Royals pitcher Ryan Madson pitched a perfect seventh inning, striking out two and picking up the win, to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Saturday in World Series Game 4.
The Kansas City Royals came from behind, scoring three runs in the eighth inning, to beat the New York Mets, 5-3. The Royals take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Madson entered the game with the Royals trailing 3-2 and retired the side on 16 pitches, striking out Travis d’Arnaud of Michael Conforto, who had homered in his previous two at bats. After Madson exited, the Royals scored three runs in the eighth, making Madson the pitcher of record and allowing him to pick up the win.
Madson had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, highest among Royals players. Closer Wade Davis, who pitched two innings to earn the save, was leading Madson in the ninth inning in Box-Toppers game score until he gave up two hits. Davis had the second-highest Box-Toppers game score among Royals of +2.0.
Catcher Salvador Perez had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Royals batters of +1.0 (2B 3-4 R BI).
Madson, during the regular season, had 0.0 Box-Toppers points. In fact, Madson has not earned Box-Toppers points since the last time he was Player of the Game more than four years ago—May 30, 2011, when he was with the Phillies. Madson has 20.7 career Box-Toppers points from 2004 to 2011, all with the Phillies.
Royals starting pitcher Chris Young had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (4IP 2H 2R BB 3K ND). Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.0. (5IP 7H 2R 5K ND).
Left fielder Michael Conforto had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Mets players of +3.0 (2HR 2-3 2R 2BI). Mets middle reliever Tyler Clippard, who picked up the loss pitching in the eighth inning, had the lowest Box-Toppers game score of the night of −5.9 (0.1IP 0H 2R 2BB 0K L).
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 4
Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Royals who played in World Series Game 4 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score (pitchers are listed twice—once for batting and once for pitching). Ryan Madson is Player of the Game (POG).
| 10/31 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 3.0 | Royals | Ryan Madson (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2.0 | Royals | Wade Davis (S,4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, 2B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Kendrys Morales, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Chris Young | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Danny Duffy, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Ryan Madson, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Paulo Orlando, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Chris Young, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Jarrod Dyson, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Wade Davis, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Danny Duffy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Alex Rios, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Sunday in New York:
World Series Game 5, Royals lead Mets, 3-1
The pitching match-up Sunday:
Royals—Edinson Volquez, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 105th among all players, 39th among AL pitchers. Volquez has been Player of the Game once during the postseason—on Oct. 16, he was top player in the American League Championship Series Game 1.
Mets—Matt Harvey, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers. Harvey has been Player of the Game once during the postseason—on Oct. 17, he was top player in the National League Championship Series Game 1.
This is a rematch of World Series Game 1, which the Royals won 5-4 in 14 innings. Neither starting pitcher was particularly effective. Volquez had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.0 and Harvey had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.0.
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