The Cardinals next 4 opponents have this strange thing in common

The St. Louis Cardinals next four opponents have this strange thing in common: they all wear orange. Adjust your fantasy teams accordingly.

On Thursday, in a game against the San Francisco Giants, the St. Louis Cardinals began a 14-game stretch against teams with one thing in common: they all have an orange logo.

The random observation, spotted by Talkin’ Baseball, is true and oddly really interesting. The Cardinals have four games against the Giants, three against the Baltimore Orioles, three more against the Giants and finally four more against the New York Mets. They have three games after that against the Pittsburgh Pirates, who technically do have orange in their uniforms, but evidently do not qualify for Talkin Baseball’s stat.

So far, the Cardinals are 1-0 during this stretch, in a convincing 7-1 victory against the Giants. Yadier Molina hit a home run while Miles Mikolas continued his dominant stretch of pitching, allowing only one run and seven hits in 5.2 innings. He now has a 1.53 ERA in 35.1 innings this season as he continues his quest to be major-league baseball comeback player of the year.

For the Cardinals, this stretch against teams wearing orange will provide a strong test. While the Giants are not on the same pace as they were last season when they won 107 games, they still are one of the premiere teams in the National League with a strong pitching staff. The Orioles, of course, are a highly winnable series and anything less than a series win, or perhaps even a sweep, would be a disappointment.

But the Mets easily provide the biggest challenge of that group, especially as they appear to have the makings of a special team following an 8-7 win against the Philadelphia Phillies after entering the eighth inning down 7-1. They boast the best pitching staff in baseball and an offense that is capable of doing significant damage and should be taken very seriously.

This stretch will be a good barometer to see where the Cardinals are early in the season. The early signs are encouraging, but it’s just getting started.