Enrique Hernandez of the Dodgers is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s National League Championship Series Game 5, as Los Angeles eliminates the Chicago Cubs.
NLCS Game 5: Dodgers 11, Cubs 1
Hernandez hit three home runs, including a grand slam, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in seven total runs, as the Dodgers win the series in five games, eliminating the 2016 champions.
Hernandez had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in the regular season on June 14 and has just 3.0 career points in three seasons since making his Box-Toppers debut in 2015.
Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +9.0, highest of any Dodgers player.
Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 (6IP 3H R BB 5K W). Despite his impressive regular season, earning 23.1 Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players, he still has not earned Player of the Game honors in the regular or postseason since Sept. 1 and only earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points since the All-Star break.
Cubs starting pitcher Jose Quintana had a Box-Toppers game score of -16.0 (2IP 6H 6R BB K L).
The Dodgers rank second among all teams in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers point totals for the season at 138.9, finishing behind the Cleveland Indians (140.9). The Cubs ranked sixth with 120.5 points, the lowest-ranked team of the final four teams in the postseason. While the Dodgers started the season hot and dominated Box-Toppers team rankings from June to August, they slumped in late August and early September, losing 16 of 17 games. They fell out of their dominant Box-Toppers team rankings lead, but ended the season hot, picking up 10.0 Box-Toppers points in the season’s final 10 days, most among all teams.
The Dodgers host Game 1 of the World Series Tuesday against the winner of the American League Championship Series, either the New York Yankees or Houston Astros.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Top player from each game
| BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 9.0 | LAD 11, CHC 1 | Enrique Hernández LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Friday:
American League Championship Series Game 6, Yankees lead Astros, 3-2
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 and a rematch of Game 2 of the series won by the Astros 2-1, in which Verlander was Player of the Game.
Verlander had a Box-Toppers game score of +14.0 (CG 5H R BB 13K W) in that game. Severino had a game score of -2.0 (4IP 2H R 2BB 0K ND).
Both have appeared two other times in the postseason but neither 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.
See Box-Toppers ALCS 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.