Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin 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 Aug. 27:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 21.1 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 5 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.1 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
| 10 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 14.0 |
Also Sunday, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins becomes the 21st player—and third batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points after earning National League Batter of the Day honors Sunday as he hit his 50th home run of the season.
Player of the Day—Corbin struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 11-0 win over the Giants.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks, in the 12-0 win over the Royals.
Carrasco earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.1 for the season and rising into the top 10 in season player rankings to fifth place, second among American League pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (21.1).
With his rise into the top 10, Carrasco displaces Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood (14.0), who falls to 11th place.
Carrasco had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +9.0, same as overall Player of the Day Corbin. Both players had the same innings pitched (7.0), the same runs allowed (0) and the same strikeouts (8). But Corbin won Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he gave up fewer hits than Carrasco (5 vs. 6).
American League Batter of the Day—Byron Buxton of the Twins hit three homers and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 7-2 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Padres. It was Stanton’s 50th home run of the season.
Stanton earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He is the 21st player this season (and third batter) to reach 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. The other batters are Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (13.0) and Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians (11.1).
Stanton ranks 21st among all players in Box-Toppers points and second among NL batters, behind Rizzo.
This is Stanton’s career single-season high in Box-Toppers points. His previous high was 7.0 points in 2012 with the Marlins. Stanton has earned 5.5 Box-Toppers points so far in August.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Sunday with their first career Player of the Game honors.
- White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito (7IP 3H 0R 3BB 4K W in the 7-1 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut June 28, 2016, and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,900th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Phillies pitcher Edubray Ramos (2IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND in the 6-3 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut June 14, 2016, and was playing in his 87th career game. He is the 3,901st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Top 10 watch—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (22.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked second) has the chance to take the season Box-Toppers points lead Monday as he starts against the Marlins.
Scherzer trails season Box-Toppers points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.1) by just 0.1 Box-Toppers point, meaning he would take the lead if he earns Player of the Game honor (worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point). Scherzer last pitched Aug. 13 (and earned Player of the Game honors) before going on the disabled list with a stiff neck.
Meanwhile Sunday, it was announced that Kershaw would return from nearly five weeks on the disabled list (back) to pitch Friday or Saturday against the Padres. Despite his time away since going on the disabled list July 24, Kershaw has continued to lead players in Box-Toppers points, though Scherzer and Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (21.1 points) have had opportunities to overtake him.
Also Monday, two pitchers in Box-Toppers’ top 10 player rankings start against each other: Sixth-ranked Luis Severino of the Yankees (15.1 Box-Toppers points) starts against 10th-ranked Corey Kluber of the Indians (14.0 points).
Scoring—Corbin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Carrasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Buxton and Stanton 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| 8/27 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | ARI 11, SF 0 | Patrick Corbin (W, 12-11) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| AL | 9.0 | CLE 12, KC 0 | Carlos Carrasco (W, 13-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| BAT | 8.0 | MIN 7, TOR 2 | Byron Buxton CF | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | NYY 10, SEA 1 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 10-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 8.0 | OAK 8, TEX 3 | Jharel Cotton (W, 7-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 7.0 | `TB 3, STL 2 (F/10) | Chris Archer | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | COL 3, ATL 0 | Jon Gray (W, 6-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | MIA 6, SD 2 | Giancarlo Stanton RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CHW 7, DET 1 | Lucas Giolito (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | WSH 5, NYM 4 | Tanner Roark (W, 11-8) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 6, WSH 5 | Asdrubal Cabrera 2B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 5, CIN 2 | A.J. Schugel (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `PHI 6, CHC 3 | Edubray Ramos (H, 5) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.2 | MIL 3, LAD 2 | Jimmy Nelson (W, 10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 7, LAA 5 | Brian McCann DH | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | BAL 2, BOS 1 | Brad Brach (S, 17) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 15.1 | 27.5 | 56.2 | 61.6 | 2.7 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 11.0 | 14.0 | 24.4 | 24.4 | 8.0 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 10.0 | 16.5 | 40.7 | 49.2 | 3.5 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.4 | 23.5 | 44.2 | 44.2 | -4.7 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.7 | 12.4 | 41.2 | 41.2 | 5.0 |
| Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 7.0 | 16.0 | 56.1 | 56.1 | -2.0 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 | 18.7 | 34.7 | 34.7 | -6.7 |
| Buxton, Byron 3604 | cf | min al | 4.5 | 9.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | -0.2 |
| Cotton, Jharel 3733 | pi sp | oak al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 |
| McCann, Brian 2179 | ca dh | hou al | 3.0 | 6.2 | 32.2 | 61.4 | -0.2 |
| Brach, Brad 3374 | pi cp mr | bal al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.0 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -5.0 |
| Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362 | 2b ss | nym nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 14.0 | 44.7 | 0.0 |
| Schugel, A.J. 3669 | pi mr | pit nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Giolito, Lucas 3900 | pi sp | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Ramos, Edubray 3901 | pi mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |