Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 1 Tuesday, striking out nine Cubs over six scoreless innings.
The Indians win 6-0 to take a 1-0 lead over the Cubs in the best-of-seven series.
Kluber allowed four hits and no walks and earned a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0, the highest of any Indians player Tuesday.
It is the third time this postseason Kluber has earned Player of the Game honors, the most of any player this postseason. Kluber was Player of the Game in American League Division Series Game 2 vs. the Red Sox and in AL Championship Series Game 1 vs. the Blue Jays.
Kluber has 21.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, fifth among all players and first among AL pitchers.
He outdueled Cubs starting ace Jon Lester (22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers). Lester had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of −2.8 (5.2IP 6H 3R 3BB 7K L).
Catcher Roberto Perez led the way for Indians batters with two home runs (2-4 2R 4BI). He had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +4.0, second-best among Indians players.
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 Indians in World Series Game 1: Indians 6, Cubs 0
Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Indians who played in World Series Game 1 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score.
| BTG | Indians player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 11.0 | * Corey Kluber (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 4.0 | Roberto Perez, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Cody Allen | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 1.0 | Andrew Miller (H,5) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | |
| 0.0 | Jose Ramirez, 3B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.0 | Francisco Lindor, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.0 | Brandon Guyer, LF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -2.0 | Lonnie Chisenhall, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -2.0 | Mike Napoli, 1B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -2.0 | Carlos Santana, DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -4.0 | Rajai Davis, CF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -5.0 | Jason Kipnis, 2B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| * Player of the Game | ||||||||||||
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | ||||||||||||
Coming Wednesday in Cleveland:
World Series Game 2, Indians lead Cubs, 1-0
The pitching matchup Wednesday:
Cubs—Jake Arrieta, 15.7 Box-Toppers points, ninth among all players, sixth among NL pitchers.
Indians—Trevor Bauer, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players, 12th among AL pitchers.
Neither pitcher has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors so far this season. Bauer’s last start on Oct. 17 in the AL Championship Game 3 vs. the Blue Jays lasted only 2/3 of an inning when Bauer had to be pulled from the game because he was bleeding profusely from his pinky where he cut it days earlier on a drone. The Cubs have lost both postseason games Arrieta has started in 2016—on Oct. 10, the Cubs lost National League Division Series Game 3 to the Giants and on Oct. 18, they lost NL Championship Game 3 to the Dodgers.
Note: The game starts an hour earlier than normal at 7 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Central, because of weather concerns.
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers 2016 final team rankings
Box-Toppers 2016 final top 10 player rankings
Box-Toppers point totals of all Cubs players active at season’s end
Box-Toppers point totals of all Indians players active at season’s end