Red Sox pitcher Rubby De La Rosa is Saturday’s Player of the Day. De La Rosa pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 7-1 win over the Rays.
This was De La Rosa’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,342nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. De La Rosa made his Major League debut May 24, 2011 and was playing in the 26th game of his career and his first of the season.
Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel is National League Player of the Day. Hammel pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 8-0 win over the Brewers. Hammel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, moving him up to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings (see the top 10 list on the home page). He ranks fifth in Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers.
De La Rosa and Hammel had virtually identical statistics Saturday and were tied for highest Box-Toppers game score of the day with 11.0. But De La Rosa was given the nod as Player of the Day because he hit no batters and Hammel hit two.
Hanley Ramirez of the Dodgers is NL Batter of the Day. Ramirez hit two home runs, went 4-for-4 and drove in five runs in the 12-2 win over the Pirates.
Yoenis Cespedes of the Athletics is American League Player of the Day. Cespedes hit a three-run homer, a two-run triple and doubled in the 11-3 win over the Angels.
Notables: Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Tanaka (8IP 1R 9K W in the 3-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He remains the top-ranked AL pitcher and trails only Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (11.0 Box-Toppers points).
Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Cueto (7.1IP 0R 7K W in the 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He rises to third place among NL pitchers.
De La Rosa receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Hammel receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Cespedes each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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 from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 531 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | Red Sox | Rubby De La Rosa (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| NL | 11.0 | Cubs | Jason Hammel (W, 6-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 10.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 8-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 10.0 | Cardinals | Michael Wacha (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 9.0 | Dodgers | Hanley Ramirez SS | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.1 | Reds | Johnny Cueto (W, 5-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.1 | `Mets | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 11 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Athletics | Yoenis Cespedes LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `Indians | Trevor Bauer | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | Blue Jays | Marcus Stroman (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Orioles | Nelson Cruz DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Anthony Rendon 3B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Padres | Will Venable RF, CF | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Chris Young (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Gerald Laird C | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.