ChicagoCubs Cubs First-Place Clinch Scenario

ChicagoCubs's traditional magic number (relative to first-place Milwaukee) is 56 + 73 - 50 + 1 = 80.
ChicagoCubs's first-place clinch number is 72.
ChicagoCubs must win 72 more games (122 total) to clinch first place.

If ChicagoCubs wins 72 more games, their final win total will be at least 122.
The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if ChicagoCubs wins all 72 of their remaining games.
For each team, the table shows the current record (number of wins (W) and losses (L)) and the number of games that team has
left to play (GL) in the regular season. Taking the schedule of games left to play into account, the 'Losses to ChicagoCubs' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to ChicagoCubs if ChicagoCubs wins 72 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for
the games it loses to ChicagoCubs, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column.

Team             W	L	GL	Losses to ChicagoCubs	Maximum W
Milwaukee        56	33	73	       7 - 0 = 7	122 *See tie-breaking notes below.
StLouis          47	41	74	       7 - 0 = 7	114
Pittsburgh       46	45	71	       6 - 0 = 6	111
Cincinnati       41	48	73	       9 - 0 = 9	105

Tie-breakers:
ChicagoCubs has won 2 game(s) against Milwaukee and lost 4.
There are 7 games left in the series.
In the scenario above, ChicagoCubs wins 2 + 7 = 9 games against Milwaukee and loses 4 + 0 = 4.

The table above shows that if ChicagoCubs wins 72 more games (122 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division.

To see that ChicagoCubs's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 72, consider the following scenario in which ChicagoCubs wins 71 more games (121 total) but does not finish in first place:

Team             W	L	PCT	GB
Milwaukee        123	39	0.759	0.00
ChicagoCubs      121	41	0.747	2.00
StLouis          106	56	0.654	17.00
Pittsburgh       76	86	0.469	47.00
Cincinnati       69	93	0.426	54.00

To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division:
Team             W	L	GL	PCT	GB
Milwaukee        56	33	73	0.629	0.0
ChicagoCubs      50	40	72	0.556	6.5
StLouis          47	41	74	0.534	8.5
Pittsburgh       46	45	71	0.505	11.0
Cincinnati       41	48	73	0.461	15.0

Next, we show how the remaining series of games in the division play out in the scenario:


ChicagoCubs currently has 4 wins against Cincinnati and 0 losses.
  ChicagoCubs wins 9 additional games against Cincinnati and loses 0.
  ChicagoCubs wins the series 13 games to 0

ChicagoCubs currently has 2 wins against Milwaukee and 4 losses.
  ChicagoCubs wins 6 additional games against Milwaukee and loses 1.
  ChicagoCubs wins the series 8 games to 5

ChicagoCubs currently has 3 wins against Pittsburgh and 4 losses.
  ChicagoCubs wins 6 additional games against Pittsburgh and loses 0.
  ChicagoCubs wins the series 9 games to 4

ChicagoCubs currently has 2 wins against StLouis and 4 losses.
  ChicagoCubs wins 7 additional games against StLouis and loses 0.
  ChicagoCubs wins the series 9 games to 4

Milwaukee currently has 6 wins against Cincinnati and 1 losses.
  Milwaukee wins 6 additional games against Cincinnati and loses 0.
  Milwaukee wins the series 12 games to 1

Milwaukee currently has 1 wins against Pittsburgh and 2 losses.
  Milwaukee wins 10 additional games against Pittsburgh and loses 0.
  Milwaukee wins the series 11 games to 2

Milwaukee currently has 5 wins against StLouis and 1 losses.
  Milwaukee wins 7 additional games against StLouis and loses 0.
  Milwaukee wins the series 12 games to 1

Pittsburgh currently has 6 wins against Cincinnati and 3 losses.
  Pittsburgh wins 4 additional games against Cincinnati and loses 0.
  Pittsburgh wins the series 10 games to 3

StLouis currently has 4 wins against Cincinnati and 1 losses.
  StLouis wins 8 additional games against Cincinnati and loses 0.
  StLouis wins the series 12 games to 1

StLouis currently has 5 wins against Pittsburgh and 2 losses.
  StLouis wins 6 additional games against Pittsburgh and loses 0.
  StLouis wins the series 11 games to 2

ChicagoCubs wins 43 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Cincinnati wins 28 games agains teams outside the division and loses 18.
Milwaukee wins 43 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Pittsburgh wins 26 games agains teams outside the division and loses 19.
StLouis wins 45 games agains teams outside the division and loses 1.

Combining the current standings with the wins and losses from the scenario results in the final standings listed above.
# ChicagoCubs Cubs' magic number
# ChicagoCubs's magic number
# Cubs' magic number
# MLB Playoff Race