Addison Russell of the Cubs is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game in National League Division Series Game 5, as the Cubs eliminate the Nationals.
NLDS Game 5: Cubs 9, Nationals 8
Russell hit two doubles and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs, as the Cubs win the series three games to two.
Russell had 3.5 Box-Toppers points in 2017, 302nd among all players, 68th among NL batters and fourth among NL shortstops.
He had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +3.0, highest among all Cubs players. Brian Duensing had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Cubs pitchers of +0.2 (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K W), appearing in the fifth inning.
Four pitchers who are usually starters appeared in the game for both teams and none did well:
- Kyle Hendricks (3.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 280th among all players, 76th among NL pitchers) started the game for the Cubs and had a Box-Toppers game score of -7.0 (4IP 9H 4R BB 7K ND).
- Gio Gonzalez (9.7 Box-Toppers points, 41st among all players, 20th among NL pitchers) started the game for the Nationals and had a Box-Toppers game score of -5.0 (3IP 3H 3R 4BB 5K ND).
- Max Scherzer (25.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among all players, first among NL pitchers) pitched in relief for the Nationals in the fifth inning to protect the 4-3 lead. But he had a Box-Toppers game score of -8.0 (1IP 3H 4R 2ER BB K L), blew the lead and picked up the loss. Among the 14 pitchers who appeared for both teams Thursday, no one had a lower Box-Toppers game score than Scherzer.
- Jose Quintana (15.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 15th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers) pitched in relief for the Cubs in the seventh inning to protect the 9-6 lead. He protected the lead, but still had a negative Box-Toppers game score of -1.8 (0.2IP H 0R BB K).
The Cubs ranked sixth in Box-Toppers team rankings this season (120.5 Box-Toppers points). The Nationals ranked third (135.3) and were in contention for the overall lead in the final days of the season, but earned only 5.7 points over the final 10 days of the season. Meanwhile, the Cubs were one of the hottest teams over that stretch, picking up 9.7 points.
The Cubs now face the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series beginning Saturday in Los Angeles, a rematch of last year’s NLCS that the Cubs won in six games.
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.
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Top player from each game
| BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 3.0 | CHC 9, WSH 8 | Addison Russell SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers
Tracking who most helps their teams win the most games, based on box score stats. A method to measure & compare baseball's top players.
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.