CHICAGO — April in the Windy City is rarely balmy.

The Cubs, however, brought heat to the freezing temperatures, finishing the first homestand of 2025 a highly respectable 4-2 while stifling two great teams in the San Diego Padres and the Texas Rangers. They scored 36 runs over the stretch, and their plus-28 run differential is the best in MLB.

Despite failing to secure a sweep of the Rangers in a 6-2 loss Wednesday afternoon, the Cubs are focusing on the highs of the homestand as they now head West with a 9-6 record.

[MORE: Cubs takeaways: What we learned in 6-2 series finale loss vs. Rangers]

“It was a great homestand against two good teams — two series wins after a good road trip, and now we’ll go on the road and try to do it again,” Cubs left fielder Ian Happ said after the game.

The cold weather was a particular factor for the Cubs and their opponents — Wednesday’s first-pitch temperature was 40 degrees, and Monday’s was even more frigid at 34 degrees.

“I think we handled it well,” Happ said of the Cubs’ success in the cold. “The most impressive thing is the ways we scored runs. Not a lot of home runs — this week, it wasn’t going to happen.”

Small ball was in the Cubs’ recipe for success, and base stealing in particular has stood out as a major improvement from last year. The Cubs lead the league with 25 stolen bases, swiping 14 over the homestand. They’ve been nabbed only once over those 25 attempts, too. Through the first 15 games last season, they had swiped just two.

“To be able to score in different ways — guys walking and the baserunning — it’s doing the little things right,” Happ said. “We did a lot of that.”

The Cubs’ April schedule was projected to be incredibly tough — the toughest in all of MLB based on projected win percentage.

Still, they’ve started 6-2, and as a team are slashing .250/.350/.413 (.763 OPS) with the help of Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki’s stellar performances. Tucker and Suzuki slashed .318/.464/.500 (.964) and .350/.519/.450 (.969 OPS), respectively, over the six-game homestand.

The Cubs now will head to the West Coast to again play the Dodgers and Padres, but Happ is confident in his team’s ability to face the challenges ahead.

“That’s the big leagues. You’re going to have to play [good teams] at some point,” Happ said. “I feel like we’ve strung together a lot of good, complete games, both offensively and defensively.”

Cubs manager Craig Counsell echoed Happ’s feelings about pushing forward.

“It was a winning homestand, and it’s on to the next challenge,” Counsell said. “There’s always the next challenge ahead of you, and that’s how we’ve got to look at it.”