Jorge Soler of the Braves is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 4.
The Atlanta Braves win 3-2 to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series over the Houston Astros.
Soler hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead, solo home run in the seventh inning, giving the Braves the one-run lead that held for the win. He was 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in one run.
Soler had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0, highest-ranking among all Braves players Saturday. Two other Braves players—Will Smith and Luke Jackson—also had game scores of +2.0. Both of them are pitchers and in cases of game score ties, batters outrank pitchers, giving Soler the tiebreaking edge as overall Player of the Game.
Smith (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv) had the highest-ranking game score among Braves pitchers, beating Jackson (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND) on a tiebreaker because Smith earned the save while Jackson did not figure in the decision, picking up neither a win nor a save.
Dansby Swanson was the only other Braves batter with a plate appearance Saturday who had a game score of 0.0 or above. Swanson had a game score of 0.0 (HR 1-3 R BI), hitting the seventh-inning solo home run to tie the game 2-2 in the at-bat just prior to Soler’s solo home that gave the Braves the lead.
Braves relief pitcher Tyler Matzek, who earned the win, had a game score of 0.0 (1IP H 0R 0BB 0K W). Braves starting pitcher/opener Dylan Lee had a game score of -3.9 (0.1 H R 2BB K ND). Reliever Kyle Wright, who handled the bulk of the Braves’ innings Saturday, had a game score of -2.8 (4.2IP 5H R 3BB 3K ND).
Astros starting pitcher Zack Greinke had the best game score (+3.0) of all players in Saturday’s loss (4IP 4H 0R 0BB 3K ND). Astros reliever Cristian Javier, who gave up back-to-back home runs to the Braves in the seventh inning, had a game score of -4.9 (0.1IP 2H 2R 0BB K L).
Jose Altuve had the best game score (0.0) among Astros batters (HR 2-5 2R BI).
Soler earned 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season—2.5 with the Royals prior to being traded to the Braves in July. He ranks 144th among all players, 24th among NL batters and eighth among NL outfielders. This is his first Player of the Game honor of the 2021 postseason.
The Braves could achieve the World Series championship with a win in Game 5 Sunday in Atlanta.
Top Braves in World Series Game 4: Atlanta 3, Houston 2
Here are the Box-Toppers game scores (BTG) of all Braves players who appeared in World Series Game 4, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Player of the Game (POG) is Jorge Soler.| 10/30 | BTG | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | +2.0 | Jorge Soler, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +2.0 | Will Smith, (S 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +2.0 | Luke Jackson, (Hld 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | Chris Martin | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 0.0 | Dansby Swanson, SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Tyler Matzek, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | Guillermo Heredia, PR‑CF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Dylan Lee, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Chris Martin, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Tyler Matzek, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Luke Jackson, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| 0.0 | Will Smith, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Austin Riley, 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Kyle Wright, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Orlando Arcia, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Joc Pederson, RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.8 | Kyle Wright | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | ||
| ‑3.0 | Adam Duvall, CF‑RF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑3.0 | Ozzie Albies, 2B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑3.9 | Dylan Lee | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| ‑4.0 | Travis d'Arnaud, C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
World Series Game 5, Braves lead Astros in series, 3-1
Sunday’s starting pitchers:
Astros—Framber Valdez, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 175th among all players, 58th among AL pitchers.
Valdez was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the ALCS Game 5 win over the Red Sox on Oct. 20. He also started Oct. 8 in the ALDS Game 2 win over the White Sox, Oct. 15 in the ALCS Game 1 win over the Red Sox and Oct. 26 in the World Series Game 1 loss to the Braves.
Braves—Tucker Davidson, 1.0 Box-Toppers point, 731st among all players, 177th among NL pitchers.
Davidson has appeared in just five career games over 2020 and 2021 and has appeared in only one Braves win. But in that one in which he appeared, he was Box-Toppers Player of the Game (this season on June 3 in the 5-1 win over the Nationals). In other words, Davidson has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in 100 percent of all Braves wins in which he’s appeared. He has started all five games he appeared in, throwing between 53 and 90 pitches in each game and going as long as six innings. But he has not pitched for the Braves since June 15. He has not yet pitched in the postseason.
Davidson was not announced as Game 5 starter until Sunday. Short on starting pitchers, the Braves are expected to go with a bullpen game, as they did in Game 4, with relievers taking turns pitching one or two innings each. Other candidates for Game 5 starter/opener were Drew Smyly (8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021) and Jesse Chavez (0.0 points). Smyly has appeared in relief twice this postseason and Chavez has appeared six times, including a one-inning start Oct. 20 in NLCS 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.
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