Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 9:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 9 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extends his lead in season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to eighth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Freeland pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, three walks and striking out nine, in the 10-0 win over the White Sox. Freeland had a no-hitter intact until giving up a hit with one out in the ninth inning.
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks, in the 4-0 win over the Athletics.
Hernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 171.4 career points, rising to eighth in career points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Sunday, he passes Roy Halladay (170.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails seventh-ranked player Albert Pujols (184.3).
All-time leaders
Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 204.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 190.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 184.3 |
| 8 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 171.4 |
| 9 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 10 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 167.5 |
| 11 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | min al | 151.2 |
| 20 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 149.2 |
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.
Hernandez has just 2.7 Box-Toppers points on the season and had just 6.0 in 2016, after seven straight seasons of 10 or more points. Hernandez earned 0.7 Box-Toppers bonus points Sunday; the last time he earned bonus points was Sept. 10, 2015, when as Player of the Day, he earned an extra 1.0 Box-Toppers bonus point.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit two homers and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 19-1 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 14-3 win over the Cubs.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Kershaw (CG 6H 2R 0BB 13K W in the 5-2 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.1 for the season, leading second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (17.0 Box-Toppers points).
Kershaw also now has 204.8 career points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-ranked player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads all active players in career points.
Scoring—Freeland earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hernandez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Correa and Cervelli each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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| 7/9 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.1 | COL 10, CHW 0 | Kyle Freeland (W, 9-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | |
| 12.0 | LAD 5, KC 2 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 14-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | ||
| AL | 9.0 | SEA 4, OAK 0 | Felix Hernandez (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | HOU 19, TOR 1 | Carlos Correa (SS) | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | PHI 7, SD 1 | Jerad Eickhoff (W, 1-7) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | MIA 10, SF 8 (F/11) | Nick Wittgren (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | BAL 11, MIN 5 | Adam Jones (CF) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | STL 6, NYM 0 | Lance Lynn (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | PIT 14, CHC 3 | Francisco Cervelli (C) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | MIL 5, NYY 3 | Travis Shaw (3B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 10, ATL 5 | Anthony Rendon (3B) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CIN 2, ARI 1 | Raisel Iglesias (S, 16) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 3, TEX 0 | Bud Norris (S, 13) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | DET 5, CLE 3 | Jose Iglesias (SS) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TB 5, BOS 3 | Steven Souza Jr. (RF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 | 45.5 | 145.2 | 204.8 | -3.3 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 5.7 | 5.7 | 61.6 | 61.6 | 5.7 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 5.5 | 13.2 | 20.4 | 20.4 | -2.2 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 3b | mil nl | 5.5 | 12.5 | 16.7 | 16.7 | -1.5 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 5.5 | 11.0 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 0.0 |
| Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | det al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 4.5 |
| Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf | tb al | 4.0 | 9.7 | 15.2 | 15.2 | -1.7 |
| Norris, Bud 2638 | pi cp | ana al | 4.0 | 9.7 | 34.4 | 50.1 | -1.7 |
| Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 3.5 | 4.5 | 35.5 | 53.0 | 2.5 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi cp | cin nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 0.0 |
| Cervelli, Francisco 3387 | ca | pit nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 2.0 |
| Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 2.7 | 8.7 | 82.4 | 171.4 | -3.3 |
| Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | 10.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | -6.0 |
| Wittgren, Nick 3647 | pi mr | fla nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |