Detroit Tigers First-Place Clinch Scenario

Detroit's traditional magic number (relative to first-place Cleveland) is 51 + 65 - 44 + 1 = 73.
Detroit's first-place clinch number is 66.
Detroit must win 66 more games (110 total) to clinch first place.

If Detroit wins 66 more games, their final win total will be at least 110.
The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if Detroit wins all 66 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 Detroit' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to Detroit if Detroit wins 66 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for
the games it loses to Detroit, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column.

Team             W	L	GL	Losses to Detroit	Maximum W
ChicagoWhiteSox  50	45	67	       7 - 0 = 7	110 *See tie-breaking notes below.
Cleveland        51	46	65	       7 - 0 = 7	109
Minnesota        48	49	65	       6 - 0 = 6	107
KansasCity       38	59	65	       7 - 0 = 7	96

Tie-breakers:
Detroit has won 3 game(s) against ChicagoWhiteSox and lost 3.
There are 7 games left in the series.
In the scenario above, Detroit wins 3 + 7 = 10 games against ChicagoWhiteSox and loses 3 + 0 = 3.

The table above shows that if Detroit wins 66 more games (110 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division.

To see that Detroit's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 66, consider the following scenario in which Detroit wins 65 more games (109 total) but does not finish in first place:

Team             W	L	PCT	GB
ChicagoWhiteSox  111	51	0.685	0.00
Detroit          109	53	0.673	2.00
Cleveland        76	86	0.469	35.00
Minnesota        63	99	0.389	48.00
KansasCity       57	105	0.352	54.00

To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division:
Team             W	L	GL	PCT	GB
ChicagoWhiteSox  50	45	67	0.526	0.0
Cleveland        51	46	65	0.526	0.0
Minnesota        48	49	65	0.495	3.0
Detroit          44	52	66	0.458	6.5
KansasCity       38	59	65	0.392	13.0

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


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

ChicagoWhiteSox currently has 7 wins against KansasCity and 3 losses.
  ChicagoWhiteSox wins 3 additional games against KansasCity and loses 0.
  ChicagoWhiteSox wins the series 10 games to 3

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

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

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

Detroit currently has 3 wins against ChicagoWhiteSox and 3 losses.
  Detroit wins 6 additional games against ChicagoWhiteSox and loses 1.
  Detroit wins the series 9 games to 4

Detroit currently has 0 wins against Cleveland and 6 losses.
  Detroit wins 7 additional games against Cleveland and loses 0.
  Detroit wins the series 7 games to 6

Detroit currently has 4 wins against KansasCity and 2 losses.
  Detroit wins 7 additional games against KansasCity and loses 0.
  Detroit wins the series 11 games to 2

Detroit currently has 2 wins against Minnesota and 5 losses.
  Detroit wins 6 additional games against Minnesota and loses 0.
  Detroit wins the series 8 games to 5

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

ChicagoWhiteSox wins 45 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Cleveland wins 12 games agains teams outside the division and loses 27.
Detroit wins 39 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
KansasCity wins 13 games agains teams outside the division and loses 30.
Minnesota wins 15 games agains teams outside the division and loses 25.

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