Chris Young pitched three innings of extra-innings relief to earn Player of the Game honors Tuesday in World Series Game 1, as the Royals came from behind to win 5-4 in 14 innings.
Young, slated to be the Game 4 starter, came on in relief in the 12th inning and finished out the game, allowing no hits or runs, striking out four and allowing one walk, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, the highest among Royals players.
The Royals take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven World Series.
The Royals trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, when Alex Gordon hit a one-out home run to tie the game, forcing extra innings. Eric Hosmer hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to score the winning run in the bottom of the 14th. While no Royals batter had a positive Box-Toppers game score, Hosmer had the highest score among Kansas City batters of −1.0 (2SF 0-3 2BI).
Chris Young, during the regular season, had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 78th among all players and 29th among American League pitchers.
Royals Game 1 starting pitcher Edinson Volquez had the lowest Box-Toppers game score among Kansas City players of −4.0 (6IP 6H 3R BB 3K ND).
Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.0 (6H 5K 3R 2BB 2K ND). Harvey had 15.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 16th among all players, eighth among National League pitchers.
About Box-Toppers—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. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point 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 Royals in World Series Game 1
Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Royals who played in World Series Game 1 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score. Chris Young is Player of the Game (POG).
| 10/27 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 6.0 | Royals | Chris Young (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 4.0 | Royals | Wade Davis | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1.2 | Royals | Danny Duffy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Ryan Madson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -0.9 | Royals | Kelvin Herrera | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, 2B | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon, LF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Paulo Orlando, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Jarrod Dyson, PR-DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Kendrys Morales, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Alex Rios, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Coming Wednesday in Kansas City:
World Series Game 2, Royals lead Mets, 1-0
The pitching match-up Wednesday:
Mets—Jacob deGrom, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Royals—Johnny Cueto, 12.8 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers season-end player rankings report
Box-Toppers point totals of all Royals players active at season's end
Box-Toppers point totals of all Mets players active at season's end