Chicago Cubs First-Place Clinch Scenario

Chicago's traditional magic number (relative to second-place Milwaukee) is 56 + 66 - 57 + 1 = 66.
Chicago's first-place clinch number is 62.
Chicago must win 62 more games (119 total) to clinch first place.

If Chicago wins 62 more games, their final win total will be at least 119.
The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if Chicago wins 62 of their remaining 66 games and loses the other 4.
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 Chicago' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to Chicago if Chicago wins 62 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for
the games it loses to ChicagoCubs, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column.

Team             W	L	GL	Losses to Chicago	Maximum W
Milwaukee        56	40	66	       8 - 4 = 4	118
St. Louis        51	46	65	       6 - 4 = 2	114
Cincinnati       50	47	65	       7 - 4 = 3	112
Pittsburgh       39	58	65	       6 - 4 = 2	102

The table above shows that if Chicago wins 62 more games (119 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division.

To see that Chicago's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 62, consider the following scenario in which Chicago wins 61 more games (118 total) but does not finish in first place:

Team             W	L	PCT	GB
Milwaukee        118	44	0.728	0.00
Chicago          118	44	0.728	0.00
Cincinnati       71	91	0.438	47.00
Pittsburgh       69	93	0.426	49.00
St. Louis        66	96	0.407	52.00

Tie breakers
Milwaukee wins the season series with Chicago 7 games to 6.

To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division:
Team             W	L	GL	PCT	GB
Chicago          57	39	66	0.594	0.0
Milwaukee        56	40	66	0.583	1.0
St. Louis        51	46	65	0.526	6.5
Cincinnati       50	47	65	0.515	7.5
Pittsburgh       39	58	65	0.402	18.5

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


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

Chicago currently has 5 wins against Pittsburgh and 2 losses.
  Chicago wins 6 additional games against Pittsburgh and loses 0.
  Chicago wins the series 11 games to 2

Chicago currently has 4 wins against St. Louis and 3 losses.
  Chicago wins 6 additional games against St. Louis and loses 0.
  Chicago wins the series 10 games to 3

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

Milwaukee currently has 2 wins against Chicago and 3 losses.
  Milwaukee wins 5 additional games against Chicago and loses 3.
  Milwaukee wins the series 7 games to 6

Milwaukee currently has 5 wins against Cincinnati and 2 losses.
  Milwaukee wins 6 additional games against Cincinnati and loses 0.
  Milwaukee wins the series 11 games to 2

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

Milwaukee currently has 4 wins against St. Louis and 3 losses.
  Milwaukee wins 6 additional games against St. Louis and loses 0.
  Milwaukee wins the series 10 games to 3

Pittsburgh currently has 5 wins against St. Louis and 4 losses.
  Pittsburgh wins 4 additional games against St. Louis and loses 0.
  Pittsburgh wins the series 9 games to 4

St. Louis currently has 4 wins against Cincinnati and 3 losses.
  St. Louis wins 4 additional games against Cincinnati and loses 2.
  St. Louis wins the series 8 games to 5

Chicago wins 39 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Cincinnati wins 14 games agains teams outside the division and loses 25.
Milwaukee wins 39 games agains teams outside the division and loses 1.
Pittsburgh wins 24 games agains teams outside the division and loses 18.
St. Louis wins 11 games agains teams outside the division and loses 32.

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