Charlie Morton tops players in World Series Game 7 as Astros win 2017 title over Dodgers

Astros pitcher Charlie Morton is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 7, as Houston wins its first title in franchise history.

The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 Wednesday, to win the best-of-seven series and become 2017 Major League champions for the first time since the franchise began in 1962.

Morton pitched four innings in an unusual closing role, allowing two hits, one run, one walk and striking out four. And though normally Brad Peacock, who relieved starter Lance McCullers Jr. In the third inning, would have been the pitcher of record to earn the win, the official scorer awarded the win to Morton, who held the Astros lead from the sixth inning to ninth inning.

Morton had 7.7 Box-Toppers points in the regular season, ranked 83rd among all players and 27th among American League pitchers. Wednesday was his first Player of the Game honor in five postseason appearances, all of which were starts. It is the third time this postseason a regular Astros starter has earned Player of the Game honors in a relief role: 

Astros top batter in Game 7 was George Springer with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 (HR 2B 2-5 2R 2BI). For much of the game, Springer was the leader as Box-Toppers Player of the Game. He built his Box-Toppers game score in his first two at bats in which he hit a double and a homer, but that score lowered as he recorded outs in final three at bats, allowing Morton to raise his Box-Toppers game score from +1.0 to +3.0 in the bottom of ninth, passing Springer. (See below for a Game 7 narrative via Box-Toppers Twitter feed as the game progressed.)

Springer, who was Player of the Game in World Series Game 2, was named 2017 World Series Most Valuable Player.

Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. Had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.1, second-highest among Astros players (2.1IP 3H 0R 0BB 3K ND). Another regular Astros starter used in relief, Brad Peacock, had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (2IP H 0R BB 2K ND). Peacock was Player of the Game in World Series Game 3.

Dodgers starting pitcher Yu Darvish had a Box-Toppers game score of -11.8 (1.2IP 3H 5R 4ER BB 0K L), picking up his second loss in his two short World Series outings. While other Dodgers starters brought in relief in Game 7 fared better and held the Astros scoreless, the damage was already done and the Dodgers bats couldn’t overcome the Astros early lead.

Dodgers starters pitching in relief Wednesday included: 

  • Clayton Kershaw with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 (4IP 2H 0R 2BB 4K ND). Kershaw was Player of the Game in Game 1.
  • Alex Wood with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K ND). Wood was Player of the Game in Game 4.

Box-Toppers had the Astros as slight underdogs in the 2017 World Series. The Dodgers were ranked higher in Box-Toppers team rankings with 138.9 accumulated Box-Toppers points in the regular season, ranked second among all teams. The Astros ranked fourth with 131.7.

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 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 ALCS Preview

Box-Toppers NLCS Preview

Top Astros in World Series Game 7: Astros 5, Dodgers 1

Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Astros who played in World Series Game 7 listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score:
 
11/1 BTG Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
POG 3.0 Charlie Morton W (1 - 0) - - - - 4.0 2 1 1 1 4
2.1 Lance McCullers Jr. - - - - 2.1 3 0 0 0 3
2.0 Brad Peacock - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 1 2
1.0 George Springer CF - RF 5 2 2 2 - - - - - -
0.1 Francisco Liriano - - - - 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
0.1 Chris Devenski - - - - 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
0.0 Marwin González LF 3 1 2 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Lance McCullers Jr. P 1 0 0 1 - - - - - -
0.0 Evan Gattis PH 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Francisco Liriano P 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Chris Devenski P 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-1.0 Charlie Morton P 1 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-1.0 Brad Peacock P 1 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Jose Altuve 2B 3 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-2.0 Brian McCann C 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Josh Reddick RF 2 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Cameron Maybin PH - CF 2 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-3.0 Carlos Correa SS 4 0 1 0 - - - - - -
-3.0 Alex Bregman 3B 4 1 0 0 - - - - - -
-4.0 Yuli Gurriel 1B 4 0 0 0 - - - - - -
BTG—Box-Toppers game score
POG—Player of the Game

Game 7 narrative via Box-Toppers Twitter feed

Here are real-time tweets from Box-Toppers Wednesday as World Series Game 7 progressed: