Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright takes the lead Wednesday among players in Box-Toppers points for the season—but he does it with his bat.
Wainwright is Wednesday's National League Batter of the Day, earning 1.5 Box-Toppers points, giving him 19.2 for the season. He passes previous Box-Toppers leader, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (19.0), who had led since Sept. 6. Wainwright, who rises from fourth to first place in Box-Toppers player rankings (see the updated top 10 list on the home page), leads for the first time this season.
Wainwright went 3-for-3 and drove in two runs in the 4-3 win over the Rockies. He is the sixth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.
Meanwhile, Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is Wednesday's Player of the Day. Iwakuma pitched eight scoreless innings in the 8-0 win over the Tigers. Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, putting him in 17th place in player rankings.
Padres pitcher Tyson Ross is National League Player of the Day. Ross struck out seven over seven innings in the 3-2 win over the Pirates. Ross picked up a no-decision because he exited with the Padres trailing, but the team came back to take the lead in the top of the ninth.
Alcides Escobar of the Royals is American League Batter of the Day. Escobar went 2-for-4, drove in two runs and stole home in the 7-2 win over the Indians.
Notables: Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday are among the top 40 in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season:
- Braves closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel rises to 32nd place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game (1IP 1K Sv in 5-2 win vs. Nationals), giving him 11.7 for the season.
- Rays pitcher Chris Archer rises to 34th place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game (6IP ND in 4-3 win vs. Rangers), giving him 11.7 for the season.
Iwakuma receives 2.0 Box-Toppers
points for being Player of the Day. Ross receives 1.7 for NL Player
of the Day. Wainwright and Escobar each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Wednesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 918 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 8.0 | Mariners | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hisashi Iwakuma (W, 13-6) | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | `Padres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tyson Ross | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tyler Thornburg (W, 3-1) | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |||
| 3.2 | Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | David Huff (W, 3-1) | 3.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |||
| BAT | 3.0 | Cardinals | Adam Wainwright P | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | `Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Chris Archer | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 3.0 | `Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cory Rasmus | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 3.0 | Twins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Glen Perkins (S, 36) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 2.0 | Reds | Billy Hamilton CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Mets | Zach Lutz PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Diamondbacks | Martin Prado 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Craig Kimbrel (S, 48) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| BAT | 1.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | Orioles | Matt Wieters C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 0.0 | Marlins | Giancarlo Stanton RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.