Yankees pitcher Jaime Garcia is Monday’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 Sept. 18:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 23.1 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.0 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.8 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 20.1 |
| 7 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 20.1 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 19.8 |
| 9 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 16.0 |
Also Monday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to extend his Box-Toppers season player rankings lead in his start, a loss to the Phillies. Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked third, has the chance to take the lead in his start Tuesday.
Player of the Day—Garcia struck out nine over 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run (none earned), four hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Twins. Garcia did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied, 1-1, when he exited.
National League Player of the Day—Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins hit a three-run homer, his 55th of the season, in the 13-1 win over the Mets. Stanton went 2-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs.
Stanton earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season, most among the seven who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Stanton rises to 20th among all players in season Box-Toppers points and second among NL batters, 3.8 points behind Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs (15.5).
American League Batter of the Day—Brock Holt of the Red Sox doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-8, 11-inning win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Giancarlo Stanton.
Top 10 watch—Two players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings started Monday but neither earned Player of the Game honors:
- Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (23.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked first) did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s 4-3 loss to the Phillies. Kershaw (5.2IP 7H 2R BB 3K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2.0. Player of the Game was Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta (6IP 4H 2R 2BB 8K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
- Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (16.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked ninth) did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s 2-1 loss to the Yankees. Santana (6IP 4H 4R 2BB 6K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of -3.8. Player of the Game was Yankees pitcher Jamie Garcia, who was also Player of the Day, with a Box-Toppers game score of +9.2.
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked third) has a chance to take the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead in his start Tuesday against the Braves. If Scherzer earns at least Player of the Game honors (worth 1.0 point), he would pass Kershaw, who he currently trails by 0.1 point.
Team rankings—The top three in Box-Toppers team rankings remain unchanged Monday as the Dodgers lost and the Indians and Nationals were idle:
- Cleveland Indians 129.7 Box-Toppers points.
- Los Angeles Dodgers 127.9 points.
- Washington Nationals 126.9 points.
Debut—Athletics pitcher Raul Alcantara made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Alcantara (3.2IP 2H 0R BB 2K ND in the 8-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut Sept. 5, 2016, and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,916th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Garcia earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stanton earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Holt earns 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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| 9/18 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.2 | `NYY 2, MIN 1 | Jaime García | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 4.0 | MIA 13, NYM 1 | Giancarlo Stanton RF | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | BOS 10, BAL 8 (F/11) | Brock Holt PH-2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | PHI 4, LAD 3 | Nick Pivetta (W, 6-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | MIL 3, PIT 0 | Brent Suter (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2.2 | `OAK 8, DET 3 | Raul Alcantara | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | SD 4, ARI 2 | Hunter Renfroe RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 11.7 | 18.2 | 42.4 | 50.9 | 5.2 |
| Pivetta, Nick 3825 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Garcia, Jaime 2508 | pi sp | nyy al | 4.0 | 12.0 | 30.1 | 47.8 | -4.0 |
| Renfroe, Hunter 3749 | rf | sd nl | 4.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 1.5 |
| Suter, Brent 3843 | pi sp | mil nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Holt, Brock 3340 | 2b ph | bos al | 1.5 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
| Alcantara, Raul 3916 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |