Baltimore Orioles First-Place Clinch Scenario Baltimore's traditional magic number (relative to second-place Boston) is 0 + 162 - 0 + 1 = 163. Baltimore's first-place clinch number is 156. Baltimore must win 156 more games (156 total) to clinch first place. If Baltimore 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 Baltimore 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 Baltimore' column gives the minimum number of games that each team will lose to Baltimore if Baltimore wins 156 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for the games it loses to Baltimore, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column. Team W L GL Losses to Baltimore Maximum W Boston 0 0 162 13 - 6 = 7 155 New York 0 0 162 13 - 6 = 7 155 Tampa Bay 0 0 162 13 - 6 = 7 155 Toronto 0 0 162 13 - 6 = 7 155 The table above shows that if Baltimore wins 156 more games (156 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division. To see that Baltimore's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 156, consider the following scenario in which Baltimore wins 155 more games (155 total) but does not finish in first place: Team W L PCT GB New York 155 7 0.957 0.00 Baltimore 155 7 0.957 0.00 Toronto 90 72 0.556 65.00 Tampa Bay 64 98 0.395 91.00 Boston 11 151 0.068 144.00 Tie breakers New York wins the season series with Baltimore 7 games to 6. To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division: Team W L GL PCT GB Baltimore 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 Boston 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 New York 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 Tampa Bay 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 Toronto 0 0 162 0.000 0.0 Next, we show how the remaining series of games in the division play out in the scenario: Baltimore currently has 0 wins against Boston and 0 losses. Baltimore wins 13 additional games against Boston and loses 0. Baltimore wins the series 13 games to 0 Baltimore currently has 0 wins against Tampa Bay and 0 losses. Baltimore wins 13 additional games against Tampa Bay and loses 0. Baltimore wins the series 13 games to 0 Baltimore currently has 0 wins against Toronto and 0 losses. Baltimore wins 13 additional games against Toronto and loses 0. Baltimore wins the series 13 games to 0 New York currently has 0 wins against Baltimore and 0 losses. New York wins 7 additional games against Baltimore and loses 6. New York wins the series 7 games to 6 New York currently has 0 wins against Boston and 0 losses. New York wins 13 additional games against Boston and loses 0. New York wins the series 13 games to 0 New York currently has 0 wins against Tampa Bay and 0 losses. New York wins 13 additional games against Tampa Bay and loses 0. New York wins the series 13 games to 0 New York currently has 0 wins against Toronto and 0 losses. New York wins 13 additional games against Toronto and loses 0. New York wins the series 13 games to 0 Tampa Bay currently has 0 wins against Boston and 0 losses. Tampa Bay wins 13 additional games against Boston and loses 0. Tampa Bay wins the series 13 games to 0 Toronto currently has 0 wins against Boston and 0 losses. Toronto wins 13 additional games against Boston and loses 0. Toronto wins the series 13 games to 0 Toronto currently has 0 wins against Tampa Bay and 0 losses. Toronto wins 13 additional games against Tampa Bay and loses 0. Toronto wins the series 13 games to 0 Baltimore wins 110 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0. Boston wins 11 games agains teams outside the division and loses 99. New York wins 109 games agains teams outside the division and loses 1. Tampa Bay wins 51 games agains teams outside the division and loses 59. Toronto wins 64 games agains teams outside the division and loses 46. Combining the current standings with the wins and losses from the scenario results in the final standings listed above. # Baltimore Orioles' magic number # Baltimore's magic number # Orioles' magic number # MLB Playoff Race