. i never said there was any stretch during this season where i'd be fine with a .500 or below record beforehand. the fact that this qualifies as the "toughest stretch" of the season doesn't mean it's some brutal run against dominant teams. the cubs played one great team in this stretch. it wasn't some gauntlet. having the record they did wasn't the worst thing in the world, but to just shrug and say "oh well, not bad" must mean that you have low expectations for this team. like god forbid we actually go on a good run while we're also playing decent teams.