Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of Aug. 3:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 17.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.4 |
| 6 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 7 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.4 |
| 9 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
Kluber pitched a complete game three-hitter, allowing one run, one walk and striking out 11, in the 5-1 win over the Yankees.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season. His rise to ninth place pushes Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (10.7 Box-Toppers points) out of the top 10 to 11th place. Kluber now ranks fourth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit three home runs, including a three-run shot, in the 10-8 win over the Cubs. Goldschmidt went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in six runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Royals hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Paul Goldschmidt.
Top 10 watch—Two pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 list started Thursday but neither earned Player of the Game honors:
- Fifth-ranked Zack Greinke of the Diamondbacks (13.4 Box-Toppers points) had a Box-Toppers game score of -7.0 (6IP 9H 6R 0BB 8K ND) in his team’s 10-8 win over the Cubs. Teammate Paul Goldschmidt was Player of the Game (and overall NL Player of the Day) with a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0.
- Sixth-ranked Alex Wood of the Dodgers (13.0 Box-Toppers points) had a Box-Toppers game score of -3.0 (6IP 7H R 2BB 2K W) in his team’s 7-4 win over the Braves. Teammate Chris Taylor was Player of the Game with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (HR 3-5 2R 2BI).
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Goldschmidt earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Moss earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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| 8/3 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | CLE 5, NYY 1 | Corey Kluber (W, 9-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| NL | 9.0 | ARI 10, CHC 8 | Paul Goldschmidt (1B) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | PIT 6, CIN 0 | Chad Kuhl (W, 4-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | TEX 4, MIN 1 | A.J. Griffin (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | TB 5, HOU 3 | Brad Boxberger (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 7, ATL 4 | Chris Taylor (LF) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SF 11, OAK 2 | Jarrett Parker (LF) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | KC 6, SEA 4 | Brandon Moss (DH) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | BOS 9, CHW 5 | Andrew Benintendi (LF) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | COL 5, NYM 4 | Charlie Blackmon (CF) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 5, PHI 4 | Mike Trout (CF) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | MIL 2, STL 1 | Matt Garza (W, 5-5) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | DET 7, BAL 5 | Justin Upton (LF) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.0 | 33.2 | 77.4 | 77.4 | -9.2 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 7.5 | 14.2 | 40.4 | 58.6 | 0.8 |
| Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 6.4 | 10.9 | 42.3 | 46.3 | 1.9 |
| Benintendi, Andrew 3815 | lf | bos al | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 5.2 |
| Moss, Brandon 2520 | dh | kc al | 5.0 | 9.0 | 30.0 | 32.0 | 1.0 |
| Blackmon, Charlie 2891 | cf | col nl | 4.7 | 8.7 | 15.2 | 16.7 | 0.7 |
| Taylor, Chris 3684 | lf | lad nl | 4.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 3.0 |
| Griffin, A.J. 3074 | pi sp | tex al | 4.0 | 9.7 | 24.4 | 24.4 | -1.7 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 2.0 | 14.5 | 49.5 | 51.0 | -10.5 |
| Garza, Matt 2343 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 5.7 | 27.1 | 73.8 | -1.7 |
| Kuhl, Chad 3687 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Parker, Jarrett 3600 | lf | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 |
| Boxberger, Brad 3111 | pi mr | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |