Los Angeles Dodgers First-Place Clinch Scenario

Los Angeles's traditional magic number (relative to second-place San Diego) is 45 + 79 - 53 + 1 = 72.
Los Angeles's first-place clinch number is also 72.
Los Angeles must win 72 more games (125 total) to clinch first place.

If Los Angeles wins 72 more games, their final win total will be at least 125.
The table below shows the best case scenario for each of the other teams if Los Angeles wins 72 of their remaining 77 games and loses the other 5.
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 Los Angeles' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to Los Angeles if Los Angeles wins 72 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for
the games it loses to LADodgers, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column.

Team             W	L	GL	Losses to Los Angeles	Maximum W
San Diego        45	38	79	       6 - 5 = 1	123
Arizona          41	42	79	       6 - 5 = 1	119
San Francisco    45	39	78	      10 - 5 = 5	118
Colorado         19	65	78	       7 - 5 = 2	95

The table above shows that if Los Angeles wins 72 more games (125 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division.

To see that Los Angeles's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 72, consider the following scenario in which Los Angeles wins 71 more games (124 total) but does not finish in first place:

Team             W	L	PCT	GB
San Diego        124	38	0.765	0.00
Los Angeles      124	38	0.765	0.00
Arizona          75	87	0.463	49.00
Colorado         74	88	0.457	50.00
San Francisco    65	97	0.401	59.00

Tie breakers
San Diego wins the season series with Los Angeles 8 games to 5.

To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division:
Team             W	L	GL	PCT	GB
Los Angeles      53	32	77	0.624	0.0
San Diego        45	38	79	0.542	7.0
San Francisco    45	39	78	0.536	7.5
Arizona          41	42	79	0.494	11.0
Colorado         19	65	78	0.226	33.5

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


Arizona currently has 2 wins against San Francisco and 1 losses.
  Arizona wins 10 additional games against San Francisco and loses 0.
  Arizona wins the series 12 games to 1

Colorado currently has 2 wins against Arizona and 4 losses.
  Colorado wins 7 additional games against Arizona and loses 0.
  Colorado wins the series 9 games to 4

Los Angeles currently has 4 wins against Arizona and 3 losses.
  Los Angeles wins 6 additional games against Arizona and loses 0.
  Los Angeles wins the series 10 games to 3

Los Angeles currently has 6 wins against Colorado and 0 losses.
  Los Angeles wins 7 additional games against Colorado and loses 0.
  Los Angeles wins the series 13 games to 0

Los Angeles currently has 2 wins against San Francisco and 1 losses.
  Los Angeles wins 10 additional games against San Francisco and loses 0.
  Los Angeles wins the series 12 games to 1

San Diego currently has 1 wins against Arizona and 2 losses.
  San Diego wins 10 additional games against Arizona and loses 0.
  San Diego wins the series 11 games to 2

San Diego currently has 5 wins against Colorado and 1 losses.
  San Diego wins 7 additional games against Colorado and loses 0.
  San Diego wins the series 12 games to 1

San Diego currently has 2 wins against Los Angeles and 5 losses.
  San Diego wins 6 additional games against Los Angeles and loses 0.
  San Diego wins the series 8 games to 5

San Diego currently has 4 wins against San Francisco and 2 losses.
  San Diego wins 7 additional games against San Francisco and loses 0.
  San Diego wins the series 11 games to 2

San Francisco currently has 5 wins against Colorado and 2 losses.
  San Francisco wins 5 additional games against Colorado and loses 1.
  San Francisco wins the series 10 games to 3

Arizona wins 24 games agains teams outside the division and loses 22.
Colorado wins 47 games agains teams outside the division and loses 4.
Los Angeles wins 48 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
San Diego wins 49 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
San Francisco wins 15 games agains teams outside the division and loses 30.

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