Dallas Keuchel tops players in Friday's ALCS opener, as Astros take Game 1 over Yankees

Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

Keuchel struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Yankees. The Indians take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Keuchel had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +12.0, highest among Astros players. Jose Altuve had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Astros batters, 0.0 (3-4 R 0BI). Yankees starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (6IP 4H 2R BB 3K L).

Keuchel had 9.4 Box-Toppers points in 2017, 48th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers. In 2015, he led all AL pitchers with 21.4 points, which was ranked fourth among all players.

Keuchel was also Player of the Game in Game 2 of the AL Division Series. He is the first player to earn Player of the Game honors twice in the 2017 postseason.

Top player from each game

 
BTG Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
12.0 HOU 2, NYY 1 Dallas Keuchel W (1-0) - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 1 10
BTG—Box-Toppers game score

Coming Saturday:

American League Championship Series Game 2, Yankees at Astros

The pitching matchup:

Yankees—Luis Severino, 21.1 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players, fourth among AL pitchers.

Astros—Justin Verlander, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th among all players, sixth among AL pitchers.

It’s a matchup of the top ranked player on each team. Both have appeared twice in the postseason but neither has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in those appearances.

Severino’s appearances:

  • AL Wild Card Game—Severino started the game, but did not fare well with a Box-Toppers game score of -10.9 (0.1IP 4H 3R BB 0K ND). The Yankees beat the Twins, 8-4.
  • AL Division Series Game 4—Severino started and had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 (7IP 4H 3R BB 7K W). The Yankees won 7-3. Severino lost Player of the Game honors to reliever Tommy Kahnle, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0.

Verlander’s appearances:

  • AL Division Series Game 1—Verlander started and had a Box-Toppers game score of -3.0 (6IP 6H 2R 2BB 3K W) in the 8-2 win over the Red Sox. He did not earn Player of the Game, which went to teammate Jose Altuve with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0.
  • AL Division Series Game 4—Verlander, appearing in his first career relief appearance, had a Box-Toppers game score of -2.8 (2.2IP H R 2BB 0K W). Player of the Game went to teammate George Springer, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0.

National League Championship Series Game 1, Cubs at Dodgers

The pitching matchup Saturday:

Cubs—Jose Quintana, 15.0 Box-Toppers points, 15th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 23.1 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, second among AL pitchers.

Quintana has appeared twice:

  • NLDS Game 3—Quintana started and was Player of the Game with a Box-Toppers game score of +8.2 in the 3-1 win over the Nationals (5.2IP 2H R BB 7K ND).
  • NLDS Game 5—Quintana appeared in relief in the seventh inning and had a Box-Toppers game score of -1.8 (0.2IP H 0R BB K) in the 9-8 win over the Nationals. Player of the Game was teammate Addison Russell with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0.

Kershaw has made one appearance in the postseason:

  • NLDS Game 1—Kershaw started and had a Box-Toppers game score of -2.9 (6.1IP 5H 4R 3BB 7K W) in the 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks. Player of the Game went to teammate Justin Turner with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0.

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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A listing of all Yankees and Astros players active with those teams at season’s end who earned Box-Toppers points during the 2017 season can be found here.