Astros pitcher Justin Verlander and Dodgers pitcher Pedro Baez are Box-Toppers’ top players in Saturday’s pair of League Championship Series games.
ALCS Game 1: Astros 7, Red Sox 2
Verlander is Box-Toppers Player of the Game, striking out six over six innings, allowing two hits, two runs and four walks, as Houston takes a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Verlander had 24.1 Box-Toppers points in 2018, third among all players, second among AL pitchers and most among all players in the postseason. It is his second Player of the Game honor this season; he was also top player in the ALDS Game 1 win over the Indians on Oct. 5.
Verlander had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0. Alex Bregman had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Astros batters of +1.0 (0-1 2R 0BI).
Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (20.1 Box-Toppers points in 2018, sixth among all players) had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of 0.0 in the loss (4IP H 2R 4BB 5K ND).
The series resumes Sunday with Game 2 (details below).
NLCS Game 2: Dodgers 4, Brewers 3
Dodgers middle reliever Pedro Baez is Box-Toppers Player of the Game, striking out one over 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits and one walk, as the Dodgers even the best-of-seven games series at 1-1.
Baez had no Box-Toppers points in 2018, earning no Player of the Game honors during the regular season. He has 2.0 career Box-Toppers points, 1.0 earned in 2016 and 1.0 earned in 2017. Baez ranks 945th in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Baez earned Player of the Game honors with the highest qualifying Box-Toppers game score of +1.1. Baez qualified to earn Player of the Game because he was awarded the win. Had he not earned the win, he would not have qualified to be considered to be Box-Toppers Player of the Game because he did not pitch at least three innings. In that case, third baseman Justin Turner would have been Player of the Game with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 (HR 2-4 R 2BI). Turner had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Dodgers batters.
Brewers starting pitcher Wade Miley actually had the game’s highest Box-Toppers game score of +6.2 (5.2IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K ND). But the Brewers pulled Miley and went to their vaunted bullpen and in this case, it failed miserably. The next two Brewers relievers had the lowest Box-Toppers game scores of any player in the game—Corbin Burnes had a Box-Toppers game score of -6.9 (0.1IP 2H 2R BB 0K ND) and Jeremy Jeffress had a game score of -6.0 (IP 3H 2R BB K L).
Dodgers starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of -1.9 (4.1IP 6H 2R 0BB 4K ND).
The series resumes Monday in Los Angeles with Game 3.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG)| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| +2.0 | HOU 7, BOS 2 | Justin Verlander (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| +1.1 | LAD 4, MIL 3 | Pedro Baez (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
American League Championship Series Game 2, Astros lead Red Sox, 1-0
The pitching matchup Sunday:
Astros—Gerrit Cole, 18.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among all players, sixth among AL pitchers.
Cole was Player of the Game in the ALDS Game 2 win over the Indians on Oct. 6.
Red Sox—David Price, 14.4 Box-Toppers points, 18th among all players, 12th among AL pitchers.
Price appeared in the ALDS Game 2 loss against the Yankees and did not earn Player of the Game (1.2IP 3H 3R 2BB 0K L).
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.