Eric Hosmer of the Royals, who tripled in the bottom of the 12th inning, then scored the run to tie the American League Wild Card Playoff Game, is Tuesday’s Player of the Day.
Hosmer went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 9-8, 12-inning win over the Athletics. He had the Royals’ high Box-Toppers game score of +2.
During the regular season, Hosmer earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points, ranking 368th among all players and 83rd among AL batters.
The Royals now advance to face the Angels in the best-of-five AL Division Series beginning Thursday in Los Angeles.
The Royals are tenth in Box-Toppers team rankings, the lowest-rated AL playoff team, with 101.1 Box-Toppers points. They eliminate the Athletics, the third-ranked team with 117.6 Box-Toppers points. The Athletics had led all teams in Box-Toppers points much of the season but slumped toward the end of the season and were the final team to qualify for a playoff spot, winning the AL’s second wild card spot on Sunday, the final game of the season.
The Royals will face the Angels, the overall top team in Box-Toppers team rankings, with 124.2 Box-Toppers points. However, in the final 10 days of the season, the Angels earned the fewest Box-Toppers points of any AL team, 3.0.
Coming Wednesday: The National League Wild Card Game in Pittsburgh, with the Giants facing the Pirates. Here is the pitching match-up:
Giants: Madison Bumgarner, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked 3rd overall, 2nd among NL pitchers.
Pirates: Edinson Volquez, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 87th overall, 40th among NL pitchers.
The Giants are ranked eighth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 110.8 Box-Toppers points. The Pirates are ranked 11th—the lowest of any playoff team—with 99.9. However, in the final 10 days of the season, the Pirates were one of the NL’s hottest teams, picking up 6.7 Box-Toppers points and rising from 16th to 11th in team rankings. The Giants, during the same period, picked up 4.5 points and fell from seventh to eighth.
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.
Top player in AL Wild Card Game
Eric Hosmer of the Royals was Player of the Game (POG) in the 9-8 win over the Athletics
| 930 | Score | Team | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 2.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |