Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Aug. 15:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	20.1
2	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	19.1
3	Severino, Luis 3567	pi sp	nyy al	16.7
4	Berrios, Jose 3791	pi sp	min al	16.1
5	Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	16.0
6	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	hou al	16.0
7	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	15.4
8	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	hou al	15.4
9	Corbin, Patrick 3027	pi sp	ari nl	15.0
10	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	14.7

What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations

Cole struck out 12 over six innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 12-1 win over the Rockies.

Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 16.0 for the season, fifth among American League pitchers.

Cole becomes the ninth player this season to reach 15 Box-Toppers points. It is his second season to reach 15 points—he did it in 2015 with the Pirates, when he had 19.0 points, ninth among all players and sixth among National League pitchers.

Cole had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +11.0, same as Mariners pitcher Mike Leake, who was Player of the Game in the 2-0, 12-inning win over the Athletics (8IP 2H 0R BB 6K ND). But Cole held the tiebreaker advantage to earn overall Player of the Day honors (and the bonus 1.0 Box-Toppers point) because he earned the win in his game, while Leake picked up a no-decision in his game.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 4-3, 12-inning win over the Giants. Ryu picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the Giants tied the game after he exited.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Nimmo of the Mets tripled and hit two doubles, going 5-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 16-5 win over the Orioles.

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Davidson of the White Sox homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-5 win over the Tigers.

Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Ryu earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Nimmo and Davidson each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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 (BTG)




  
    8/15
    BTG
    Game
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    +11.0
    HOU 12, COL 1
    Gerrit Cole (W, 11‑5)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    6.0
    5
    1
    1
    0
    12
  

    
    +11.0
    `SEA 2, OAK 0 (F/12)
    Mike Leake
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    8.0
    2
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    NL
    +9.0
    `LAD 4, SF 3 (F/12)
    Hyun‑Jin Ryu
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    0
    6
  

    BAT
    +6.0
    NYM 16, BAL 5
    Brandon Nimmo RF
    5
    3
    5
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +6.0
    `LAA 3, SD 2
    Felix Pena
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    6.0
    2
    1
    0
    4
    7
  

    
    +6.0
    `CLE 4, CIN 3
    Cody Allen (H, 2)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    2.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    4
  

    
    +5.0
    PHI 7, BOS 4
    Wilson Ramos C
    4
    3
    3
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +5.0
    STL 4, WSH 2
    Austin Gomber (W, 3‑0)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    6.0
    3
    0
    0
    4
    6
  

    
    +5.0
    TB 6, NYY 1
    Ryan Yarbrough (W, 11‑5)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    4.0
    2
    0
    0
    0
    3
  

    BAT
    +3.0
    CHW 6, DET 5
    Matt Davidson 3B
    4
    2
    3
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    TOR 6, KC 5
    Curtis Granderson DH
    4
    1
    2
    4
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    MIN 6, PIT 4
    Logan Forsythe 2B
    3
    1
    2
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    ATL 5, MIA 2
    A.J. Minter (S, 11)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    1.0
    0
    0
    0
    0
    2
  

    
    +2.0
    CHC 8, MIL 4
    Anthony Rizzo 1B
    4
    1
    2
    3
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.

  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 Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’18). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’17-18), the period 2013-2018 (’13-18) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2018 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2017 total (+/-).

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’18	’17‑18	’13‑18	Career	+/‑
Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	hou al	16.0	23.0	58.9	58.9	+9.0
Ryu, Hyun-Jin 3139	pi sp	lad nl	7.1	12.1	33.2	33.2	+2.1
Granderson, Curtis 2051	dh rf	tor al	6.7	9.9	21.9	75.7	+3.5
Davidson, Matt 3292	dh 3b 1b	chi al	6.7	9.7	11.7	11.7	+3.7
Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	5.5	21.0	43.0	48.0	-10.0
Leake, Mike 2709	pi sp	sea al	5.0	10.7	41.4	55.3	-0.7
Ramos, Wilson 2904	ca	phi nl	5.0	8.5	20.5	24.5	+1.5
Minter, A.J. 3946	pi cp	atl nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	+5.0
Yarbrough, Ryan 3962	pi mr	tb al	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	+5.0
Gomber, Austin 3985	pi sp	stl nl	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.7	+4.7
Pena, Felix 4002	pi sp	ana al	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	+4.0
Nimmo, Brandon 3895	lf rf	nym nl	3.2	6.4	6.4	6.4	0.0
Allen, Cody 3265	pi cp mr	cle al	2.0	7.0	23.0	23.0	-3.0
Forsythe, Logan 3364	2b	min al	1.0	3.0	8.5	8.5	-1.0