Pirates pitcher Ivan Nova is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.
Nova pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Marlins.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 29:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 5.7 |
| 3 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 4 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 5 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 4.4 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 4.0 |
| 10 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 |
Nova earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to third in season player rankings, second among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (6.0 Box-Toppers points).
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing five hits, in the 2-1 win over the Astros.
Triggs earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season and rising to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Braves hit three homers, going 3-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Brewers.
With Saturday’s Player of the Game honor, Kemp has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Dodgers and has 60.6 career points, fourth among active NL batters. His best season was 2012 with the Dodgers, when he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points, third among NL batters. In 2016, he had 7.5 points with the Padres and the Braves, sixth among NL outfielders.
American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Judge of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-2, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 12-4 win over the Orioles.
Judge earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 points for the season, rising to lead AL batters, passing previous leader, Logan Morrison of the Rays (3.2).
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Allen Cordoba of the Padres (HR 1-2 2R 3BI in the 12-4 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut April 3 and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,780th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers (2HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 6-5 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut April 25 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,781st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Nova earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Triggs earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kemp and Judge each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 4/29 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | PIT 4, MIA 0 | Ivan Nova (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| AL | 11.0 | OAK 2, HOU 1 | Andrew Triggs (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | ATL 11, MIL 3 | Matt Kemp, LF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | NYY 12, BAL 4 | Aaron Judge, RF | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | TEX 6, LAA 3 | Yu Darvish (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 4.2 | NYM 5, WSH 3 | Hansel Robles (W,4-0; H,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | `CLE 4, SEA 3 | Andrew Miller (H,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | TOR 4, TB 1 | Justin Smoak, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | SD 12, SF 4 | Allen Cordoba, PR-LF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 6, DET 4 (F/10) | Jose Abreu, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 7, BOS 4 | Wade Davis (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 6, PHI 5 | Cody Bellinger, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | COL 7, ARI 6 | Alexi Amarista, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 | 13.0 | 28.7 | 36.1 | -3.0 |
| Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 4.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 3.4 |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 3.0 | 13.4 | 58.6 | 58.6 | -7.4 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi mr cp | cle al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 17.0 | 25.0 | -6.0 |
| Kemp, Matt 2151 | lf | atl nl | 1.5 | 9.0 | 32.0 | 60.6 | -6.0 |
| Davis, Wade 2681 | pi cp | chi nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 20.0 | 27.0 | -3.0 |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | tor al | 1.0 | 4.5 | 17.7 | 23.9 | -2.5 |
| Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | chi al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 21.0 | 21.0 | -0.5 |
| Robles, Hansel 3580 | pi mr cp | nym nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 0.0 |
| Amarista, Alexi 3032 | ss ph | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | lf | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Cordova, Allen 3780 | lf pr | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |