Really the 100-game mark means very little, besides being a friendly, round number that is easy to make comparisons with. A lot can happen in 62 games, but the Dodgers are currently have a 1.5 game lead in the NL West, with a 53-47 record.
They will spend this final stretch trying to hold off the rest of the division from taking back that top spot.
Taking a look at the Dodgers' schedule for the rest of the season provides some interesting talking points, including that their remaining games are evenly split between the road and home at 31 each.
Right now they are in a long stretch of games against teams outside the NL West. Of these teams outside they will play 19 games against those with records over .500 and 17 against teams at .500 or worse.
In the final 29 games of the season, 26 will be against NL West opponents. The Dodgers started the season horribly against divisional foes, so at this point their record against them is 23-27. But the Dodgers have won 12 of their last 15 against those teams.
For the sake of this post, let's pin the Diamondbacks as the Dodgers' biggest roadblock to the postseason, considering the rest of the West is under .500 and at least five games back, for now.
The Dodgers currently sit 1.5 games in front of Arizona, and appear to have a more favorable schedule. The Diamondbacks have to play more seven games on the road than at home, and will face tougher opponents out of the division, with 20 games against teams over .500 and only 14 at or under .500.
The biggest disadvantage Arizona faces is one game in Texas -- making up a postponed May game -- wedged between a two-game series at Tamba Bay and a three-game series at Boston. Instead of having a day off on the East Coast, the Diamondbacks have to travel 1,000 miles to Texas, play one game, then travel 1,700 miles to Boston.
So here it is, the arbitrary 100-game mark for a final push to the end of the season.
Of course, after all this schedule analysis, the Rockies will mess everything up with a huge run at the end of the season, making the final three-game series at Dodger Stadium do-or-die.
That actually sounds like a lot of fun. Bring it on, Colorado.
