Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 31st player this season with 10 Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Aug. 30:


	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	21.1
2	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	19.1
3	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	19.1
4	Snell, Blake 3688	pi sp	tb al	18.8
5	Severino, Luis 3567	pi sp	nyy al	16.7
6	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	16.4
7	Berrios, Jose 3791	pi sp	min al	16.1
8	Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	16.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	hou al	16.0
10	Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	hou al	15.4

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

Clevinger struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (none earned), four hits and one walk, in the 5-3 win over the Twins.

Clevinger earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season, 31st among all players and 16th among American League pitchers.

This is Clevinger’s second season and second straight season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2017, he had 11.4 points with the Indians, ninth among AL pitchers.

In 2017, 38 players had 10 or more points. On this date a year ago, 21 players had 10 or more points.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers hit two home runs and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-7 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Tommy La Stella of the Cubs hit a sixth-inning, pinch-hit, go-ahead, two-run home run in the 5-4 win over the Braves.

Scoring—Clevinger earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Ray earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Martinez and La Stella each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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)




  
    8/30
    BTG
    Game
    Player
    AB
    R
    H
    BI
    
    IP
    H
    R
    ER
    BB
    K
  

    MLB
    +8.2
    CLE 5, MIN 3
    Mike Clevinger (W, 10‑7)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    6.2
    4
    2
    0
    1
    9
  

    NL
    +6.1
    ARI 3, LAD 1
    Robbie Ray (W, 4‑2)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    5.1
    4
    1
    1
    2
    9
  

    
    +6.0
    LAA 5, HOU 2
    Andrew Heaney (W, 8‑8)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    6.0
    5
    0
    0
    1
    6
  

    
    +5.2
    STL 5, PIT 0
    John Gant (W, 6‑5)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    5.2
    3
    0
    0
    3
    6
  

    
    +5.1
    `MIL 2, CIN 1 (F/11)
    Wade Miley
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    7.1
    5
    1
    1
    1
    6
  

    
    +5.0
    SEA 7, OAK 1
    Wade LeBlanc (W, 8‑3)
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    7.0
    3
    0
    0
    3
    4
  

    
    +4.0
    `SD 3, COL 2 (F/13)
    Eric Lauer
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    
    5.0
    0
    1
    0
    2
    2
  

    BAT
    +3.0
    DET 8, NYY 7
    Victor Martinez DH
    5
    2
    2
    4
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    BAT
    +3.0
    CHC 5, ATL 4
    Tommy La Stella PH
    1
    1
    1
    2
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  

    
    +3.0
    BOS 9, CHW 4
    Blake Swihart PH‑C
    1
    2
    1
    1
    
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
    ‑
  
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	+/‑
Clevinger, Mike 3707	pi sp	cle al	10.0	21.4	24.4	24.4	-1.4
LeBlanc, Wade 2669	pi sp	sea al	9.7	13.7	16.7	23.7	+5.7
Heaney, Andrew 3515	pi sp	ana al	6.7	7.7	11.7	11.7	+5.7
Gant, John 3660	pi sp	stl nl	6.0	6.0	7.0	7.0	+6.0
Martinez, Victor 1695	dh	det al	4.0	5.0	26.7	77.1	+3.0
La Stella, Tommy 3367	2b ph	chi nl	4.0	4.0	8.0	8.0	+4.0
Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	3.7	19.7	30.4	30.4	-12.3
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	mil nl	3.0	6.7	30.4	43.1	-0.7
Lauer, Eric 4017	pi sp	sd nl	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	+2.7
Swihart, Blake 3565	ca ph	bos al	1.0	1.0	5.0	5.0	+1.0