Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays and Andrew Miller of the Indians are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.
Estrada allowed one run over 8 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, no walks and striking out six, in the 10-1 win over the Rangers. The Blue Jays now lead the Rangers 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Estrada had 11.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 37th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Estrada had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.1. Blue Jays’ top batter in the game was third baseman Josh Donaldson (two doubles, 4-4 2R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0. Rangers starting pitcher Cole Hamels had a bad day (3.1IP 6H 7R 3BB K L), earning a Box-Toppers game score of −17.9. During the regular year, Hamels had 15.4 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players and second among AL pitchers.
Indians 5, Red Sox 4—In the other ALDS Game 1, Indians pitcher Andrew Miller earned Player of the Game, allowing no runs over two innings of middle relief. He allowed one hit, one walk and struck out four.
During the regular season, Miller had 8.0 Box-Toppers points as a closer and middle reliever. He earned 4.0 points for the Yankees before his midseason trade to the Indians. He ranks 92nd among all players in Box-Toppers points, 32nd among AL pitchers, third among AL closing pitchers and first among AL middle relievers.
Indians’ top batter Thursday was second baseman Jason Kipnis (HR 3-4 R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
Neither starting pitcher fared particularly well. Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello (4.1IP 6H 5R 0BB 6K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.9. Indians starter Trevor Bauer (4.2IP 6H 3R 0BB 6K ND) had a game score of −1.8.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 8.1 | TOR 10, TEX 1 | Marco Estrada (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4.0 | CLE 5, BOS 4 | Andrew Miller (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||||
AL Division Series Game 2, Blue Jays lead Rangers, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Blue Jays—J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, 11th among all players, third among AL pitchers.
Rangers—Yu Darvish, 10.4 Box-Toppers points, 51st among all players, 21st among AL pitchers.
AL Division Series Game 2, Indians lead Red Sox, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Red Sox—David Price, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, 27th among all players, ninth among AL pitchers.
Indians—Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, first among AL pitchers.
Price and Kluber are the top two AL pitchers over the past two seasons. Over 2015 and 2016, Kluber ranks first among AL pitchers with 34.6 Box-Toppers points; Price ranks second with 33.5.
NL Division Series Game 1, Dodgers at Nationals
Though the Washington Nationals have the better winning percentage (.586 vs. .562), the Los Angeles Dodgers rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings. Dodgers players have accumulated 125.2 Box-Toppers points, third-most among all teams, while the Nationals have 116.1, ranked eighth.
The pitching matchup Friday features the season’s top two players in Box-Toppers player rankings:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among all players, ranked second among NL pitchers.
Nationals—Max Scherzer, 25.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players, ranked first among NL pitchers.
Kershaw led in Box-Toppers points much of the season and had earned 20.0 Box-Toppers points before the end of June, on pace to shatter the single-season Box-Toppers point record of 33.7. But then in late June, he went on the disabled list for two months. Despite his time away, Kershaw did not slip much down Box-Toppers rankings and was only passed by Scherzer in late August.
Kershaw and Scherzer are also the top two NL pitchers over the past two seasons. Over 2015 and 2016, Kershaw ranks first with 50.1 Box-Toppers points and Scherzer ranks second with 46.7. They are also the top two NL pitchers over the past six seasons. From 2011 to the present, Kershaw ranks first with 150.2 points and Scherzer ranks second with 111.3.
In addition to Kershaw, the Dodgers have one other player in a season’s top 10 Box-Toppers category list: Rich Hill with 14.4 Box-Toppers points ranks eighth among NL pitchers.
In addition to Scherzer, the Nationals have one other player a season’s top 10 Box-Toppers category list: Stephen Strasburg with 15.1 Box-Toppers points ranks 10th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.
Dodgers vs. Nationals
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| Los Angeles Dodgers | Washington Nationals | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 24.4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 25.7 | |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | 14.4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | 15.1 | |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | 10.0 | Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | 12.7 | |
| Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | 8.7 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | 7.5 | |
| Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | 7.2 | Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | 6.0 | Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | 6.0 | |
| Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | 5.7 | Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | 5.7 | Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | 5.5 | |
| Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | 4.7 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | 3.7 | |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b lf 1b | 4.0 | Espinosa, Danny 2804 | ss 2b | 3.2 | |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 4.0 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | 3.0 | |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | cf | 4.0 | Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Toles, Andrew 3692 | rf lf cf ph | 4.0 | Turner, Trea 3730 | 2b cf | 2.5 | |
| Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf | 3.5 | Petit, Yusmeiro 2337 | pi mr sp | 2.0 | |
| Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | 3.5 | Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | 2.7 | Solis, Sammy 3651 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b 2b | 2.5 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 1b 3b | 1.5 | |
| Howell, J.P. 2016 | pi mr | 2.0 | Ramos, Wilson 2904 | ca | 1.5 | |
| Stewart, Brock 3722 | pi sp | 1.7 | den Dekker, Matt 3534 | lf ph | 1.5 | |
| Taylor, Chris 3684 | 2b | 1.5 | Taylor, Michael 3447 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | 1.0 | Robinson, Clint 3475 | 1b | 1.0 | |
| Hatcher, Chris 3420 | pi mr | 1.0 | Kelley, Shawn 2630 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | |
| Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | lf | 1.0 | Revere, Ben 2886 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 2b | 1.0 | Lobaton, Jose 3216 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Baez, Pedro 3678 | pi mr | 1.0 | Cole, A.J. 3727 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Totals | 125.2 | Totals | 116.1 | |||
NL Division Series Game 1, Giants at Cubs
The Cubs are the runaway leader in Box-Toppers team rankings, leading nearly all the season with 139.5 Box-Toppers points. The Giants are the lowest-ranking team to qualify for the postseason, ranked 10th with 112.7.
But the Giants have won the World Series each of the past three even-numbered years (2010, 2012 and 2014)—2016 is an even-numbered year. The Cubs last won the World Series in an even-numbered year, but that year was 1908, 106 years ago.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Giants—Johnny Cueto, 16.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Cueto is the only Giants players in the top 10 in a Box-Toppers category.
The Cubs have four other players in season top 10 lists:
- Jake Arrieta, 15.7 Box-Toppers points, ranks ninth among all players and sixth among NL pitchers. (Arrieta led all players in 2015 with 29.1 Box-Toppers points).
- John Lackey, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks ninth among NL pitchers.
- Kyle Hendricks, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks 10th among NL pitchers.
- Kris Bryant, 10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks second among NL batters.
Giants vs. Cubs
Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.| San Francisco Giants | Chicago Cubs | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | 16.4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | 22.1 | |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | 13.0 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | 15.7 | |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | 12.4 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | 10.7 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | 7.0 | Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | 13.0 | |
| Panik, Joe 3401 | 2b | 5.5 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | 10.5 | |
| Nunez, Eduardo 2795 | 3b 2b ss | 5.5 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | 7.4 | |
| Peavy, Jake 1635 | pi sp | 5.0 | Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi cp mr sp | 5.0 | |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | 3.5 | Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi cp | 5.0 | |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | 3.5 | Zobrist, Ben 2216 | 2b rf lf | 4.0 | |
| Casilla, Santiago 2301 | pi cp | 3.0 | Russell, Addison 3559 | ss | 3.5 | |
| Kontos, George 3106 | pi cp mr | 3.0 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | 3.0 | |
| Span, Denard 2502 | cf | 3.0 | Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi mr sp | 3.0 | |
| Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 | 2b ph | 3.0 | Soler, Jorge 3403 | lf | 2.5 | |
| Cain, Matt 2081 | pi sp | 2.7 | Coghlan, Chris 2610 | 3b rf ph | 2.5 | |
| Brown, Trevor 3610 | ca | 2.5 | Ross, David 1729 | ca | 2.5 | |
| Crawford, Brandon 2878 | ss | 2.0 | Montero, Miguel 2304 | ca ph | 2.0 | |
| Gillaspie, Conor 3218 | 3b ph | 2.0 | Smith, Joe 2388 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | 2.0 | Baez, Javier 3395 | 2b ss | 2.0 | |
| Law, Derek 3657 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | LaStella, Tommy 3367 | 3b 2b | 2.0 | |
| Pagan, Angel 2184 | lf | 1.0 | Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Beckham, Gordon 2620 | 2b | 1.0 | Szczur, Matt 3704 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Strickland, Hunter 3546 | pi mr | 1.0 | Wood, Travis 2777 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Okert, Steven 3745 | pi mr | 1.0 | Heyward, Jason 2695 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Osich, Josh 3677 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 112.7 | Totals | 139.5 | |||
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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