Miguel Montero of the Cubs is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Saturday in the National League Championship Series Game 1 win over the Dodgers.
And Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Saturday in the American League Championship Series Game 2 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Championship Series Game 1: Cubs 8, Dodgers 4
Montero hit an eighth-inning, pinch-hit, grand slam homer to earn Player of the Game honors as the Cubs take a 1-0 lead over the Dodgers in the best-of-seven game series.
Montero had 2.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season.
He had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +5.0, highest among all Cubs players. Starting pitcher Jon Lester (22.1 Box-Toppers points in 2016, ranked fourth) had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (6IP 4H R BB 3K ND).
The series resumes Sunday with Game 2 in Chicago.
American League Championship Series Game 2: Indians 2, Blue Jays 1
Tomlin allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, two walks, striking out six and earning the win, as the Indians take a 2-0 lead over the Blue Jays in the best-of-seven game series.
Tomlin had 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 202nd among all players and 63rd among AL pitchers.
Tomlin had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +4.2. Middle reliever Andrew Miller had a higher Box-Toppers game score (+7.0) but did not qualify to earn Player of the Game because he did not earn the win or save and did not pitch the requisite three innings to earn the honor. However, he struck out five over two perfect innings. Designated hitter Carlos Santana had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+1.0) among Indians batters (HR 1-2 R BI).
Blue Jays starting pitcher J.A. Happ (14.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 11th, third among AL pitchers) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 in the loss (5IP 4H 2R BB 4K L).
The series resumes Monday with Game 3 in Toronto.
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 | |
| 5.0 | CHC 8, LAD 4 | Miguel Montero, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.2 | CLE 2, TOR 1 | Josh Tomlin (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
Coming Sunday:
National League Championship Series Game 2, Cubs lead Dodgers, 1-0
The pitching matchup Sunday:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Kyle Hendricks, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 17th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.