Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 3:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 14.5 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 14.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 8 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 12.4 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.0 |
Also Wednesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked second among players in Box-Toppers points this season, got within striking distance of overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Iwakuma pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing three runs, four hits and one walk, in the 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
Scherzer earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 18.7 for the season, maintaining second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. With his points Wednesday, he now has the chance to pass overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points) on his next start.
Scherzer’s 1.3-point gap behind Kershaw is the closest any player has been to the leader since May 22, when Kershaw had 10.0 Box-Toppers points and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta trailed him in second place with 8.7 (Arrieta now has 10.7 points, 11th among all players). Kershaw has led all players since May 7, but last earned Box-Toppers points on June 20 before going on the disabled list June 27. On Wednesday, he was retroactively placed on the 60-day disabled list, eligible to return Aug. 27.
Scherzer also now has 124.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Wednesday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 36th-ranked player, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (125.1).
American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins hit two doubles and tripled, going 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-5 win over the Indians.
This was Mauer’s first Player of the Game honor in 2016 and he has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons, all with the Twins. He earned his first points in 2004 and has 70.6 career points, 11th among active AL batters. His best season was 2008 when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 2.5 points.
National League Batter of the Day—Yangervis Solarte of the Padres homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Brewers.
Notable—Besides Scherzer, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
- Albert Pujols of the Angels (HR 2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 8-6 win over the Athletics) now has 181.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began (see updated list of the overall top 20 players in career points). He now trails fifth-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0), by only 0.7 points. Pujols has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th among AL batters.
- Cubs pitcher John Lackey (7IP 7H 3R 0BB 8K ND in the 5-4 win over the Marlins) rises to 40th place in career Box-Toppers points (118.2) among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list, Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (117.7) and now trails 39th-ranked player Cliff Lee (119.1). Lackey also becomes the 19th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points—he has 10.4 and ranks 14th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.
Streak—Ryan Howard has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons—all with the Phillies—after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Wednesday.
Howard (HR 3-4 R BI in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Giants) earned his first points in 2005 and has 97.7 career points, second among active NL batters, trailing Matt Holliday of the Cardinals (97.8) by 0.1 point. Howard’s best season was 2009 when he had 15.4 points, third among NL batters. In 2015, he had 5.5 points.
Scoring—Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Scherzer earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Mauer and Solarte each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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
| 8/3 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.1 | SEA 3, BOS 1 | Hisashi Iwakuma (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| NL | 8.0 | WSH 8, ARI 3 | Max Scherzer (W,12-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 11 | |
| 8.0 | TOR 3, HOU 1 | Marco Estrada (W,7-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 8.0 | TB 12, KC 0 | Jake Odorizzi (W,6-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 6.1 | NYY 9, NYM 5 | Luis Severino (W,1-6) | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | MIN 13, CLE 5 | Joe Mauer, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | SD 12, MIL 3 | Yangervis Solarte, 3B | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | COL 12, LAD 2 | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.1 | DET 2, CHW 1 | Shane Greene (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 8, OAK 6 | Albert Pujols, DH | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 8, PIT 4 | Ender Inciarte, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BAL 3, TEX 2 | Kevin Gausman (W,3-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | `CHC 5, MIA 4 | John Lackey | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 5, SF 4 (12) | Ryan Howard, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | STL 5, CIN 4 | Brandon Moss, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 | 39.7 | 104.3 | 124.7 | -2.3 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.4 | 20.1 | 39.8 | 118.2 | 0.7 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 | 15.0 | 39.1 | 39.1 | -1.0 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | dh 1b | ana al | 7.0 | 14.0 | 44.0 | 181.3 | 0.0 |
| Arenado, Nolan 3306 | 3b | col nl | 6.5 | 15.0 | 16.5 | 16.5 | -2.0 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 5.4 | 11.1 | 18.8 | 18.8 | -0.3 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 4.7 | 13.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 | -4.0 |
| Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 | 17.1 | 52.2 | 52.2 | -9.1 |
| Solarte, Yangervis 3304 | 3b | sd nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -2.0 |
| Greene, Shane 3381 | pi sp | det al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 0.0 |
| Moss, Brandon 2520 | rf lf 1b | stl nl | 2.5 | 7.5 | 23.5 | 25.5 | -2.5 |
| Mauer, Joe 1869 | 1b | min al | 1.5 | 4.0 | 26.0 | 70.6 | -1.0 |
| Howard, Ryan 2040 | 1b | phi nl | 1.0 | 6.5 | 31.4 | 97.7 | -4.5 |
| Inciarte, Ender 3360 | cf | atl nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -2.0 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi mr sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |