The Braves failed reduced their ‘magic number’ to clinch the National League East, which remained at four Sunday.
The Braves dropped a 7-0 decision to the Nationals in an afternoon contest. The Braves are off on Monday before starting their final homestand of the season on Tuesday. The earliest the Braves could clinch the division is Wednesday.
The Braves lead the Nationals by 9-1/2 games in the East and have 11 games remaining in the regular season.
Here’s a quick explanation of the magic number:
» To calculate the magic number, take the number of games remaining on the leading team’s schedule, add the number one, and subtract the number of games the first-place team leads by in the loss column.
The Braves have 12 games remaining and a nine-game lead in the loss column. So, adding 12 plus 1 and then subtracting 9 gives the Braves a magic number of 4.
Still confused? Break it down this way:
» Any combination of wins by the Braves and losses by the Nationals that totals four will give the Braves their second straight division title.
Here’s a look at the remaining schedule for the Braves and the Nationals.