Rays pitcher Charlie Morton and Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s two league championship series games.
American League Championship Series Game 7: Rays 4, Astros 2
Morton struck out six over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, as the Rays win the best-of-seven game series and advance to the World Series.
Morton had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +8.2, highest among all Rays players. Catcher Mike Zunino had the highest game score (+2.0) among Rays batters (HR 1-2 R 2BI). Closing pitcher Pete Fairbanks had a game score of +1.1 (1.1IP 2H 0R BB 3K Sv).
Morton earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points during the 2020 regular season, 149th among all players, 44th among AL pitchers. Since the start of 2019, Morton has 20.8 Box-Toppers points, 10th among all players over 2019 and 2020, sixth among AL pitchers.
This is Morton’s second Player of the Game honor of the 2020 postseason and he becomes the eighth player this postseason to earn Player of the Game honors more than once. He also was Player of the Game in the ALCS Game 2 win over the Astros on Oct. 12.
Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of -0.8 (3.2IP 4H 3R BB 7K L).
The Rays eliminate the Astros, who were Box-Toppers’ lowest-ranked team in the 2020 postseason. The Astros ranked 17th among all teams in Box-Toppers regular season rankings with players accumulating a combined 34.4 Box-Toppers points. They ranked eighth among all AL teams and ranked behind the non-playoff qualifying Philadelphia Phillies (15th with 35.1 points). However, the Astros were the sixth-seeded AL team in the playoffs.
The Rays meanwhile ranked ninth among all teams with 43.4 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL teams, though they had the best record in the AL and were the top-seeded AL team in the playoffs.
The Rays advance to the World Series beginning Tuesday against either the Braves or the Dodgers. The series is being played at a neutral site, Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, because of pandemic concerns.
National League Championship Series Game 6: Dodgers 3, Braves 1
Buehler struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and no walks.
Buehler had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +5.0, highest among Dodgers players. Closing pitcher Kenley Jansen had a game score of +1.0 (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K Sv). Dodgers top batter was Justin Turner with a game score of 0.0 (HR 1-3 R BI).
Buehler had 5.7 Box-Toppers points in the 2020 regular season, 25th among all players, 12th among NL pitchers. Since the start of 2019, Buehler has 22.1 Box-Toppers points, eighth among all players over 2019-20, third among NL pitchers, behind Jacob deGrom of the Mets (27.8) and Trevor Bauer of the Reds (24.1).
It is Buehler’s first Player of the Game honor of the 2020 postseason in his fourth appearance.
Braves starting pitcher Max Fried had a Box-Toppers game score of -6.8 (6.2IP 8H 3R 4BB 5K L). Braves top batter Dansby Swanson had a game score of -1.0 (3-4 0R 0BI).
The Dodgers even the series with the Braves, 3-3, which concludes Sunday with Game 7 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +8.2 | TB 4, HOU 2 | Charlie Morton (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| +5.0 | LAD 3, ATL 1 | Walker Buehler (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Coming Sunday:
NL Championship Series Game 7: Braves vs. Dodgers, series tied 3-3
The pitching matchup Sunday:
Braves—Ian Anderson, 2.7 Box-Toppers points, 126th among all players, 41st among NL pitchers.
Anderson is one of eight players who has earned Player of the Game honors at least twice so far this postseason. He was top player in both the NL Wild Card Game 2 win against the Reds on Oct. 1 and in the NL Division Series Game 2 win against the Marlins on Oct. 7. He also appeared Oct. 13 in the NLCS Game 2 win over the Dodgers. All three of Anderson’s postseason starts have lasted at least four innings.
Dodgers—Dustin May, 2.0 Box-Toppers points, 201st among all players, 55th among NL pitchers.
This is May’s fifth appearance of the 2020 postseason and his third start. May was Player of the Game, pitching two innings of relief, in the NL Division Series Game 1 on Oct. 6 in the win over the Padres. He started Oct. 8 in the NLDS Game 3 win over the Padres, appeared in relief Oct. 12 in the NLCS Game 1 loss to the Braves and started Oct. 16 in the NLCS Game 5 win over the Braves. Neither of his two postseason starts lasted long—he pitched one inning on Oct. 8 and two innings on Oct. 16.
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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