Ryan Goins homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, as the Blue Jays beat the Royals Monday in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.
Goins is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Monday in the 11-8 win, the Blue Jays’ first in the best-of-seven series, which the Royals now lead 2-1.
Goins, who started at second base and moved to shortstop, had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, tied for highest among all Blue Jays players with second baseman Troy Tulowitzki, who had an identical line (HR 2-4 2R 3BI). But Goins won Player of the Game on a tiebreaker because he had fewer strikeouts—one vs. two. After Tulowitzki’s second strikeout in the seventh inning, he was ejected for arguing and Goins replaced him defensively at shortstop.
During the regular season, Goins had 4.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 221st among all players, 52nd among AL batters, fourth among AL shortstops and sixth among AL second basemen (Goins was Player of the Game four times in 2015—twice at shortstop and twice at second base).
In a game dominated by offense, neither starting pitcher fared well in Box-Toppers game score. Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman picked up the win, but had a Box-Toppers game score of −12.9 (6.1IP 11H 4R K). Royals starter Johnny Cueto, who picked up the loss, had a Box-Toppers game score of −22.0 (2IP 6H 8R 2K).
The series resumes Tuesday with Game 4 in Toronto (more details below).
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/19 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 3.0 | Blue Jays | Ryan Goins, 2B-SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Tuesday:
ALCS Game 4, Royals lead Blue Jays, 2-1
The pitching match-up Tuesday:
Royals—Chris Young, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 78th among all players, 29th among AL pitchers.
Blue Jays—R.A. Dickey, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 180th among all players, 64th among AL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
NLCS Game 3, Mets lead Cubs, 2-0
The pitching match-up Tuesday:
Mets—Jacob deGrom, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Kyle Hendricks, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 54th among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.