Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw tops players in Thursday’s four Wild Card playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners Thursday:
Braves pitcher Ian Anderson.
Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres.
Sean Murphy of the Athletics.
Dodgers 3, Brewers 0—Kershaw struck out 13 over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, as the Dodgers win the best-of-three game National League Wild Card series, 2-0, eliminating the Brewers.
Kershaw had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+17.0) among all Dodgers players in the game. He had 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, ninth among all players and fifth among National League pitchers. Kershaw ranks third among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began (235.2), the most among all active players.
The Brewers were the eighth NL seed in the playoffs, while the Dodgers are the top seed. The Blue Jays were ranked 16th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 34.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, ninth among NL teams, lowest among NL postseason qualifiers and behind the Phillies (ranked 15th with 35.1 points), who did not qualify for the playoffs. The Dodgers, who will advance to the the NL Divisional Series beginning Tuesday against either the Padres or Cardinals, rank first in Box-Toppers team rankings with 52.8 Box-Toppers points.
Braves 5, Reds 0—Braves pitcher Ian Anderson struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, as the Braves win the best-of-three game NL Wild Card series, 2-0, eliminating the Reds.
Anderson had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+11.0) among all Braves players in the game. He had 2.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020.
The Reds were the seventh NL seed in the playoffs, while the Braves are the second seed. The Reds were ranked 11th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 40.9 Box-Toppers points in 2020, fifth among NL teams. The Braves, who will advance to the the NL Divisional Series beginning Tuesday against either the Cubs or Marlins, rank sixth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 44.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among NL teams.
Padres 11, Cardinals 9—Fernando Tatis Jr. of the Padres hit two home runs, including a three-run shot, while going 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, as the Padres tie the best-of-three games NL Wild Card Series, 1-1.
Tatis had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+5.0) among all Padres players in the game. He had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020.
Athletics 6, White Sox 4—Sean Murphy of the Athletics homered and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, as the Athletics win the best-of-three AL Wild Card series, 2-1, eliminating the White Sox.
Murphy had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+3.0) among all Athletics players in the game. He had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2020.
The White Sox were the seventh AL seed in the playoffs, while the Athletics are the second seed. The White Sox were ranked eighth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 43.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, fourth among AL teams. The Athletics, who will advance to the the AL Divisional Series beginning Monday against the Astros, rank fourth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 45.2 Box-Toppers points, first among AL teams.
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, Kershaw would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points as overall Player of the Day, Murphy would have earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points as AL Player of the Day, Tatis would have earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points as AL Batter of the Day and Anderson would have earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with no bonus points awarded.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +17.0 | LAD 3, MIL 0 | Clayton Kershaw, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | |
| +11.0 | ATL 5, CIN 0 | Ian Anderson, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| +5.0 | SD 11, STL 9 | Fernando Tatis Jr., SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | OAK 6, CHW 4 | Sean Murphy, C | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |