At 7.5 up on the division on September 2, it's time we turn out heads to the other race to watch -- best record in the NL. I do realize that we can't count on anything yet, just look at the Mets the last couple of years. But I... just can't see us doing that. Hopefully I'm not jinxing anything.

But back to looking at the best record in the NL. The race is incredibly tight...

Note that the Phillies (.589) are ahead of the Cardinals (.586) on winning percentage, for now.

Remaining schedules:

LA Dodgers: 14 home, 15 away. Opponents current winning percentage is .457

Philadelphia Phillies: 16 home, 17 away. Opponents current winning percentage is .469

St. Louis Cardinals: 14 home, 15 away. Opponents current winning percentage is .490

Similar schedules. Dodgers have the easiest remaining. Of their 15 remaining away games, 9 are against either the Pirates, Nationals, or Padres.

Current playoff matchups would be (3) St. Louis at (1) LA Dodgers (Cardinals lead the season series 5-2) and (4) Colorado at (2) Philadelphia (Phillies lead the season series 4-2).

In other words... this last month of the season is vitally important, and it's no time to rest on our laurels. One game could be the difference between having the favorable home field throughout the NL playoffs, or having to travel to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers for the first game of the NLDS.