Twins pitcher Ervin Santana is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the third player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 9:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 7 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.4 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.4 |
| 10 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
Santana pitched a four-hit, complete-game shutout, walking one and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Giants.
Santana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, maintaining his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among American League pitchers. He trails Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (14.4) and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (12.0).
This is the fifth time Santana has earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points in a season in the 13 seasons he has earned Box-Toppers points. He last did it in 2014 with the Braves, when he had 11.0 points for the season.
Santana also rises to 56th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday he now has 108.7 career Box-Toppers points, passing five players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran of the Astros (107.6), Red Sox pitcher David Price (107.9), Lance Berkman (108.1), Kevin Millwood (108.3) and Billy Wagner (108.7). Santana now trails 55th-ranked player Jeff Kent (109.7).
National League Player of the Day—Tyler Moore of the Marlins hit two homers and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-7 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—Mallex Smith of the Rays homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 13-4 win over the Athletics.
This was Smith’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Smith made his Major League debut April 11, 2016, and was playing in his 82nd career game. He is the 3,819th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Tyler Moore.
Scoring—Santana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Moore earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Smith earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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| 6/9 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | MIN 4, SF 0 | Ervin Santana (W,8-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| NL | 5.0 | MIA 12, PIT 7 | Tyler Moore, 1B-RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | NYY 8, BAL 2 | Jordan Montgomery (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | LAD 7, CIN 2 | Kenta Maeda (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 4.1 | MIL 8, ARI 6 | Corey Knebel (S,8) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | TB 13, OAK 4 | Mallex Smith, CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SD 6, KC 3 | Jhoulys Chacin (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | `STL 3, PHI 2 | Matt Bowman (H,12) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 5, WSH 2 | Jonathan Lucroy, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 5, DET 3 | Mitch Moreland, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 7, CHW 3 | Edwin Encarnacion, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 9, HOU 4 | Cameron Maybin, CF | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 4, TOR 2 | Edwin Diaz (S,10) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 3, NYM 2 | Dansby Swanson, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | COL 5, CHC 3 | Ryan Hanigan, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 | 15.4 | 48.2 | 108.7 | 7.4 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.7 | 10.4 | 17.1 | 32.5 | -1.0 |
| Knebel, Corey 3757 | pi cp | mil nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | atl nl | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.5 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp cp | lad nl | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -7.0 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | cle al | 3.0 | 11.0 | 46.1 | 70.1 | -5.0 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -4.0 |
| Maybin, Cameron 2672 | lf cf | ana al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 11.5 | 18.5 | 0.0 |
| Moore, Tyler 3045 | 1b rf ph | fla nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 2.7 |
| Moreland, Mitch 2799 | 1b ph | bos al | 2.0 | 5.5 | 18.7 | 20.7 | -1.5 |
| Bowman, Matt 3699 | pi mr | stl nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Smith, Mallex 3819 | cf | tb al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | ca | tex al | 1.0 | 6.7 | 21.8 | 28.3 | -4.7 |
| Hanigan, Ryan 2708 | ca | col nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 0.0 |