Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers takes over the season lead in Box-Toppers points after winning Saturday's American League Batter of the Day honors. And Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Saturday's Player of the Day.
Cabrera picked up 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, bringing his season total to 7.2 and passing previous leader Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz with 7.1.
Cabrera went 4-for-4 with two homers and six RBIs in the 17-2 win over the Astros. It is rare for a batter to lead all players in Box-Toppers points—pitchers usually dominate—however, Albert Pujols (then of the Cardinals) led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2009 as late as August, before then-Royals pitcher Zack Greinke eventually took over the lead.
Saturday was the fifth time this season Cabrera has been a Box-Toppers Player of the Game. This is the third time he was AL Batter of the Day. He was overall AL Player of the Day once.
Fernandez won Player of the Day honors by giving up only one hit and striking out nine over seven innings in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.
Phil Hughes of the Yankees is American League Player of the Day. Hughes pitched eight shutout innings and struck out nine in the 4-2 win over the Athletics.
A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks is National League Batter of the Day. Pollock homered, drove in three and went 2-for-4 in the 8-1 win over the Padres.
Fernandez receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Hughes receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Pollock receive 1.5 each for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Saturday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
| 504 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 14.0 | Marlins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jose Fernandez (W, 1-2) | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| AL | 11.0 | Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Phil Hughes (W, 1-2) | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 9.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera 3B | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 7.0 | Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jeremy Guthrie (W, 4-0) | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |||
| BAT | 4.0 | Diamondbacks | A.J. Pollock CF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4.0 | Rockies | Troy Tulowitzki SS | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4.0 | Cardinals | Jon Jay CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Michael Saunders CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Indians | Jason Kipnis 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Giants | Pablo Sandoval 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Rangers | Craig Gentry CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Ryan Zimmerman 3B | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Orioles | Nolan Reimold DH | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Reds | Devin Mesoraco PH, C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |