Hyun-Jin Ryu of the Dodgers and Brandon Woodruff of the Brewers are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of National League Division Series openers.
Ryu struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Braves. The Dodgers now lead the Braves 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Ryu had 10.1 Box-Toppers points on the season, 49th among all players, 26th among NL pitchers.
Ryu had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +11.0. Dodgers top batter in the game was first baseman Max Muncy (HR 1-3 R 3BI), with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
Milwaukee 3, Colorado 2 (10 innings)—In the other NLDS Game 1, Brewers starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff was Player of the Game, pitching three scoreless innings, allowing no hits and one walk. Woodruff did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision because he did not pitch the required five innings for a starter to earn the win. Also, though he exited with the lead, the Rockies tied the game after he exited.
The Brewers now lead the Rockies 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
While Woodruff didn’t have the required five innings to earn the win, he did qualify to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors because he pitched at least three innings.
During the regular season, Woodruff had just 1.0 Box-Toppers point, 641st among all players, 164th among NL pitchers.
He had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +5.0. Rightfielder Christian Yelich was the Brewers’ top batter Thursday with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (HR 2-3 2R 2BI).
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 | |
| +11.0 | LAD 6, ATL 0 | Hyun‑Jin Ryu (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| +5.0 | `MIL 3, COL 2 (F/10) | Brandon Woodruff | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
NL Division Series Game 2, Brewers lead Rockies, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Rockies—Tyler Anderson, 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 79th among all players, 43rd among NL pitchers.
Brewers—Jhoulys Chacin, 13.7 Box-Toppers points, 20th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers.
NL Division Series Game 2, Dodgers lead Braves, 1-0
The pitching matchup Friday:
Braves—Anibal Sanchez, 8.4 Box-Toppers points, 70th among all players, 32nd among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 73rd among all players, 34th among NL pitchers.
Kershaw leads active players in career Box-Toppers points with 214.8, third-most since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He had nine straight seasons of earning 10 or more Box-Toppers points from 2009-2017 and a record seven straight seasons earning 20 or more points from 2011-2017. This season has been a major drop-off for him as he failed to extend either streak.
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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