Houston Astros First-Place Clinch Scenario

Houston's traditional magic number (relative to first-place Seattle) is 17 + 131 - 10 + 1 = 139.
Houston's first-place clinch number is 132.
Houston must win 132 more games (142 total) to clinch first place.

If Houston wins 132 more games, their final win total will be at least 142.
The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if Houston wins all 132 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 Houston' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to Houston if Houston wins 132 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for
the games it loses to Houston, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column.

Team             W	L	GL	Losses to Houston	Maximum W
Texas            16	15	131	       6 - 0 = 6	141
Seattle          17	14	131	     13 - 0 = 13	135
Oakland          15	17	130	     13 - 0 = 13	132
Los Angeles      11	20	131	     13 - 0 = 13	129

The table above shows that if Houston wins 132 more games (142 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division.

To see that Houston's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 132, consider the following scenario in which Houston wins 131 more games (141 total) but does not finish in first place:

Team             W	L	PCT	GB
Texas            142	20	0.877	0.00
Houston          141	21	0.870	1.00
Los Angeles      86	76	0.531	56.00
Oakland          69	93	0.426	73.00
Seattle          54	108	0.333	88.00

To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division:
Team             W	L	GL	PCT	GB
Seattle          17	14	131	0.548	0.0
Texas            16	15	131	0.516	1.0
Oakland          15	17	130	0.469	2.5
Los Angeles      11	20	131	0.355	6.0
Houston          10	20	132	0.333	6.5

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


Houston currently has 0 wins against Los Angeles and 0 losses.
  Houston wins 13 additional games against Los Angeles and loses 0.
  Houston wins the series 13 games to 0

Houston currently has 0 wins against Oakland and 0 losses.
  Houston wins 13 additional games against Oakland and loses 0.
  Houston wins the series 13 games to 0

Houston currently has 0 wins against Seattle and 0 losses.
  Houston wins 13 additional games against Seattle and loses 0.
  Houston wins the series 13 games to 0

Houston currently has 4 wins against Texas and 3 losses.
  Houston wins 5 additional games against Texas and loses 1.
  Houston wins the series 9 games to 4

Los Angeles currently has 0 wins against Oakland and 0 losses.
  Los Angeles wins 13 additional games against Oakland and loses 0.
  Los Angeles wins the series 13 games to 0

Los Angeles currently has 0 wins against Seattle and 0 losses.
  Los Angeles wins 13 additional games against Seattle and loses 0.
  Los Angeles wins the series 13 games to 0

Seattle currently has 0 wins against Oakland and 0 losses.
  Seattle wins 13 additional games against Oakland and loses 0.
  Seattle wins the series 13 games to 0

Texas currently has 0 wins against Los Angeles and 0 losses.
  Texas wins 13 additional games against Los Angeles and loses 0.
  Texas wins the series 13 games to 0

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

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

Houston wins 87 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Los Angeles wins 49 games agains teams outside the division and loses 30.
Oakland wins 54 games agains teams outside the division and loses 27.
Seattle wins 24 games agains teams outside the division and loses 58.
Texas wins 92 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.

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