Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Syndergaard struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 2-0 win over the Royals.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays. Odorizzi did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because when he exited, the Rays trailed 2-1.
American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-6, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-7 win over the Marlins.
Kinsler has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 57.6 career points, second among active AL second basemen (behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners who has 67.4). Kinsler’s best season was 2009 with the Rangers when he had 11.2 points, eighth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 6.5 points, fourth among AL second basemen.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks homered, tripled and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rockies. Goldschmidt ranked fourth among NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 10.2.
Notable—David Price (6IP 5H 2R 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Indians) earns his first Player of the Game honor pitching for the Red Sox. Price had 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2015 pitching for the Tigers and Blue Jays, second among AL pitchers.
Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. Lester (7IP 4H R 4K W) was Player of the Game in the 6-1 win over the Angels. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox and has 122.1 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks fifth among active NL pitchers. His best year was 2010 with the Red Sox when he led AL pitchers with 23.4 Box-Toppers points. In 2015, he had 12.0 points with the Cubs, 13th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kinsler and Goldschmidt each earn 1.5 points for being top batter in their league for the day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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
| 4/5 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Mets | Noah Syndergaard (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| 10.0 | Dodgers | Scott Kazmir (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| AL | 6.2 | `Rays | Jake Odorizzi | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |
| 5.0 | Cubs | Jon Lester (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | Red Sox | David Price (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Tigers | Ian Kinsler, 2B | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Dbacks | Paul Goldschmidt, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Mariners | Seth Smith, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Giants | Johnny Cueto (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Pirates | Kyle Lobstein (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | David Robertson (S,2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Luke Gregerson (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||