Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.
Kazmir pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out 10, in the 10-0 win over the Rangers.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight, in the 4-2 win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers hit three home runs and drove in four in the 7-4 win over the Padres.
American League Batter of the Day—Lorenzo Cain of the Royals hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-4 in the 7-5 win over the White Sox.
Debut—Giants pitcher Chris Heston made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, marking the first time he earned Player of the Game honors. Heston struck out five over six innings in the 5-2 win over the Diamondbacks. Heston is the 3,437th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Streak—Angels closing pitcher Huston Street has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons. Street was Player of the Game in the 5-3 win over the Mariners after allowing no runs and no hits and striking out one in the ninth inning. Street began his 11-year streak in 2005, scoring 4.0 Box-Toppers points that season with the Athletics. His best years were 2006 and 2008, also both with the A’s, when he scored 8.0. The fewest points he earned in a season prior to this year was 1.0 in 2013 with the Padres. He had 5.0 points in 2014 with both the Padres and the Angels. He has 47.0 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 22nd among closing pitchers since 1995.
Kazmir earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Gonzalez and Cain each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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 player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 408 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | Athletics | Scott Kazmir (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| 12.1 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 11.2 | Rays | Jake Odorizzi (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 11.1 | Phillies | Aaron Harang (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 7.2 | Tigers | Anibal Sanchez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | Dodgers | Adrian Gonzalez 1B | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Giants | Chris Heston (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Nationals | Jordan Zimmermann (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | `Braves | Shelby Miller | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Jacoby Ellsbury CF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rockies | Wilin Rosario PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Reds | J.J. Hoover (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Angels | Huston Street (S, 2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||