In four league division series playoff games Thursday these are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners:
Braves pitcher Kyle Wright is top player in Thursday’s 7-0 win over the Marlins.
Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias is top player in Thursday’s 12-3 win over the Padres.
Carlos Correa of the Astros is top player in Thursday’s 11-6 win over the Athletics.
Yankees pitcher Chad Green is top player in Thursday’s 5-1 win over the Rays.
NLDS Game 3: Braves 7, Marlins 0
Wright struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks.
Wright had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0 Thursday, best among all Braves players.
The Braves win the best-of-five game series, 3-0 and advance to the NL Championship Series beginning Monday against the Dodgers.
In the regular season, the Marlins were 14th in Box-Toppers team rankings (35.5 Box-Toppers points), while the Braves ranked sixth (44.0). The Braves finished the season in first place in the AL East, four games ahead of the Marlins and were the second seed among NL teams in the 2020 postseason, defeating the seventh-seeded Cincinnati Reds, two games to zero, in the opening Wild Card round of the playoffs.
NLDS Game 3: Dodgers 12, Padres 3
Urias struck out six over five middle relief innings, allowing one run (none earned), one hit and one walk.
Urias had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2020. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0 Thursday, highest among Dodgers players. It is the second time this postseason Urias has been Player of the Game. He also did it Sept. 30 in the NL Wild Card Game 1 win over the Brewers.
The Dodgers win the best-of-five game series, 3-0 and advance to the NL Championship Series beginning Monday against the Braves.
This series was a matchup against the top two teams in Box-Toppers team rankings—the Dodgers rank first (52.8 Box-Toppers points), while the Padres rank second (48.0).
The Padres finished the season in second place in the NL West, six games out of first place behind the Dodgers, and were the fourth-seeded team in the NL playoffs.
The Dodgers are the top-seeded team in the NL playoffs, defeating the eighth-seeded Milwaukee Brewers, two games to zero, in the opening Wild Card round of the playoffs.
ALDS Game 4: Astros 11, Athletics 6
Correa hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in five runs.
Correa had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 275th among all players and 58th among AL batters.
Correa had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +5.0, most among all Astros players. It is the second time this postseason and in this series that Correa has earned Player of the Game honors. He also did it in Game 1 on Monday (2HR 3-5 2R 4BI in the 10-5 win over the Athletics).
The Astros win the best-of-five game series, 3-1, and advance to the AL Championship Series beginning Sunday, against either the Rays or Yankees.
The Astros are the lowest-ranked in Box-Toppers team rankings to make the postseason, 17th overall with 34.4 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL teams. The Astros, in fact, finished behind the 15th-ranked Philadelphia Phillies (35.1), who did not qualify for the playoffs. They upset the Athletics, who ranked fourth overall (45.2), first among all AL teams.
The Astros finished the season in second place in the AL West, seven games behind the Athletics and were the sixth seed among AL teams in the 2020 postseason, upsetting the third-seeded Minnesota Twins, two games to zero, in the opening Wild Card round of the playoffs.
ALDS Game 4: Yankees 5, Rays 1
Green struck out two over two scoreless, middle relief innings, allowing no hits and no walks and picking up the win.
Green had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020. He had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +4.0, highest among Yankees players. Starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery had a game score of 0.0 (4IP 3H R 3BB 4K ND), closing pitcher Aroldis Chapman had a game score of +2.1 (1.1IP 0H 0R BB 2K Sv) and top batter Gleyber Torres had a game score of +3.0 (HR 2-3 2R 2BI).
The Yankees tie the best-of-five game series, 2-2.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +8.0 | ATL 7, MIA 0 | Kyle Wright, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| +8.0 | LAD 12, SD 3 | Julio Urías, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| +5.0 | HOU 11, OAK 6 | Carlos Correa, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.0 | NYY 5, TB 1 | Chad Green, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Coming Friday: One league division series concludes:
ALDS Game 5: Yankees vs. Rays, series tied 2-2
The pitching matchup Friday:
Yankees—Gerrit Cole, 7.4 Box-Toppers points, 12th among all players, fifth among AL pitchers.
Rays—Tyler Glasnow, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among all players, fourth among AL pitchers.
Both Cole and Glasnow have earned Player of the Game honors once each this postseason, both in the Wild Card round. Cole was Player of the Game Sept. 29 in the 12-3 win over the Indians. Glasnow was Player of the Game Sept. 30 in the 8-2 win over the Blue Jays.
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.