Astros pitcher Framber Valdez and Corey Seager of the Dodgers are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Friday’s two league championship series games.
American League Championship Series Game 6: Astros 7, Rays 4
Valdez struck out three over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and three walks.
Valdez had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +7.0, highest among Astros players. Jose Altuve had the highest game score (+2.0) among Astros batters (2B 2-3 2R BI). Closing pitcher Ryan Pressly had a game score of +1.0 (1IP H 0R 0BB K Sv).
Valdez had 4.7 Box-Toppers points, 35th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers. It is his second Player of the Game honor in four 2020 postseason appearances. He was also Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card Game 1 win over the Twins on Sept. 29, pitching five innings of relief. He is the seventh player this postseason to win two or more Player of the Game honors.
The Rays player with the highest Box-Toppers game score Friday was Manuel Margot with +3.0 (2HR 2-4 2R 3BI). Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell had a game score of -3.0 (4IP 3H 2R 4BB 4K L).
The Astros tie the series with the Rays 3-3, which concludes with Game 7 Saturday in San Diego.
National League Championship Series Game 5: Dodgers 7, Braves 3
Seager homered twice and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, becoming the first player to win Player of the Game three times this postseason.
Seager had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +3.0. Dodgers closing pitcher Kenley Jansen actually had a higher game score (+4.0) but did not qualify to earn Player of the Game honors because he pitched fewer than three innings and did not earn the win or save (IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K ND).
Middle reliever Blake Treinen had a game score of +3.0, the same as Seager (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K). While Treinen qualified to earn Player of the Game honors because he earned the win, Seager edged him out for the honor because in cases of game score ties, batters beat pitchers.
Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May had a Box-Toppers game score of -3.0 (2IP 3H 2R ER 2BB 3K ND).
Seager earned 3.5 Box-Toppers points in the 2020 regular season, 13th among NL batters.
Seager is the first player to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times this postseason. Six others have done it twice. Seager was Player of the Game Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series Game 2 win over the Padres and Oct. 14 in the ALCS Game 3 win over the Braves.
Braves starting pitcher A.J. Minter had the best Box-Toppers game score (+9.0) of any player in the game (3IP H 0R 0BB 7K ND), but did not earn Player of the Game because his team lost. Braves top batter was Freddie Freeman with a game score of 0.0 (2-2B 2-4 2R 0BI).
The Braves lead 3-2 over the Dodgers in the best-of-seven game series, which resumes Saturday 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +7.0 | HOU 7, TB 4 | Framber Valdez (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | |
| +3.0 | LAD 7, ATL 3 | Corey Seager SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
Coming Saturday:
NL Championship Series Game 6: Braves lead Dodgers, 3-2
The pitching matchup Saturday is a rematch of the Game 1, won by the Braves:
Braves—Max Fried, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 26th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.
Fried has earned Player of the Game honors twice this postseason in three previous appearances. He did it Sept. 30 in the NL Wild Card Game 1 win over the Reds and Oct. 12 in the NLCS Game 1 win over the Dodgers. He also appeared in the NL Division Series Game 1 win against the Marlins on Oct. 6.
Dodgers—Walker Buehler, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers.
This is his fourth postseason appearance of 2020. He started in the NL Wild Card Game 1 win against the Brewers on Sept. 30, in the NL Division Series Game 1 win against the Padres on Oct. 6 and in the NLCS Game 1 loss to the Braves on Oct. 12.
While both Fried and Buehler had the same 5.7 Box-Toppers point total in 2020, Buehler ranks higher (25th overall vs. 26th) because he had more 2019 Box-Toppers points—16.4 vs. 10.0).
Box-Toppers preview of the NLCS from Oct. 12.
AL Championship Series Game 7: Rays vs. Astros, series tied 3-3
The pitching matchup Saturday is a rematch of the Game 2 starters, won by the Rays:
Astros—Lance McCullers Jr., 2.7 Box-Toppers points, 124th among all players, 41st among AL pitchers.
This is his third postseason appearance of 2020. He started in the AL Division Series Game 1 win against the Athletics on Oct. 5 and in the ALCS Game 2 loss to the Astros on Oct. 12.
Rays—Charlie Morton, 2.0 Box-Toppers points, 149th among all players, 44th among AL pitchers.
This is his third postseason appearance of 2020. He was Player of the Game in the ALCS Game 2 win over the Astros on Oct. 12. He also started in the AL Division Series Game 3 win against the Yankees on Oct. 7.
Box-Toppers preview of the ALCS from Oct. 11.
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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