Cleveland Indians First-Place Clinch Scenario Cleveland's traditional magic number (relative to first-place Detroit) is 33 + 111 - 27 + 1 = 118. Cleveland's first-place clinch number is 110. Cleveland must win 110 more games (137 total) to clinch first place. If Cleveland wins 110 more games, their final win total will be at least 137. The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if Cleveland wins 110 of their remaining 113 games and loses the other 3. 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 Cleveland' column gives the minimum number of games that each team will lose to Cleveland if Cleveland wins 110 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for the games it loses to Cleveland, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column. Team W L GL Losses to Cleveland Maximum W Minnesota 27 22 113 7 - 3 = 4 136 Detroit 33 18 111 12 - 3 = 9 135 Kansas City 28 23 111 7 - 3 = 4 135 Chicago 15 35 112 10 - 3 = 7 120 The table above shows that if Cleveland wins 110 more games (137 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division. To see that Cleveland's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 110, consider the following scenario in which Cleveland wins 109 more games (136 total) but does not finish in first place: Team W L PCT GB Minnesota 137 25 0.846 0.00 Cleveland 136 26 0.840 1.00 Kansas City 104 58 0.642 33.00 Detroit 91 71 0.562 46.00 Chicago 78 84 0.481 59.00 To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division: Team W L GL PCT GB Detroit 33 18 111 0.647 0.0 Cleveland 27 22 113 0.551 5.0 Minnesota 27 22 113 0.551 5.0 Kansas City 28 23 111 0.549 5.0 Chicago 15 35 112 0.300 17.5 Next, we show how the remaining series of games in the division play out in the scenario: Cleveland currently has 3 wins against Chicago and 0 losses. Cleveland wins 10 additional games against Chicago and loses 0. Cleveland wins the series 13 games to 0 Cleveland currently has 1 wins against Detroit and 0 losses. Cleveland wins 12 additional games against Detroit and loses 0. Cleveland wins the series 13 games to 0 Cleveland currently has 4 wins against Kansas City and 2 losses. Cleveland wins 7 additional games against Kansas City and loses 0. Cleveland wins the series 11 games to 2 Cleveland currently has 4 wins against Minnesota and 2 losses. Cleveland wins 3 additional games against Minnesota and loses 4. Cleveland wins the series 7 games to 6 Detroit currently has 3 wins against Chicago and 0 losses. Detroit wins 8 additional games against Chicago and loses 2. Detroit wins the series 11 games to 2 Kansas City currently has 4 wins against Chicago and 0 losses. Kansas City wins 9 additional games against Chicago and loses 0. Kansas City wins the series 13 games to 0 Kansas City currently has 1 wins against Detroit and 3 losses. Kansas City wins 9 additional games against Detroit and loses 0. Kansas City wins the series 10 games to 3 Minnesota currently has 4 wins against Chicago and 2 losses. Minnesota wins 7 additional games against Chicago and loses 0. Minnesota wins the series 11 games to 2 Minnesota currently has 1 wins against Detroit and 2 losses. Minnesota wins 10 additional games against Detroit and loses 0. Minnesota wins the series 11 games to 2 Minnesota currently has 1 wins against Kansas City and 3 losses. Minnesota wins 9 additional games against Kansas City and loses 0. Minnesota wins the series 10 games to 3 Chicago wins 61 games agains teams outside the division and loses 15. Cleveland wins 77 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0. Detroit wins 50 games agains teams outside the division and loses 20. Kansas City wins 58 games agains teams outside the division and loses 19. Minnesota wins 80 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. # Cleveland Indians' magic number # Cleveland's magic number # Indians' magic number # MLB Playoff Race