Jacob deGrom struck out seven over seven innings, allowing two runs and four hits to lead the Mets to a win Tuesday in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.
deGrom is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Tuesday, while Alcides Escobar was Player of the Game in the Royals Game 4 win over the Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series.
National League Championship Series Game 3: Mets 5, Cubs 2
deGrom had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 to lead all Mets players, as the Mets took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Yoenis Cespedes had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Mets batters of +1.0 (2B 3-5 R 2BI).
During the regular season, deGrom had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players and third among NL pitchers.
It is the second time this postseason deGrom has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game in the NL Division Series Game 1 win over the Dodgers.
The series resumes Wednesday with Game 4 in Chicago (more details below).
American League Championship Series Game 4: Royals 14, Blue Jays 2
Alcides Escobar went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, as the Royals took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Escobar had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0, highest among Royals players. Lorenzo Cain had the second-highest score of +3.0 (2-3 R 3BI).
During the regular season, Escobar had 3.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 283rd among all players, 60th among AL batters and fifth among AL shortstops.
The series resumes Wednesday with Game 5 in Toronto (more details below).
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
| 10/20 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 5.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| POG | 4.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Wednesday:
ALCS Game 5, Royals lead Blue Jays, 3-1
The pitching match-up Wednesday:
Royals—Edinson Volquez, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 105th among all players, 39th among AL pitchers. Volquez was Player of the Game in the ALCS Game 1 win over the Blue Jays.
Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 85th among all players, 34th among AL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
NLCS Game 4, Mets lead Cubs, 3-0
The pitching match-up Wednesday:
Mets—Steven Matz, 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 298th among all players, 76th among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Jason Hammel, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 52nd among all players, 22nd among NL pitchers.
Oct. 21, 2015 is the day in the “Back to the Future” movies in which the Cubs are predicted to win the World Series in a sweep over Miami, a city without a Major League team in the 1980s when the movies were made. It could actually be the day in which the Cubs are swept in the NLCS.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.