Madison Bumgarner pitched a complete game shutout, leading the Giants Sunday to a World Series Game 5 win, moving them within one game of the title and earning Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors.
Bumgarner allowed four hits, walked none and struck out eight in the 5-0 win over the Royals. The Giants now have a 3-2 game lead in the best-of-seven World Series.
Bumgarner had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, the most of any Giants player. The second-highest Box-Toppers game score was +3.0, by Juan Perez (who went 1-for-1 with a run and two RBIs).
This was the fourth time this postseason Bumgarner earned Player of the Game honors, the most of any player in the postseason. No other player has been Player of the Game more than twice. Bumgarner was Player of the Game previously:
• Oct. 1 in the National League Wild Card win over the Pirates.
• Oct. 11 in the NL Championship Series Game 1 win over the Cardinals.
• Oct. 21 in the World Series Game 1 win over the Royals.
During the regular season, Bumgarner earned 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranking third among all players and second among NL pitchers. He is the highest-ranked player remaining in the postseason and the only player in the World Series in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings.
The World Series takes a day off Monday and resumes Tuesday in Kansas City:
World Series Game 6: Giants lead Royals, 3-2
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Giants: Jake Peavy, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 165th among all players, 58th among NL pitchers.
Royals: Yordano Ventura, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 75th among all players, 33rd among AL pitchers.
This is a rematch of Game 2 starting pitchers, won by the Royals, 7-2. Peavy earned the loss in that game.
Both pitchers have earned Player of the Game honors once during the postseason, both on Oct. 3 in each team’s League Division Series games—Peavy in NLDS Game 1 vs. the Nationals and Ventura in ALDS Game 2 vs. the Angels.
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.
Previous Box-Toppers 2014 World Series previews:
Royals sweep Giants in series—in regular season, interleague series back in August, that is
Top 5 players in World Series Game 5
Here are the top five Giants players in Sunday’s World Series Game 3, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Madison Bumgarner, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, is Player of the Game (POG). Juan Perez was the Giants’ batter with the highest Box-Toppers game score of +3.
| 1026 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 13.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 3.0 | Giants | Juan Perez PR, LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Brandon Crawford SS | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Giants | Pablo Sandoval 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Giants | Hunter Pence RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |