Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s World Series Game 1.
The Los Angeles Dodgers win 8-3 to take a 1-0 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the best-of-seven game series.
Kershaw struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, highest among all Dodgers players.
Kershaw earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points in the 2020 regular season, ninth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers. (Since the start of 2019, Kershaw has 20.4 Box-Toppers points, 13th among all players over 2019-20, sixth among NL pitchers.) Also, Kershaw ranks third in career points (235.2) among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He leads all active players in career points.
This is Kershaw’s second Player of the Game honor of the 2020 postseason in his fourth start. 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 and Oct. 15 in the NL Championship Series Game 4 loss to the Braves.
Kershaw becomes the ninth player to earn Player of the Game honors more than once this season.
This is also Kershaw’s second Player of the Game honor in all his World Series appearances. Kershaw and the Dodgers also appeared in the 2017 and 2018 World Series. Kershaw was Player of the Game in his first World Series start on Oct. 24, 2017, a win over the Astros. Tuesday marked Kershaw’s sixth career World Series appearance and only the second game in which he appeared that the Dodgers won.
First baseman Max Muncy has the best Box-Toppers game score (+2.0) among Dodgers batters (2B 2-4 2R 2BI).
Among Rays players, center fielder Kevin Kiermaier had the highest Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (HR 2-3 R 2BI). Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow had a game score of -8.9 (4.1IP 3H 6R 6BB 8K L).
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 Dodgers in World Series Game 1: Dodgers 8, Rays 3
Here are the Box-Toppers game scores (BTG) of all Dodgers who played in World Series Game 1, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Player of the Game (POG) is Clayton Kershaw.| 10/20 | BTG | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | +9.0 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 3‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| +2.0 | Max Muncy 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +2.0 | Joe Kelly | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | Mookie Betts RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | Pedro Baez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| +0.0 | Cody Bellinger CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +0.0 | Chris Taylor 2B‑LF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +0.0 | Enrique. Hernandez PH‑2B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Corey Seager SS | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.8 | Victor Gonzalez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| ‑2.0 | Will Smith DH | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Justin Turner 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Joc Pederson LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑4.0 | Austin Barnes C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑4.9 | Dylan Floro | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
World Series Game 2, Dodgers lead Rays, 1-0
Wednesday’s starting pitchers:
Rays—Blake Snell, 3.7 Box-Toppers points, 63rd among all players, 25th among AL pitchers. Since the start of 2019, Snell has 13.7 Box-Toppers points, 36th among all players over 2019-20, 16th among AL pitchers.
This is Snell’s fifth 2020 postseason appearance. On Sept. 29, he was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card Game 1 win over the Blue Jays. He also started Oct. 5 in the AL Division Series Game 1, a loss to the Yankees, Oct. 11 in the ALCS Game 1 win over the Astros and Oct. 16 in the ALCS Game 6 loss to the Astros.
Dodgers—Tony Gonsolin, 4.7 Box-Toppers points, 36th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers. Since the start of 2019, Gonsolin has 7.7 Box-Toppers points, 131st among all players over 2019-20, 44th among NL pitchers. (While Gonsolin pitched in 2019, his rookie status is intact for 2020.)
This is Gonsolin’s third postseason appearance. He started the NL Championship Series Game 2 loss to the Braves on Oct. 13 and pitched in relief in the NLCS Game 7 win over the Braves on Oct. 18.
Related:
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers NL Championship Series preview
Box-Toppers AL Championship Series preview