Rays pitcher Blake Snell topped players Tuesday in the four American League Wild Card games to open the 2020 postseason.
Snell was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Blue Jays. In addition, Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole, White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito and Astros pitcher Framber Valdez were Player of the Game winners Tuesday in their AL Wild Card Game 1 wins.
Rays 3, Blue Jays 1—Rays pitcher Blake Snell struck out nine over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, to give the Rays a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three game series. He had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+11.2) among all Rays players in the game and the highest among the four Player of the Game winners Tuesday.
Snell had 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 25th among AL pitchers. Snell was 2018 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, leading all players with 27.2 Box-Toppers points.
Yankees 12, Indians 3—Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole struck out 13 over seven innings, allowing two runs, six hits and no walks, to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three game series. He had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+10.0) among all Yankees players in the game.
Cole had 7.4 Box-Toppers points in 2020, fifth among AL pitchers. Cole was 2019 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, leading all players with 32.2 Box-Toppers points with the Astros.
Cole faced off Tuesday against the 2020 Box-Toppers Player of the Year, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber, who led all players in this pandemic-shortened season with 11.4 Box-Toppers points. Bieber finished with a Box-Toppers game score of -13.8 (4.2IP 9H 7R 2BB 7K L). It was an uncharacteristic performance for Bieber in 2020— in 11 regular season starts, he did not pitch fewer than five innings and did not give up more than six hits or three runs. And in his 11 starts, he earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors eight times, including overall Player of the Day twice and AL Player of the Day twice.
White Sox 4, Athletics 1—White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two hits, one run and one walk, to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three game series. He had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+10.0) among all White Sox players in the game.
Giolito had 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, sixth among AL pitchers.
Astros 4, Twins 1—Astros pitcher Framber Valdez struck out five over the final five innings, allowing no runs, two hits and two walks, to give the Astros a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three game series. He had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+6.0) among all Astros players in the game.
Valdez earned 4.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 35th among AL pitchers.
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, Snell would have earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points as overall Player of the Day and all other Player of the Game winners would have earned 1.0 point. No National League games were played, so no NL players earned Player of the Game honors. Also, no batters earned Player of the Game honors in the four games played, so there would have been no player earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +11.2 | TB 3, TOR 1 | Blake Snell, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| +10.0 | NYY 12, CLE 3 | Gerrit Cole, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | |
| +10.0 | CHW 4, OAK 1 | Lucas Giolito, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| +6.0 | HOU 4, MIN 1 | Framber Valdez, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.