This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
Sports analysts and fans alike are realizing that, for the first time since 2001, the Seattle Mariners have a real shot at clinching the American League (AL) West Division title.
Not just a wild card spot, as they did in 2022. The actual AL West title.
And this apparently all comes down to math. Yes, baseball aficionados are not only a suspicious lot (they have given credit for the team’s winning streak to an Etsy witch, mustaches, and Cheeto dust in the broadcast booth), they also have a keen appreciation for mathematics.
“There’s a buzzword called a magic number,” Mike Lefko, a producer for 710 Seattle Sports, said.
Mariners’ magic number down to 3
In this case, that magic number is three.
There are six games left in the Seattle Mariners’ regular season, and right now the team stands atop the AL West with the most wins. The Houston Astros are second.
For the Mariners to win the division title, “some combination of three things involving [the Mariners] and the Astros have to happen,” Lefko said.
The Mariners will clinch the American League West Division if they win three games, no matter what Houston does. If they can’t accomplish that, the Mariners can still clinch the division if they win two and the Astros lose one, or if the Mariners win one and the Astros lose two, or if the Astros lose three … you get the idea.
Given both teams’ current schedules, the Seattle Mariners could win the title as early as Wednesday night. Lefko said the M’s could clinch a wild card spot as soon as Tuesday night.
“The teams around the Mariners — the Tigers, the Red Sox, the Guardians — they all play each other in some combination in these final six games,” Lefko said.
Major League Baseball was kind enough to do the complicated calculating and determined, “Nothing can happen that will have these teams pass the Mariners (for a wild card spot) if the Mariners win one more game and the Yankees win one more game.”
But Lefko said the real prize is the title.
“You want to win the division,” Lefko said.
So we’re back to three as the magic number. While fans and analysts alike crunch numbers, grab bags of Cheetos, and make plans to (breathlessly) watch the games, there’s another, more critical factor at play with this team.
“This group, I think, has learned to believe in themselves,” Lefko said. “They have that belief in themselves of knowing what this lineup could do and knowing they have the guys – pitching and the offense – and you’re seeing it come together, over the past two plus weeks.”
The Seattle Mariners begin a three-day home-stand against the Colorado Rockies Tuesday, followed by a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, also in Seattle, Friday night to close out the regular season.
Read more of Heather Bosch’s stories here.
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