White Sox magic number

With yesterday's win and some results landing in their favor across the rest of the league, the Chicago White Sox now have a playoff magic number of four (4).

The AL Central is still very much up in the air, with the White Sox one game behind the Cleveland Guardians and trying to make up ground over the final week of the regular season. But Chicago has also created some breathing room in the Wild Card race, building a 3.0-game cushion over the teams chasing them with six to play.

Those teams are the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros, and the White Sox also hold the tiebreaker over Toronto.

That makes the math relatively simple. If the White Sox go 4-2 over their final six games, they will clinch a postseason berth regardless of what happens elsewhere. Even if Houston wins out, there would be no way for the Astros to catch Chicago.

The division remains the bigger prize, but the White Sox have at least put themselves in a position where their path to October is firmly in their own hands.