Detroit Tigers First-Place Clinch Scenario

Detroit's traditional magic number (relative to second-place Cleveland) is 14 + 138 - 15 + 1 = 138.
Detroit's first-place clinch number is 131.
Detroit must win 131 more games (146 total) to clinch first place.

If Detroit wins 131 more games, their final win total will be at least 146.
The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if Detroit wins 131 of their remaining 137 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 Detroit' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to Detroit if Detroit wins 131 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for
the games it loses to Detroit, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column.

Team             W	L	GL	Losses to Detroit	Maximum W
Cleveland        14	10	138	      13 - 6 = 7	145
Kansas City      10	14	138	       9 - 6 = 3	145
Minnesota        9	15	138	      10 - 6 = 4	143
Chicago          5	19	138	      10 - 6 = 4	139

The table above shows that if Detroit wins 131 more games (146 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division.

To see that Detroit's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 131, consider the following scenario in which Detroit wins 130 more games (145 total) but does not finish in first place:

Team             W	L	PCT	GB
Kansas City      146	16	0.901	0.00
Detroit          145	17	0.895	1.00
Minnesota        128	34	0.790	18.00
Cleveland        98	64	0.605	48.00
Chicago          84	78	0.519	62.00

To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division:
Team             W	L	GL	PCT	GB
Detroit          15	10	137	0.600	0.0
Cleveland        14	10	138	0.583	0.5
Kansas City      10	14	138	0.417	4.5
Minnesota        9	15	138	0.375	5.5
Chicago          5	19	138	0.208	9.5

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 6 additional games against Chicago and loses 4.
  Cleveland wins the series 9 games to 4

Detroit currently has 3 wins against Chicago and 0 losses.
  Detroit wins 10 additional games against Chicago and loses 0.
  Detroit wins the series 13 games to 0

Detroit currently has 0 wins against Cleveland and 0 losses.
  Detroit wins 13 additional games against Cleveland and loses 0.
  Detroit wins the series 13 games to 0

Detroit currently has 2 wins against Minnesota and 1 losses.
  Detroit wins 10 additional games against Minnesota and loses 0.
  Detroit wins the series 12 games to 1

Kansas City currently has 0 wins against Chicago and 0 losses.
  Kansas City wins 13 additional games against Chicago and loses 0.
  Kansas City wins the series 13 games to 0

Kansas City currently has 2 wins against Cleveland and 4 losses.
  Kansas City wins 7 additional games against Cleveland and loses 0.
  Kansas City wins the series 9 games to 4

Kansas City currently has 1 wins against Detroit and 3 losses.
  Kansas City wins 7 additional games against Detroit and loses 2.
  Kansas City wins the series 8 games to 5

Kansas City currently has 3 wins against Minnesota and 1 losses.
  Kansas City wins 9 additional games against Minnesota and loses 0.
  Kansas City wins the series 12 games to 1

Minnesota currently has 4 wins against Chicago and 1 losses.
  Minnesota wins 8 additional games against Chicago and loses 0.
  Minnesota wins the series 12 games to 1

Minnesota currently has 0 wins against Cleveland and 0 losses.
  Minnesota wins 13 additional games against Cleveland and loses 0.
  Minnesota wins the series 13 games to 0

Chicago wins 75 games agains teams outside the division and loses 22.
Cleveland wins 78 games agains teams outside the division and loses 17.
Detroit wins 95 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Kansas City wins 100 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Minnesota wins 98 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.
# Detroit Tigers' magic number
# Detroit's magic number
# Tigers' magic number
# MLB Playoff Race