Minnesota Twins First-Place Clinch Scenario

Minnesota's traditional magic number (relative to second-place Chicago) is 0 + 162 - 0 + 1 = 163.
Minnesota's first-place clinch number is 156.
Minnesota must win 156 more games (156 total) to clinch first place.

If Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota' column gives the
minimum number of games that each team will lose to Minnesota if Minnesota wins 156 more games. Assuming that a team wins all of its remaining games except for
the games it loses to Minnesota, the resulting maximum number of wins is shown in the 'Maximum W' column.

Team             W	L	GL	Losses to Minnesota	Maximum W
Chicago          0	0	162	      13 - 6 = 7	155
Cleveland        0	0	162	      13 - 6 = 7	155
Detroit          0	0	162	      13 - 6 = 7	155
Kansas City      0	0	162	      13 - 6 = 7	155

The table above shows that if Minnesota wins 156 more games (156 total), then they will finish the season in first place in the division.

To see that Minnesota's first-place clinch number cannot be less than 156, consider the following scenario in which Minnesota wins 155 more games (155 total) but does not finish in first place:

Team             W	L	PCT	GB
Chicago          156	6	0.963	0.00
Minnesota        155	7	0.957	0.00
Detroit          92	70	0.568	63.00
Cleveland        88	74	0.543	67.00
Kansas City      72	90	0.444	83.00

To construct the scenario, we start with the current standings in the division:
Team             W	L	GL	PCT	GB
Chicago          0	0	162	0.000	0.0
Cleveland        0	0	162	0.000	0.0
Detroit          0	0	162	0.000	0.0
Kansas City      0	0	162	0.000	0.0
Minnesota        0	0	162	0.000	0.0

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


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

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

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

Chicago currently has 0 wins against Minnesota and 0 losses.
  Chicago wins 7 additional games against Minnesota and loses 6.
  Chicago wins the series 7 games to 6

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

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

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

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

Chicago wins 110 games agains teams outside the division and loses 0.
Cleveland wins 75 games agains teams outside the division and loses 35.
Detroit wins 66 games agains teams outside the division and loses 44.
Kansas City wins 72 games agains teams outside the division and loses 38.
Minnesota wins 110 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.
# Minnesota Twins' magic number
# Minnesota's magic number
# Twins' magic number
# MLB Playoff Race