Dodgers pitcher Kenley Jansen is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 6 Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Houston Astros 3-1 to even the best-of-seven series at 3-3, forcing the deciding Game 7 Wednesday.
Jansen pitched a two-inning save, allowing no hits, runs or walks and striking out three. His Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 was highest among Dodgers players.
Jansen becomes the first player to earn Player of the Game honors three times in the 2017 postseason. He had been one of seven players to earn Player of the Game honors twice during the postseason. Jansen other Player of the Game honors:
- In National League Division Series Game 2 on Oct. 7—Jansen had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.2 (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv) in the 8-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
- In NL Championship Series Game 1 on Oct. 14—Jansen had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.1 (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K Sv) in the 5-2 win over the Cubs.
Jansen had 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, ranked 102nd among all players, 34th among NL pitchers and second among NL closers, behind Greg Holland of the Rockies (8.0).
Dodgers top batter in Game 6 was Chase Utley, who was hit by a pitch and scored a run. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 (0-0 R).
Starting pitcher Rich Hill had the Dodgers’ second-best Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +2.2 (4.2IP 4H R BB 5K ND).
Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander had the highest Box-Toppers game score of all players in Game 6 but did not win Player of the Game because his team lost. Verlander had a game score of +8.0 (6IP 3H 2R 0BB 9K L). Verlander is one of six players who have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice this postseason. The others are Jose Altuve, George Springer and Dallas Keuchel of the Astros, Yu Darvish of the Dodgers and Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees.
Game 7 is Wednesday in Los Angeles.
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top Dodgers in World Series Game 6: Dodgers 3, Astros 1
Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Dodgers who played in World Series Game 6 listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score:| 10/31 | BTG | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 5.0 | Kenley Jansen S (2) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 2.2 | Rich Hill | - | - | - | - | 4.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 1.0 | Chase Utley 2B | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Brandon Morrow | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 0.0 | Joc Pederson LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Charlie Culberson 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Kenta Maeda H (1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | Tony Watson P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Kenta Maeda P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Kenley Jansen P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Brandon Morrow P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -0.9 | Tony Watson W (2 - 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | Austin Barnes C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Andre Ethier PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Rich Hill P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Chris Taylor CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Yasiel Puig RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Corey Seager SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Logan Forsythe 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Justin Turner 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Cody Bellinger 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
POG—Player of the Game
Coming Wednesday in Los Angeles:
World Series Game 7, Astros at Dodgers, series tied, 3-3
Wednesday’s starting pitchers:
Astros—Lance McCullers, 9.4 Box-Toppers points, 49th among all players, 16th among AL pitchers.
Dodgers—Yu Darvish, 13.0 Box-Toppers points, 20th among all players, 11th among NL pitchers.
It is a rematch of Game 3 won by the Astros 5-3. However, neither starting pitcher earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game nor did they have positive Box-Toppers game scores. McCullers had a Box-Toppers game score of -5.9 (5.1IP 4H 3R 4BB 3K W). Darvish had a Box-Toppers game score of -13.8 (1.2IP 6H 4R BB 0K L).
McCullers has three other 2017 postseason appearances and earned Player of the Game honors once:
- American League Division Series Game 3 on Oct. 8—McCullers appeared in relief and did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 10-3 loss to the Astros. McCullers had a Box-Toppers game score of -2.0 (3IP 3H 2R 2BB 4K ND).
- AL Championship Series Game 4 on Oct. 17—McCullers started and did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 6-4 loss to the Yankees. McCullers had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (6IP 2H R 2BB 3K ND).
- ALCS Game 7 on Oct. 21—McCullers appeared in relief and earned Player of the Game honors in the 4-0 win over the Yankees. McCullers had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0 (4IP H 0R BB 6K Sv) in the unusual four-inning closer role to shutdown the Yankees and win the pennant for the Astros.
Darvish has appeared two other times in the 2017 postseason, earning Player of the Game honors both times. He is one of seven players to have earned Player of the Game honors at least twice in the 2017 postseason:
- NLDS 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).
- NLCS Game 3 on Oct. 17—Darvish started and earned Player of the Game in the 6-1 win over the Cubs with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.1 (6.1IP 6H R BB 7K W).
In this postseason, the team with the better starter has not necessarily fared better than the team with a lower-ranked starter.
In the 37 postseason games this season, the team with the starting pitcher ranked higher in Box-Toppers player rankings has won the game 18 times and lost 19 times. In six World Series games, the team with the starter ranked higher in Box-Toppers player rankings has won the game three times and lost three times.
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers 2017 final team rankings
Box-Toppers 2017 final top 10 player rankings
Box-Toppers point totals of all Dodgers players active at season’s end
Box-Toppers point totals of all Astros players active at season’s end
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.