Corey Seager of the Dodgers and Astros pitcher Zack Greinke are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s two league championship series games.
National League Championship Series Game 3: Dodgers 15, Braves 3
Seager homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs.
Seager had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +5.0, highest among Dodgers players. Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias had a game score of +3.0 (5IP 3H R 2BB 5K W).
Seager earned 3.5 Box-Toppers points in the 2020 regular season, 13th among NL batters.
This is the second time this postseason Seager has earned Player of the Game honors—he also did it Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series Game 2 win over the Padres. He becomes the sixth player this postseason two win Player of the Game honors twice. The others are:
Braves pitcher Max Fried
Rays closing pitcher Diego Castillo
Carlos Correa of the Astros
Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias
Braves pitcher Ian Anderson.
The Braves player with the highest Box-Toppers game score was Charlie Culberson with 0.0 (2-2 0R 0BI). Braves starting pitcher Kyle Wright, chased early in the game, had a disastrous Box-Toppers game score of -20.8 (0.2IP 5H 7H 7R 2BB 0K L).
The Braves lead 2-1 over the Dodgers in the best-of-seven game series, which resumes Thursday in Arlington, Texas.
American League Championship Series Game 4: Astros 4, Rays 3
Greinke struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs, five hits and one walk.
Greinke had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +3.0, highest among Astros players. George Springer had the highest game score (+2.0) among Astros batters (HR 3-4 R 2BI). Astros closing pitcher Ryan Pressly had a game score of +1.0 (1IP H 0R 0BB K Sv).
Greinke had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in the 2020 regular season, 150th among all players, 45th among AL pitchers. Since the start of the 2019 season, Greinke has 19.9 Box-Toppers points, which ranks 15th among all players over that span, eighth among AL pitchers.
This was Greinke’s first Player of the Game honor in his third postseason appearance this season. He also appeared Sept. 29 in the AL Wild Card Game 1 win over the Twins and Oct. 8 in the AL Division Series Game 4 win over the Athletics.
Among the players on the Rays, Randy Arozarena had the highest qualifying Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (HR 1-4 R 2BI). Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow had a game score of -7.0 (6IP 8H RR 2BB 5K L).
The Rays lead 3-1 over the Astros in the best-of-seven game series, which resumes Thursday in Arlington, Texas.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +5.0 | LAD 15, ATL 3 | Corey Seager SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | HOU 4, TB 3 | Zack Greinke (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
Coming Thursday:
AL Championship Series Game 5: Rays lead Astros, 3-1
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Rays—John Curtiss, 2.0 Box-Toppers points, 221st among all players, 62nd among AL pitchers.
This is Curtiss’s fifth postseason appearance of 2020 but his first start. He has not earned Player of the Game honors in any of his previous appearances—Oct. 5 in the AL Division Series Game 1, Oct. 7 in the ALDS Game 3, Oct. 11 in the ALCS Game 1 or Oct. 13 in the ALCS Game 3.
Astros—Luis Garcia, 0.0 Box-Toppers points. Garcia has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning his first career Player of the Game honor. He made his Major League debut Sept. 4 and has appeared in five regular season games, starting in one of those games.
This is his postseason debut.
Box-Toppers preview of the ALCS from Oct. 11.
NL Championship Series Game 4: Braves lead Dodgers, 2-1
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, ninth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.
He’s earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once in two 2020 postseason starts. He was top player Oct. 1 in the NL Wild Card Game 2 win against the Brewers. He also started Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series Game 2 win against the Padres.
Kershaw was listed as starter for Game 1 in the series Tuesday but was scratched that day with back spasms.
Braves—Bryse Wilson, 1.0 Box-Toppers point, 424th among all players, 97th among NL pitchers.
This is Wilson’s first postseason appearance.
Box-Toppers preview of the NLCS from Oct. 12.
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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