Atlanta Braves First-Place Clinch Scenario Atlanta's traditional magic number (relative to second-place Miami) is 0 + 162 - 0 + 1 = 163. Atlanta's first-place clinch number is 156. Atlanta must win 156 more games (156 total) to clinch first place. If Atlanta wins 156 more games, their final win total will be at least 156. The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if Atlanta wins 156 of their remaining 162 games and loses the other 6. 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 Atlanta' column gives the minimum number of games that each team will lose to Atlanta if Atlanta wins 156 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for the games it loses to Atlanta, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column. Team W L GL Losses to Atlanta Maximum W Miami 0 0 162 13 - 6 = 7 155 New York 0 0 162 13 - 6 = 7 155 Philadelphia 0 0 162 13 - 6 = 7 155 Washington 0 0 162 13 - 6 = 7 155 The table above shows that if Atlanta wins 156 more games (156 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division. To see that Atlanta's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 156, consider the following scenario in which Atlanta wins 155 more games (155 total) but does not finish in first place: Team W L PCT GB New York 156 6 0.963 0.00 Atlanta 155 7 0.957 0.00 Miami 84 78 0.519 71.00 Washington 82 80 0.506 73.00 Philadelphia 65 97 0.401 90.00 To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division: Team W L GL PCT GB Atlanta 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 Miami 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 New York 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 Philadelphia 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 Washington 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 Next, we show how the remaining series of games in the division play out in the scenario: Atlanta currently has 0 wins against Miami and 0 losses. Atlanta wins 13 additional games against Miami and loses 0. Atlanta wins the series 13 games to 0 Atlanta currently has 0 wins against Philadelphia and 0 losses. Atlanta wins 13 additional games against Philadelphia and loses 0. Atlanta wins the series 13 games to 0 Atlanta currently has 0 wins against Washington and 0 losses. Atlanta wins 13 additional games against Washington and loses 0. Atlanta wins the series 13 games to 0 Miami currently has 0 wins against Philadelphia and 0 losses. Miami wins 13 additional games against Philadelphia and loses 0. Miami wins the series 13 games to 0 New York currently has 0 wins against Atlanta and 0 losses. New York wins 7 additional games against Atlanta and loses 6. New York wins the series 7 games to 6 New York currently has 0 wins against Miami and 0 losses. New York wins 13 additional games against Miami and loses 0. New York wins the series 13 games to 0 New York currently has 0 wins against Philadelphia and 0 losses. New York wins 13 additional games against Philadelphia and loses 0. New York wins the series 13 games to 0 New York currently has 0 wins against Washington and 0 losses. New York wins 13 additional games against Washington and loses 0. New York wins the series 13 games to 0 Washington currently has 0 wins against Miami and 0 losses. Washington wins 13 additional games against Miami and loses 0. Washington wins the series 13 games to 0 Washington currently has 0 wins against Philadelphia and 0 losses. Washington wins 13 additional games against Philadelphia and loses 0. Washington wins the series 13 games to 0 Atlanta wins 110 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0. Miami wins 71 games agains teams outside the division and loses 39. New York wins 110 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0. Philadelphia wins 65 games agains teams outside the division and loses 45. Washington wins 56 games agains teams outside the division and loses 54. Combining the current standings with the wins and losses from the scenario results in the final standings listed above. # Atlanta Braves' magic number # Atlanta's magic number # Braves' magic number # MLB Playoff Race