Houston’s magic number remains 3 for now. A win by the Astros or a loss by the Athletics on Saturday will give Houston a third consecutive division title. 25 The Astros have lost two straight to Oakland while Seattle won on Friday. Correa homered twice and Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman also connected and the Astros dropped their magic number to clinch the AL West to one by beating the Los Angeles Angels 6-4. Similarly, every time that team’s closest competitor for the division (or Wild Card) loses, the magic number also decreases by one.” MLB Magic Numbers: Division and Wild Card leadersĪ magic number for every MLB contender can be found via, or on the MLB Magic Numbers Twitter account. Houston Astros magic number: 3 Saturday p.m., Sept. George Springer, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Josh Reddick all homered with runners on base, and each finished with three hits, as the Astros trimmed their magic number to one for clinching the. Every time a team wins, its magic number decreases by one. It becomes prominent every year in September as teams begin closing in on clinching.Ī team’s magic number represents the combination of wins needed by that team and losses by its closest competitor to clinch a given goal. The Houston Astros are on the verge of clinching the American Leagues last playoff spot, powered by some of their mainstays in a breakout performance that certainly excited manager Dusty Baker. “In baseball, the phrase “magic number” is used to determine how close a team is to making the playoffs or winning the division. The following, from MLB.com, sums it up quite well. With those two facts, the Astros magic number remains at one. So, how close is your favorite team from clinching a spot in the playoffs? There’s only one way to know for sure, and that’s determined by a Magic Number. The Houston Astros did their job on Saturday, winning 8-6 over the Mariners.But so did the Angels, winning 2-0 over the Rangers.

But to get there, every contender must survive a daunting pennant chase, clinching one of just five playoff spots (per league). George Springer and Jose Altuve also went deep with runners on base, and like Bregman finished with. Houston turned its attention to Seattle, which finished off a 4-2 win over Oakland hours later, leaving the Astros’ magic number at one to clinch a fourth AL West title in five years.

The following story will contain updated magic numbers for every MLB contender as we close in on the postseason.Īh, October baseball. Alex Bregmans three extra-base hits included one of Houstons four home runs, and the Astros trimmed their magic number to one for clinching the American League’s last playoff spot with a 12-4 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday night. By Mark Powell 11 months ago Follow Tweet