Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer, who led American League players in regular season Box-Toppers points, is Friday's Player of the Day in the four division series playoff games.
Scherzer struck out 11 over seven innings in the 3-2 win over the Athletics, as the Tigers lead the AL Division Series best-of-five, 1-0.
Scherzer had 18.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, the most of any AL player, ranking fifth overall (see the top 10 Player Ranking list on the home page).
Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole was National League Player of the Day. Cole gave up one run over six innings in the 7-1 win over the Cardinals to tie the NLDS series at 1-1. Cole had 4.7 Box-Toppers points in 2013, ranking 211th overall.
Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester was Player of the Game in the 12-2 win over the Rays, leading the Red Sox to an ALDS series lead of 1-0. Lester struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings. Lester had 12.7 Box-Toppers points in 2013, ranking 34th overall.
Braves pitcher Craig Kimbrel was Player of the Game in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers, leading the Braves to tie the NLDS series at 1-1. Kimbrel struck out two over 1 1/3 innings and picked up the save. Kimbrel had 12.7 Box-Toppers points in 2013, ranking 31st overall.
Coming Saturday: The two ALDS series continue Saturday. Here are the pitching match-ups:
ALDS Game 2, Red Sox lead Rays 1-0
Rays: David Price, 7.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 92nd overall
Red Sox: John Lackey, 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 148th overall
ALDS Game 2, Tigers lead Athletics 1-0
Tigers: Justin Verlander, 10.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 53rd overall
Athletics: Sonny Gray, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 272nd overall
In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league and 1.5 for top batter in each league. However, no Box-Toppers points are awarded during the postseason.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 1004 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 9.0 | Tigers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Max Scherzer (W, 1-0) | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gerrit Cole (W, 1-0) | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.2 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jon Lester (W, 1-0) | 7.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |||
| 1.1 | Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Craig Kimbrel (S, 1) | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |