Seattle Mariners First-Place Clinch Scenario

Seattle's traditional magic number (relative to first-place Houston) is 55 + 68 - 49 + 1 = 75.
Seattle's first-place clinch number is 68.
Seattle must win 68 more games (117 total) to clinch first place.

If Seattle wins 68 more games, their final win total will be at least 117.
The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if Seattle wins all 68 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 Seattle' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to Seattle if Seattle wins 68 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for
the games it loses to Seattle, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column.

Team             W	L	GL	Losses to Seattle	Maximum W
Houston          55	39	68	       6 - 0 = 6	117 *See tie-breaking notes below.
Texas            47	48	67	       4 - 0 = 4	110
Los Angeles      46	48	68	       8 - 0 = 8	106
Oakland          39	57	66	       6 - 0 = 6	99

Tie-breakers:
Seattle has won 3 game(s) against Houston and lost 4.
There are 6 games left in the series.
In the scenario above, Seattle wins 3 + 6 = 9 games against Houston and loses 4 + 0 = 4.

The table above shows that if Seattle wins 68 more games (117 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division.

To see that Seattle's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 68, consider the following scenario in which Seattle wins 67 more games (116 total) but does not finish in first place:

Team             W	L	PCT	GB
Houston          117	45	0.722	0.00
Seattle          116	46	0.716	1.00
Texas            93	69	0.574	24.00
Los Angeles      72	90	0.444	45.00
Oakland          58	104	0.358	59.00

To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division:
Team             W	L	GL	PCT	GB
Houston          55	39	68	0.585	0.0
Seattle          49	45	68	0.521	6.0
Texas            47	48	67	0.495	8.5
Los Angeles      46	48	68	0.489	9.0
Oakland          39	57	66	0.406	17.0

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


Houston currently has 4 wins against Los Angeles and 2 losses.
  Houston wins 7 additional games against Los Angeles and loses 0.
  Houston wins the series 11 games to 2

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

Houston currently has 2 wins against Texas and 3 losses.
  Houston wins 8 additional games against Texas and loses 0.
  Houston wins the series 10 games to 3

Los Angeles currently has 7 wins against Oakland and 0 losses.
  Los Angeles wins 1 additional games against Oakland and loses 5.
  Los Angeles wins the series 8 games to 5

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

Seattle currently has 3 wins against Los Angeles and 2 losses.
  Seattle wins 8 additional games against Los Angeles and loses 0.
  Seattle wins the series 11 games to 2

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

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

Texas currently has 5 wins against Los Angeles and 2 losses.
  Texas wins 4 additional games against Los Angeles and loses 2.
  Texas wins the series 9 games to 4

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

Houston wins 40 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Los Angeles wins 23 games agains teams outside the division and loses 18.
Oakland wins 14 games agains teams outside the division and loses 27.
Seattle wins 43 games agains teams outside the division and loses 1.
Texas wins 36 games agains teams outside the division and loses 7.

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