Brewers Face Grueling Test Through Rest Of August's Schedule

We are halfway through the month of August, but the tough half of the month is just about to get started for the Brewers.

It was a relatively easy first half of the month for the Crew's strength of schedule, taking on bottom feeder teams like the Nationals, Pirates, Rockies, and White Sox. Milwaukee went 8-4 in that stretch and brought themselves up to a 3.5 game lead in the NL Central.

Now the tough part begins. It starts with the continuation of this road trip, moving out west to take on the first place Los Angeles Dodgers for three games. Their "getaway" day game is a night game, for some reason, and they have to fly to Texas in the middle of the night to play the first place Rangers the next day.

While the Brewers got the road trip off to a good start with a sweep of the White Sox, going .500 the rest of the way on this road trip would likely be considered a success.

The next six games are going to be the toughest, but it doesn't get much easier after they return home.

Coming back from their three game set against the Rangers, the Brewers will play two games against the first place Minnesota Twins and then three games against the San Diego Padres. The Padres have been disappointing overall this year but they are still fighting for their playoff lives, which means they'll be a tough opponent. They have everything to lose and a series loss against the Brewers could put the final nail in the coffin for San Diego. As great an opportunity that is for Milwaukee, it makes them all the more dangerous.

To finish out the month, the Brewers have a three game set at Wrigley Field against the Cubs. The Cubs are an upstart team that has taken over second place in the NL Central from the Cincinnati Reds. The Cubs are now the team the Brewers are trying to fend off. They've been playing good baseball of late, surging in the standings.

While the Brewers are facing a gauntlet of a schedule over the next two weeks, the Cubs are facing more of a cupcake schedule, taking on teams like the White Sox, Royals, Tigers, and Pirates before they host the Milwaukee Brewers. Those are three rebuilding teams plus the sinking Pirates, who nobody knows what their actual plan is.

Milwaukee has a 3.5 game cushion to work with over these next two weeks to end the month. They'll likely have to use every bit of it as they face three first place teams and the Cubs take on a bunch of cellar dwellers.