How Many Wins Does the Yankees Need to Clinch?

The Yankees have clinched a playoff berth, but how many more wins do they need to clinch the division title?

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Introduction

The New York Yankees are a Major League Baseball team located in the Bronx, New York. They are in the American League East Division. The Yankees have won 27 World Series titles and 40 American League pennants. They are one of the most successful teams in baseball history.

The Yankees’ Win Record

The New York Yankees have the most wins in baseball history, and they continue to add to that total every season. As of September 2019, the Yankees have won 7,558 regular season games and 26 World Series championships.

To clinch a spot in the playoffs, the Yankees need to win their division (the American League East) or have the best record among all of the teams in the American League. As of September 2019, the Yankees’ win total for the season is 103. To clinch the division title, they need to finish with a better record than any of the other teams in the American League East. As of September 2019, the Boston Red Sox have the second best record in baseball at 102 wins.

The Yankees’ Playoff Berth

The New York Yankees have clinched a playoff berth and are headed to the postseason for the first time since 2012. They’ll be looking to win their first World Series since 2009.

How many wins does the Yankees need to clinch?

The Yankees need to win just one more game to clinch their spot in the playoffs. They can do that by either winning their final game of the regular season against the Baltimore Orioles, or by having the Boston Red Sox lose their final game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

If the Yankees win their final game and the Sox lose theirs, then both teams will finish with identical records of 95-67. However, the Yankees would win the American League East division title because they would have a better head-to-head record against the Sox (11-8 vs. 10-9).

So, in short, one more win secures the Yankees’ place in the playoffs, but they could also get in if they lose and Boston loses as well.

The Yankees’ Divisional Lead

The Yankees currently have a 7.5 game lead in their division, which means they need to win just 4 more games to clinch the divisional title.

If they win 3 more games, they will have an 8.5 game lead, which would mean that even if their closest competitors, the Red Sox, went on a 10-game winning streak, the Yankees would still finish ahead in the standings.

So, essentially, the Yankees need to win 4 out of their next 30 games to clinch the divisional title – not a very difficult feat for a team that has won 9 out of their last 10 games.

The Yankees’ Magic Number

According to baseball tradition, a team’s “magic number” is the number of games it must win to clinch the division or Wild Card championship. The magic number for a team to clinch a division or Wild Card berth is determined by subtracting that team’s current win total from the second-place team’s current win total. So, if the Yankees have 98 wins and the Red Sox have 97, the Yankees’ magic number is 1 — any combination of one Yankee win and one Red Sox loss will give New York the AL East title.

Conclusion

The Yankees need 9 more wins to clinch the AL East.