Pitchers won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in all eight of Wednesday’s Wild Card round playoff games.
Braves pitcher Max Fried had the highest Box-Toppers game score among the eight who earned Player of the Game honors (+6.0) in the 1-0, 13-inning win over the Reds.
Here’s a look at Wednesday’s eight Wild Card round Player of the Game winners:
Braves 1, Reds 0, 13 innings—Fried struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks, to give the Braves a 1-0 lead in the the best-of-three game National League Wild Card series. Fried did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Fried had 5.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 13th among NL pitchers.
Trevor Bauer, the Reds starting pitcher Wednesday, finished with a Box-Toppers game score of +17.2 (7.2IP 2H 0R 0BB 12K ND), but did not win Player of the Game honors because his team lost. Bauer earned 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, second among all players and first among NL pitchers.
Dodgers 4, Brewers 2—Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias struck out five over three scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing three hits and no walks, to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead in the the best-of-three game NL Wild Card series.
Urias had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+5.0) among all Dodgers players in the game. Urias had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020.
Yankees 10, Indians 2—Yankees closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman struck out four over two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks and picking up the win, as the Yankees win the best-of-three American League Wild Card series, 2-0, eliminating the Indians.
Chapman had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+5.0) among all Yankees players in the game. He had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020.
The Indians were the fourth AL seed in the playoffs, while the Yankees are the fifth seed. But the Indians are ranked fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 45.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, close behind the top AL-ranked team, the Oakland Athletics (45.2). The Indians were also baseball’s hottest team in the final 10 days of the season, picking up 10.9 Box-Toppers points, more than any other team. The Yankees, who will advance to the the AL Divisional Series beginning Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays, rank 12th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 39.9 Box-Toppers points, seventh among AL teams.
Athletics 5, White Sox 3—Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt struck out five over seven innings, allowing one run, six hits and one walk, as the Athletics tie the best-of-three game AL Wild Card series, 1-1.
Bassitt had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+3.0) among all Athletics players in the game. He had 6.4 Box-Toppers points in 2020, eighth among AL pitchers.
Rays 8, Blue Jays 2—Rays pitcher Tyler Glasnow struck out eight over six innings, allowing two runs, six hits and one walk, as the Rays win the best-of-three game American League Wild Card series, 2-0, eliminating the Blue Jays.
Glasnow had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+3.0) among all Rays players in the game. He had 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, eighth among all players and fourth among AL pitchers.
The Blue Jays were the eighth AL seed in the playoffs, while the Rays are the top seed. The Blue Jays were ranked 10th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 41.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, sixth among AL teams. The Rays, who will advance to the the AL Divisional Series beginning Monday against the Yankees, rank ninth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 43.4 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL teams.
Astros 3, Twins 1—Astros pitcher Cristian Javier struck out two over three scoreless middle relief innings, allowing no hits and two walks, as the Astros win the best-of-three American League Wild Card series, 2-0, eliminating the Twins.
Javier had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+3.0) among all Astros players in the game. He had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020.
The Twins were the third AL seed in the playoffs, while the Astros are the sixth seed. The Twins are ranked seventh in Box-Toppers team rankings with 43.8 Box-Toppers points in 2020, third among AL teams. The Astros, who will advance to the the AL Divisional Series beginning Monday against either the Athletics or White Sox, rank 17th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 34.4 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL teams and lowest among all 16 postseason qualifiers.
Marlins 5, Cubs 1—Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara struck out four over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and three walks, to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the the best-of-three game National League Wild Card series.
Alcantara had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+2.2) among all Marlins players in the game. He had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 29th among all NL pitchers.
Cardinals 7, Padres 4—Cardinals pitcher Giovanny Gallegos struck out two over 1 1/3 scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing no hits and one walk, to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead in the the best-of-three game National League Wild Card series.
Gallegos had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+2.1) among all Cardinals players in the game. He had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020.
Note—In postseason games, no Box-Toppers points are awarded. Also, there are no separate honors and bonus points for overall Player of the Day, league Player of the Day or top league Batter of the Day. Were this a regular season day, Fried would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points as overall Player of the Day and Chapman would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points as AL Player of the Day. All other Player of the Game winners would have earned 1.0 point. No batters earned Player of the Game honors, so no player would have earned AL or NL Batter of the Day honors.
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)| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +6.0 | `ATL 1, CIN 0 (F/13) | Max Fried | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| +5.0 | LAD 4, MIL 2 | Julio Urías, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| +5.0 | NYY 10, CLE 9 | Aroldis Chapman, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| +3.0 | OAK 5, CHW 3 | Chris Bassitt, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| +3.0 | TB 8, TOR 2 | Tyler Glasnow, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| +3.0 | HOU 3, MIN 1 | Cristian Javier, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| +2.2 | MIA 5, CHC 1 | Sandy Alcantara, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| +2.1 | STL 7, SD 4 | Giovanny Gallegos, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
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.