Giants pitcher Jeff Samardzija is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and becomes the 24th 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 Sept. 2:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 22.1 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.1 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.1 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.1 |
| 7 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 16.0 |
| 8 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 15.1 |
| 9 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.7 |
| 10 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 14.4 |
Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer had the chance to retake the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead, but did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s win; he remains in second place. Plus, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Samardzija struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Cardinals. Samardzija did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited with the Giants trailing, 1-0.
Samardzija earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, rising to 19th place among all players and 11th place among National League pitchers.
This is the third season Samardzjia has earned 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His best season was 2012 with the Cubs when he had 12.7 points.
American League Player of the Day—Eduardo Escobar of the Twins hit two home runs and tripled, going 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 17-0 win over the Royals.
National League Batter of the Day—Derek Dietrich of the Marlins hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the 10-9 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Eduardo Escobar.
Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked second) had the chance in his start Saturday to retake the season Box-Toppers points lead, but did not earn Player of the Game honors.
Scherzer (5IP 2H R 2BB 2K ND in the 3-2 win over the Brewers) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0. Player of the Game was teammate, middle reliever Ryan Madson (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
Scherzer trails Box-Toppers points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (23.1) by just 0.1 Box-Toppers point. Kershaw held the Box-Toppers points lead from May 17 to Aug. 28, when Scherzer passed him. However, Kershaw returned from five weeks on the disabled list and quickly retook the lead on Friday, Sept. 1. Scherzer had the chance to limit Kershaw’s reclaimed lead to just one day, but fell just short of earning Player of the Game honors Saturday and so remains in second place.
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale now has the chance to pass Kershaw for the Box-Toppers season player rankings lead in his start Sunday against the Yankees.
Sale, ranked third with 22.1 Box-Toppers points, could pass Kershaw if he earns AL Player of the Day honors (worth 1.7 points) or overall Player of the Day honors (worth 2.0 points).
Rankings—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises from eighth to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Kluber (8IP 8H R 0BB 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season. He now ranks third among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (22.1) and teammate Carlos Carrasco (16.1).
Debut—Blue Jays pitcher Luis Santos made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Santos (3.1IP 2H R 0BB 3K ND in the 7-2 win over the Orioles) was also making his Major League debut, playing in his first career game. He is the 3,904th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Samardzija earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Escobar earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Dietrich earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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| 9/2 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | `SF 2, STL 1 (F/10) | Jeff Samardzija | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | 7.0 | MIN 17, KC 0 | Eduardo Escobar 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | `SEA 7, OAK 6 | Marco Gonzales | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | `PIT 5, CIN 0 | Jameson Taillon | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | CLE 5, DET 2 | Corey Kluber (W, 14-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIA 10, PHI 9 | Derek Dietrich PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | SD 7, LAD 2 | Buddy Baumann (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 14, ATL 12 | Rene Rivera C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 12, NYM 8 | Jose Altuve 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | HOU 4, NYM 1 | Joe Musgrove (W, 7-8) | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | `TOR 7, BAL 2 | Luis Santos | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 6, COL 2 | J.D. Martinez RF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 5, TB 4 | Avisail García RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 5, BOS 1 | Chase Headley 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SD 6, LAD 5 | Wil Myers 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 3, MIL 2 | Ryan Madson (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 7, TEX 4 (F/10) | Yusmeiro Petit (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 | 16.0 | 37.2 | 81.4 | 81.4 | -5.2 |
| Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 | 21.7 | 57.8 | 60.8 | 0.3 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 7.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 2.0 |
| Garcia, Avisail 3256 | rf | chi al | 5.0 | 7.5 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 2.5 |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | rf | ari nl | 4.5 | 10.0 | 19.7 | 21.7 | -1.0 |
| Dietrich, Derek 3199 | 3b | fla nl | 4.5 | 6.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 2.5 |
| Madson, Ryan 1841 | pi mr | dc nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 27.7 | 1.0 |
| Petit, Yusmeiro 2337 | pi mr sp cp | ana al | 4.0 | 6.0 | 13.0 | 22.7 | 2.0 |
| Escobar, Eduardo 3135 | 3b ss | min al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 15.4 | 15.4 | 3.7 |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 2.5 | 15.0 | 31.5 | 31.5 | -10.0 |
| Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b | sd nl | 2.0 | 11.7 | 20.2 | 20.2 | -7.7 |
| Headley, Chase 2552 | 3b ph | nyy al | 2.0 | 6.5 | 16.0 | 30.5 | -2.5 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp mr | hou al | 2.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -1.7 |
| Baumann, Buddy 3697 | pi mr | sd nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Gonzales, Marco 3408 | pi mr | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
| Rivera, Rene 3323 | ca | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Santos, Luis 3904 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |