Indians' Corey Kluber (8.1IP 1R 10K) tops players for Sunday, July 6, Angels' Richards rises to 10th in Box-Toppers rankings

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Player of the Day. Kluber struck out 10 over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 4-1 win over the Royals.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season and rising to 12th in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Diamondbacks pitcher Wade Miley is National League Player of the Day. Miley struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 3-1 win over the Braves.

Jacoby Ellsbury of the Yankees is American League Batter of the Day. Ellsbury homered and went 2-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 9-7 win over the Twins.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the Mets is NL Batter of the Day. Nieuwenhuis homered and scored three times in the 8-4 win over the Rangers.

Notable: Angels pitcher Garrett Richards rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Richards (7.1IP 1R 11K W in the 6-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks fifth in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers. His move up to 10th place bumps the only batter, Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (10.6 Box-Toppers points), off the top 10 list.

There are now 14 players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points—Richards and Kluber both joined that group Sunday.

Also, pitcher Jeff Samardzija, traded this weekend from the Cubs, earned Player of the Game honors in his debut with his new team, the Athletics. Samardzija (7IP 1R 5K W in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.

Kluber receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Miley receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ellsbury and Nieuwenhuis each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Sunday, click here.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

706 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.1 Indians Corey Kluber (W, 8-6) - - - - - - 8.1 4 1 1 1 10
9.1 Angels Garrett Richards (W, 10-2) - - - - - - 7.1 6 1 1 1 11
NL 6.2 Dbacks Wade Miley (W, 4-6) - - - - - - 6.2 5 1 1 1 8
5.0 Pirates Jeff Locke (W, 2-1) - - - - - - 8.0 3 2 1 1 4
5.0 Athletics Jeff Samardzija (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 5
5.0 Orioles Brad Brach (W, 4-0) - - - - - - 3.0 1 0 0 1 4
4.2 White Sox Hector Noesi (W, 3-6) - - - - - - 6.2 5 0 0 2 5
3.1 Giants Tim Lincecum (W, 8-5) - - - - - - 6.1 3 1 1 4 6
BAT 3.0 Yankees Jacoby Ellsbury CF 5 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Mets Kirk Nieuwenhuis LF 2 3 1 1 2 1 - - - - - -
3.0 `Nationals Jordan Zimmermann - - - - - - 6.0 7 0 0 1 5
2.0 Dodgers Matt Kemp LF 5 1 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Rays Ben Zobrist SS 5 2 4 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Reds Jay Bruce RF 4 2 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Marlins Henderson Alvarez (W, 6-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 1 3

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.