Reliever Andrew Miller tops players in World Series Game 3 as Indians take 2-1 series lead

Indians pitcher Andrew Miller is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 3 Friday.

The Cleveland Indians win 1-0 to take a 2-1 lead over the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-seven-games series.

Miller struck out three in 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no walks and picking up the win. Miller had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.1, highest among Indians players. 

Miller relieved starter Josh Tomlin in the fifth inning with two outs and also pitched the sixth inning.

Miller was pulled for pinch hitter Coco Crisp in the seventh inning, who drove in the game’s only run. That made Miller the pitcher of record, earning him the win, since he was the last Indians pitcher on the mound before the Indians took the lead.

Miller had 8.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 92nd among all players, 32nd among American League pitchers and first among AL middle relievers. He earned 4.0 of his points with the Yankees before being traded to the Indians.

This is the third time this postseason Miller has been Box-Toppers Player of the Game, tied for the most such honors with teammate Corey Kluber (who starts for the Indians Saturday). Previously, Miller was Player of the Game in the AL Division Series Game 1 win vs. the Red Sox on Oct. 6 and in the AL Championship Series Game 3 win vs. the Blue Jays on Oct. 17.

Closer Cody Allen had the second-highest Box-Toppers game score (+3.1) among Indians (1.1IP H 0R 0BB 3K). Starter Josh Tomlin had the third-highest score (+2.2) among Indians (4.2IP 2H 0R BB K). Pinch hitter Coco Crisp had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+1.0) among Indians batters, driving in the game’s only run with a single in the seventh inning (1-1 BI).

Opposing starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.1 (4.1IP 6H 0R 2BB 6K ND). Hendricks had 13.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 17th among all players, 10th among National League pitchers.

The World Series resumes Saturday in Chicago with Game 4.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top Indians in World Series Game 3: Indians 1, Cubs 0

Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Indians who played in World Series Game 3 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score.

BTG Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
4.1 Andrew Miller (W,2-0) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 3
3.1 Cody Allen (S,6) - - - - - - 1.1 1 0 0 0 3
2.2 Josh Tomlin - - - - - - 4.2 2 0 0 1 1
1.0 a-Coco Crisp, PH 1 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
0.2 Bryan Shaw (H,4) - - - - - - 1.2 2 0 0 0 1
0.0 Michael Martinez, PR-CF-3B 1 1 0 0 0 1 - - - - - -
0.0 Andrew Miller, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Bryan Shaw, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Brandon Guyer, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Cody Allen, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Rajai Davis, LF-CF 0 0 0 0 1 0 - - - - - -
-1.0 Tyler Naquin, CF 2 0 1 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-1.0 Carlos Santana, LF 1 0 0 0 2 1 - - - - - -
-1.0 Yan Gomes, C 1 0 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-1.0 Josh Tomlin, P 1 0 0 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-2.0 Francisco Lindor, SS 4 0 2 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Jose Ramirez, 3B 4 0 2 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Jason Kipnis, 2B 3 0 1 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-2.0 Roberto Perez, C 3 0 1 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-4.0 Mike Napoli, 1B 4 0 0 0 0 3 - - - - - -
-4.0 Lonnie Chisenhall, RF 4 0 0 0 0 2 - - - - - -
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Coming Saturday in Chicago:

World Series Game 4, Indians lead Cubs in series, 2-1

The pitching matchup Saturday:

Indians—Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, first among AL pitchers. Kluber was Player of the Game in AL Division Series Game 2 vs. the Red Sox, in AL Championship Series Game 1 vs. the Blue Jays and in World Series Game 1 vs. the Cubs.

Cubs—John Lackey, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers.

Kluber is pitching on short rest, having pitched and won World Series Game 1 on Oct. 25. He has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times this postseason, tied for the most of any player with Indians middle reliever Andrew Miller (Friday’s Player of the Game). Lackey comes in on full rest, having not pitched since Oct. 19 and is among the top 10 NL pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings. However, Lackey has not earned Player of the Game honors in his two postseason appearances (combined 8IP 10H 5R 5BB 7K) and last earned regular season Player of the Game honors on Sept. 4.

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

Box-Toppers ALCS Preview

 

Game 3 narrative via Box-Toppers Twitter feed

Here are real-time tweets from Box-Toppers Wednesday as World Series Game 3 progressed: