41

Let’s talk Magic Numbers. Since this is the White Sox Magic Number Update, that seems appropriate.

The MN for the Sox is 41, a reduction of one from yesterday’s MN, courtesy of Detroit’s loss. The Good Guys’ own loss (8-0 to Jered Weaver and the Angels) prevented the Sox from cutting it to 40. The Tigers’ MN is a mere 28. Folks, those aren’t encouraging figures.

• The Sox have 34 games remaining and Detroit has 33. If the Tigers go 17-16, the Sox must go 24-10 just to tie. So, assuming Detroit plays just above .500, which is worse than their season-long winning percentage of .543, the Sox will have to play at a .706 clip – considerably above their current .492 pace and they’ve given us no reason to believe will happen.
• If the Tigers just continue to win at a .543 rate, they’ll go 18-15, which means the Sox need a 25-9 record (.735) from here on out to tie.
• If the Sox play just .500 ball going forward (17-17) – a much more likely scenario – that means Detroit needs to win just 10 of its remaining 33 games to tie.

None of that seems likely. But neither did an earthquake in D.C. Go Sox!