Despite falling to second place in their own division, the St. Louis Cardinals remain the top team in Box-Toppers rankings for the ninth straight week.
The Pittsburgh Pirates passed the Cardinals atop the National League Central division standings and have the best record in baseball (.619), but are still behind the Cardinals in Box-Toppers points, ranking in sixth place overall.
Cardinals players have accumulated the most Box-Toppers points this season, 66.7. Their lead continued to narrow over the second-place team, the Boston Red Sox (64.0). Two weeks ago, they led the Red Sox by 8.2 points and now lead only by 2.7.
The Red Sox have the second-best win-loss record in baseball, behind the Pirates, at .609 and the best record in the American League.
The Baltimore Orioles are top team of the week, picking up 9.4 Box-Toppers points and rising to eighth place in team rankings. The bulk of those points came when the Orioles this week acquired closing pitcher Scott Feldman from the Chicago Cubs. Feldman has 5.7 points and brings his Box-Toppers points to the Orioles. (The Cubs, meanwhile, had a net loss of 1.7 points over the week because of the trade.)
The Cardinals lead the Pirates in Box-Toppers points mainly because Cardinals players, especially pitchers, tend to earn bonus points by being top player or batter of the day overall or in their league.
The Cardinals are led by pitchers Shelby Miller (11.4 Box-Toppers points), Adam Wainwright (10.7) and Lance Lynn (9.4). The Pirates, meanwhile, are led by third baseman Pedro Alvarez (6.2 points), pitcher Francisco Liriano (5.0) and pitcher Jeff Locke (5.0).
| 704 | Top 10 Teams | BTP | BTP/wk | Last week rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardinals | 66.7 | 3.5 | 1 |
| 2 | Red Sox | 64.0 | 5.0 | 2 |
| 3 | Reds | 61.1 | 5.5 | 5 |
| 4 | Tigers | 60.9 | 4.7 | 3 |
| 5 | Rangers | 58.6 | 3.0 | 4 |
| 6 | Pirates | 58.3 | 3.0 | 6 |
| 7 | Athletics | 58.2 | 4.0 | 7 |
| 8 | Orioles | 58.1 | 9.4 | Not ranked |
| 9 | Indians | 57.3 | 6.0 | 9 |
| 10 | Nationals | 56.7 | 5.2 | 8 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points total. Accumulated points of all players on team in 2013 season.
BTP/wk: Box-Toppers points for the team for the past week, through games on Thursday.