The Atlanta Braves are also close to clinching sole possession of the best record in baseball.
ATLANTA — It's magic number season in Major League Baseball, with just a handful of games remaining now in the regular season.
The Atlanta Braves already long ago clinched a playoff berth, as well as the NL East title, and they also have a bye into the National League Division Series wrapped up - but that doesn't mean they don't have anything still to play for.
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The Braves are positioned to secure the best record in both the National League and overall in MLB - which would give them home field advantage up through the National League Championship Series (with the top seed in the NL) and then into the World Series (with the top seed in MLB).
Here's a look at the breakdown with the final week of the regular season upon us.
Atlanta Braves magic number for postseason home field advantage
- First, what is a magic number?
It's fairly simple: The "magic number" is simply a combination of the number of wins for your team + the number of losses for the nearest opponent that would put your team out of reach from the nearest challenger for whatever threshold you're looking to clinch (be it a playoff berth, division title or, in this case, top seed in the playoffs).
In this case, the Braves' magic number to clinch both the best record in the National League and overall in Major League Baseball is 3.
UPDATE, Sept. 27 - With the Braves winning Tuesday night, Sept. 26, and the Dodgers losing one game of their double-header with Colorado, the magic number for the best record in the National League is now 1.
With the Baltimore Orioles winning Tuesday night, the magic number for the best record in MLB is now 2.
UPDATE, Sept. 28 - With a win on Wednesday night, Sept. 27, the Braves clinched the top seed in the National League. After Atlanta's sweep over the Chicago Cubs Thursday night, they officially clinched home field advantage throughout the entire postseason.
Original story continues below.
Why's that?
Well, in the National League, the Braves at 100-56 are currently ahead of the 96-59 Los Angeles Dodgers. If the Dodgers were to win all 7 of their remaining games, they'd finish 103-59. So, in that scenario, the Braves would need 3 more wins to ensure they finish 103-59 (they own a tiebreaker over L.A.).
If, say, both the Braves and Dodgers win tomorrow (the next time both teams play), Atlanta's magic number would now be 2, because the Braves would be one win closer to the 103 top-end threshold the Dodgers could theoretically still reach.
If both teams lost, the magic number would also be two, because the Dodgers top-end threshold would now be just 102 wins - which the Braves are two away from.
If the Braves won and the Dodgers lost, the magic number would whittle down to 1 - the Braves would be at 101 wins, and the Dodgers would have a top-end threshold of 102 wins.
As it happens, nearly the same scenario exists between Atlanta and Baltimore for the overall MLB No. 1 seed.
The Orioles are 97-59 - meaning, even if they won all six of their remaining games, they would finish 103-59. The Braves own the tiebreaker against Baltimore as well, so the magic number for homefield advantage throughout all of the playoffs, including the World Series, is 3.
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