(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)

The Kansas City Royals, the hottest team of the week, rose to take the Box-Toppers team rankings lead, as of Thursday, Sept. 3.

Also, the St. Louis Cardinals rose to take thelead among National League teams in Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 teams
Here are Box-Toppers' Top 10 teams, through the games of Thursday, Sept. 3. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated since the previous report through the games of Thursday, Aug. 27. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Aug. 27.





  
    
    
    
    
    
  

    
9/3
    
Teams
    
BTP
    BTP
/wk
    Wk
ago
  

    1
    Royals
    111.6
    8.2
    2
  

    2
    Cardinals
    107.1
    4.7
    3
  

    3
    Pirates
    106.9
    2.0
    1
  

    4
    Blue Jays
    106.4
    6.0
    5
  

    5
    Dodgers
    105.8
    7.0
    7
  

    6
    Mets
    104.1
    5.0
    6
  

    7
    Astros
    102.8
    2.0
    4
  

    8
    Cubs
    96.7
    5.0
    9
  

    9
    Giants
    94.3
    0.0
    8
  

    10
    Yankees
    86.8
    6.0
    11
  

Meanwhile, last week’s leading team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, fell to third place.

Royals players have accumulated 111.6 Box-Toppers points this season, including 8.2 in the past week, more than any other team. It is the third straight week the Royals have been Box-Toppers’ top AL team.

The Royals are led by pitcher Johnny Cueto (12.8 Box-Toppers points). Top batter is Lorenzo Cain (8.2 Box-Toppers points). Twenty-six different Royals players have earned Player of the Game honors this season.

The Cardinals have 107.1 Box-Toppers points on the season, second among all teams, and are led by pitcher Carlos Martinez (12.7 Box-Toppers points). Top batter is Randal Grichuk (9.7 points). Twenty-seven different Cardinals players have earned Player of the Game honors this season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates had been the top team for the previous three weeks, but fell to third place with 106.9 Box-Toppers points, picking up only 2.0 points during the past week.

The Philadelphia Phillies remain in 30th and last place among all teams for the 12th straight week. The Phillies have 46.3 Box-Toppers points. Twenty-two different Phillies players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors this season.

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.

Last week’s team rankings report