Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman and Dodgers reliever Joe Blanton are Box-Toppers’ top players in Tuesday’s two National League Division Series games.
National League Division Series Game 4: Cubs 6, Giants 5
Chapman is Box-Toppers Player of the Game as the Cubs eliminate the Giants in the best-of-five game series, 3-1, with a four-run, ninth-inning comeback.
Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth inning, striking out the side and allowing no hits and no walks. He earned the save.
Chapman had 7.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 104th among all players, 33rd among NL pitchers and second among NL closers, behind Jeurys Familia of the Mets (8.0).
Chapman led all Cubs players with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0. Willson Contreras led all Cubs batters with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (1-1 2BI). Cubs starting pitcher John Lackey had a Box-Toppers game score of −7.0 (4IP 7H 3R 2BB 4K ND).
Meanwhile, Giants starting pitcher Matt Moore held a commanding lead as Box-Toppers Player of the Game going into the ninth inning. Moore had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any player on either team, +11.0 (8IP 2H 2R 2BB 10K ND). But Moore lost his Player of the Game lead when the Cubs went ahead in the ninth and won the game.
The Cubs eliminate the Giants in four games, 3-1. The Cubs were the runaway leader in Box-Toppers team rankings, leading nearly all the season with 139.5 Box-Toppers points. The Giants were the lowest-ranking team to qualify for the postseason, ranked 10th with 112.7.
This also ends the Giants’ streak of winning the World Series in even-numbered years after winning in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
The Cubs now advance to the best-of-seven game National League Championship Series beginning Saturday in Chicago against either the Dodgers or the Nationals.
National League Division Series Game 4: Dodgers 6, Nationals 5
Dodgers middle reliever Joe Blanton is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Tuesday as the Dodgers even the best-of-five game NL Division Series against the Nationals at two games apiece.
Blanton pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no walks, striking out two and earning the win.
Blanton had no Box-Toppers points during the regular season. He had 3.0 points in 2015 with the Royals and the Pirates. His best year was 2012 with the Phillies and Dodgers when he had 9.4.
Blanton had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Dodgers players (+3.0). He qualified to be Player of the Game because, though he pitched fewer than the required three innings, he did earn the win. Top Dodgers batter was Adrian Gonzalez, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 (HR 1-3 R 2BI). Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw seemed on track to earn Player of the Game honors until the seventh inning when the Nationals scored three runs and tied the game. Kershaw ended with a Box-Toppers game score of −1.8 (6.2IP 7H 5R 2BB 11K ND). Nationals top player was Daniel Murphy, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (2-3 4BI).
The Dodgers and Nationals face off in the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS Thursday in Washington.
There are no games Wednesday.
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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 4.0 | CHC 6, SF 5 | Aroldis Chapman (S,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3.1 | LAD 6, WSH 5 | Joe Blanton (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||