+----+------------+-------------+------------+
| W | Chunichi | Yakult | Giants |
+----+------------+-------------+------------+
| 78 | 4 - 5 .578 | 12 - 0 .574 | |
| 77 | 3 - 6 .570 | 11 - 1 .566 | |
| 76 | 2 - 7 .563 | 10 - 2 .559 | |
| 75 | 1 - 8 .556 | 9 - 3 .551 | 8 - 0 .556 |
| 74 | 0 - 9 .548 | 8 - 4 .544 | 7 - 1 .548 |
+----+------------+-------------+------------+
The left-most column is total wins. For each of the Dragons, Swallows, and Giants, the columns are wins - losses for the remaining games with the overall winning percentage for such remaining games.
Also, please note that the above calculations are assuming that the games cancelled by the strike will not be made up. If it is decided that they will be (I haven't read any official proclamation), then the table will need to be recalculated.
The Central League ranking is done by winning percentage first, so if Yakult goes 12-0 and Chunichi 4-5, both will have 78 wins on the season, but Chunichi will finish in first place by .004 percentage points.
So, Chunichi's magic number is 4 and counting.
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Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
It would take a bit of a Chunichi collapse, and Yakult to maintain their current run (which seems unlikely given the up and down nature of their form this year). But I can always dream!