There are two phases of September every team looks forward to. One involves scoreboard watching. The other is a magic number countdown. We’re at the point where we can indeed start to tally off the New York Mets magic number.
It’s the Cincinnati Reds whose results have mattered most for the Mets right now to secure themselves a playoff spot. Unfortunately for them, they’ve been passed in the Wild Card Standings by the San Francisco Giants who now trail the Mets by 4 games.
To calculate the magic number is pretty simple. The formula is 163 - (First Place Team Wins + Second Place team Loss).