As crazy as it sounds, the Red Sox Magic Number to clinch the AL East is 35—
and it's only August 13th! Any combination of Red Sox victories and Empire losses totaling 35 gives the division to the good guys—
for the third straight year. We hesitated a little before posting this—fearing a potential jinx factor. But, hey, this isn't 2004. With just 42 games remaining in the regular season,
Boston could lose every remaining contest and still be eight games over .500. Clearly, that's not going to happen. So, let's be realistic. A .500 finish over the last 42 games would put them at 106 wins—that's if they win as many as they lose. A more likely scenario is that they win at a .550 pace—giving them 108 wins. If they get to a .600 winning percentage, they'd finish with 110 wins. That seems about right, since they probably won't keep winning at this otherworldly .708 clip. So, to catch the Red Sox at 110 wins, New York would have to win 36 of their remaining 45 games—an .800 winning percentage. Face it,
The Pinstriped Posers are not going to win eight of ten the rest of the way.
