The Dodgers clinched the No. 2 seed and a first round bye Thursday, even though they lost 4-2 to San Diego, because Atlanta also lost, 7-6 to Cincinnati. The NL West champions (97-62) skip the Wild Card Series and open the NLDS at home on Saturday, October 3, against the winner of the No. 3 vs. No. 6 series. The same loss handed Milwaukee the No. 1 seed. The table below updates on its own as games finish.
National League West
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB | L10 | Strk | Home | Road | Magic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Dodgers x | 100 | 62 | .617 | — | 8-2 | W3 | 51-30 | 49-32 | -8 |
| San Diego Padres y | 91 | 71 | .562 | 9 | 8-2 | W2 | 51-30 | 40-41 | 10 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks e | 86 | 76 | .531 | 14 | 6-4 | L2 | 45-36 | 41-40 | 15 |
| San Francisco Giants e | 65 | 97 | .401 | 35 | 2-8 | L5 | 37-44 | 28-53 | 36 |
| Colorado Rockies e | 58 | 104 | .358 | 42 | 2-8 | L1 | 32-49 | 26-55 | 43 |
Standings from BALLDONTLIE. Updated October 3, 5:34 am ET.
How the Magic Number Works
A magic number is the combined total of wins by the leader and losses by the closest chaser needed to make the race mathematically over. Every Dodgers win drops it by one. Every San Diego loss drops it by one. When both happen on the same day it drops by two, which is why divisions often clinch on afternoons when the leader is not even playing well.
The formula is straightforward: take the number of games the chaser has left, add one, then subtract the number of games the leader is ahead in the loss column. That is why a big lead late in September produces a small number very quickly.
What Clinching Would Mean
Los Angeles has spent most of the last fifteen years at the top of this division, and the NL West has been the Dodgers’ more or less by default in all but one of those seasons. A division title also matters beyond the banner: under the current format, winning the division is the difference between a bye and playing a best of three wild card series, which is the single biggest structural advantage available in the postseason.
The clincher letters beside team names in the table mark teams that have already secured something. For the full picture see our MLB playoff picture, and for the rest of the races see wild card standings.
The Bottom Line
The Magic column in the table above carries the Dodgers’ live number for the NL West and updates automatically, so it reflects last night’s results rather than a hand typed figure.