Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish and Aaron Judge of the Yankees are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Tuesday’s League Championship Series games.
NLCS Game 3: Dodgers 6, Cubs 1
Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish struck out seven over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and one walk, as the Dodgers take a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Yu Darvish had 13.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 20th among all players, 11th among NL pitchers.
He had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +4.1, highest among all Dodgers players. Kyle Farmer had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Dodgers batters of +1.0 (0-0 BI), hitting an eighth-inning, pinch-hit sacrifice fly. Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks had a Box-Toppers game score of -4.0 (5IP 6H 4R 3ER BB 5K L).
This was Darvish’s second Player of the Game honor so far this postseason. In the NL Division Series Game 3 on Oct. 9, Darvish started and earned Player of the Game honors in the 3-1 win over the Diamondbacks with a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0 (5IP 2H R 0BB 7K W). Darvish is the third player this season to earn Player of the Game honors twice. The others are Kenley Jansen of the Dodgers and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros.
The Dodgers could win the series in Game 4 Wednesday in Chicago.
ALCS Game 4: Yankees 6, Astros 4
Aaron Judge of the Yankees homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, as the Yankees evened the best-of-seven game series at 2-2.
Judge had 11.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 28th among all players and second among AL batters, behind Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians (12.1).
He had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +3.0. While two other Yankees had Box-Toppers game scores of +3.0, Judge ranked ahead of them because in cases of game score ties batters rank ahead of pitchers. The other two Yankees with Box-Toppers game scores of +3.0 were:
- Starting pitcher Sonny Gray (5IP H R 2R ER 2BB 4K ND).
- Closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv).
Opposing starting pitcher Lance McCullers of the Astros also had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (6IP 2H R 2BB 3K ND).
The series resumes with Game 5 Wednesday in New York.
Top player from each game
| BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 4.1 | LAD 6, CHC 1 | Yu Darvish W (1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 3.0 | NYY 6 HOU 4 | Aaron Judge RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Wednesday:
American League Championship Series Game 5, Astros at Yankees, series tied, 2-2
The pitching matchup:
Astros—Dallas Keuchel, 9.4 Box-Toppers points, 48th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.
Yankees—Masahiro Tanaka, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 23rd among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.
It is a rematch of Game 1 won by the Astros, in which Keuchel earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
Keuchel has appeared twice in the postseason and won Player of the Game both times. He’s one of three players to earn Player of the Game honors twice in the 2017 postseason (the others are Kenley Jansen and Yu Darvish, both of the Dodgers). Here are Keuchel’s 2017 postseason appearances:
- ALDS Game 2 on Oct. 6—Keuchel started and earned Player of the Game in the 8-2 win over the Red Sox with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.1 (5.2IP 3H R 3BB 7K W).
- ALCS Game 1 on Oct. 13—Keuchel started and earned Player of the Game in the 2-1 win over the Yankees with a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0 (7IP 4H 0R BB 10K W).
Tanaka has appeared twice in the postseason and won Player of the Game honors once:
- ALDS Game 3 on Oct. 8—Tanaka started and earned Player of the Game in the 1-0 win over the Indians with a Box-Toppers game score of +10.0 (7IP 3H 0R BB 7K).
- ALCS Game 1 on Oct. 13—Tanaka started but did not earn Player of the Game in the 2-1 loss to the Astros. He had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (6IP 4H 2R BB 3K L). Player of the Game was Keuchel.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
National League Championship Series Game 4, Dodgers lead Cubs, 3-0
The pitching matchup:
Dodgers—Alex Wood, 15.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 13th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Jake Arrieta, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, 110th among all players, 38th among NL pitchers.
Wood has yet to appear in the 2017 postseason.
Arrieta has made one appearance:
- NLDS Game 4 on Oct. 11—Arrieta started but did not earn Player of the Game in the 5-0 loss to the Nationals. Arrieta had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (4IP 2H R 0ER 5BB 4K L). Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg was Player of the Game with a Box-Toppers game score of +14.0.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
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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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.