The Braves’ ‘magic number’ is zero.
The Braves beat the Phillies 5-3 Saturday afternoon and clinched the NL East title.
The Braves did it with seven games to spare in the regular season.
The Braves also upped their East Division lead to an insurmountable 8 ½ games in the standings.
Photos: Braves are East Division champs
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 (87-68) have seven games to play. The Phillies (78-76) have eight games remaining. So take seven, add one and subtract eight to get zero.
The NL playoffs begin with the NL wild-card game on Tuesday, Oct. 2. The division series begin on Thursday, Oct. 4.
Atlanta Braves ‘magic number’ tracker
Sept. 7 - Braves lose. Phillies win. Magic number = 20
Sept. 8 - Braves win. Phillies lose. Magic number = 18
Sept. 9 - Braves win. Phillies lose. Magic number = 16
Sept. 10 - Braves win. Phillies did not play. Magic number = 15
Sept. 11 - Braves win. Phillies swept in doubleheader. Magic number = 12
Sept. 12 - Braves win. Phillies lose. Magic number = 10
Sept. 14 - Braves win. Phillies win. Magic number = 9
Sept. 15 - Braves lose. Phillies win. Magic number = 9
Sept. 16 - Braves lose. Phillies lose. Magic number = 8
Sept. 17 - Braves lose. Phillies lose. Magic number = 7
Sept. 18 - Braves lose. Phillies win. Magic number = 7
Sept. 19 - Braves win. Phillies win. Magic number = 6
Sept. 20 - Braves win. Phillies lose. Magic number = 4
Sept. 21 - Braves win. Phillies lose. Magic number = 2
Sept. 22 - Braves win. Phillies lose. Magic number = 0
