Seattle Mariners First-Place Clinch Scenario

Seattle's traditional magic number (relative to first-place Houston) is 56 + 66 - 51 + 1 = 72.
Seattle's first-place clinch number is 66.
Seattle must win 66 more games (117 total) to clinch first place.

If Seattle wins 66 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 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 Seattle' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to Seattle if Seattle wins 66 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          56	40	66	       6 - 0 = 6	116
Texas            48	49	65	       4 - 0 = 4	109
Los Angeles      47	49	66	       8 - 0 = 8	105
Oakland          41	57	64	       6 - 0 = 6	99

The table above shows that if Seattle wins 66 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 66, consider the following scenario in which Seattle wins 65 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
Los Angeles      69	93	0.426	48.00
Texas            60	102	0.370	57.00
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          56	40	66	0.583	0.0
Seattle          51	45	66	0.531	5.0
Texas            48	49	65	0.495	8.5
Los Angeles      47	49	66	0.490	9.0
Oakland          41	57	64	0.418	16.0

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

Los Angeles currently has 7 wins against Oakland and 0 losses.
  Los Angeles wins 5 additional games against Oakland and loses 1.
  Los Angeles wins the series 12 games to 1

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

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

Seattle currently has 3 wins against Houston and 4 losses.
  Seattle wins 5 additional games against Houston and loses 1.
  Seattle wins the series 8 games to 5

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

Houston wins 40 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Los Angeles wins 11 games agains teams outside the division and loses 28.
Oakland wins 12 games agains teams outside the division and loses 27.
Seattle wins 42 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Texas wins 10 games agains teams outside the division and loses 33.

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