Two league division series concluded Tuesday as the Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves both won and advanced to their league championship series.
A third series, the National League Division series will continue as the Los Angeles Dodgers evened the best-of-five game series, 2-2, with a win over the San Francisco Giants.
In three league division series playoff games Tuesday, these are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners:
Jose Altuve of the Astros is top player in Tuesday’s 10-1 win over the White Sox.
Braves pitcher A.J. Minter is top player in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Brewers.
Mookie Betts of the Dodgers is top player in Tuesday’s 7-2 win over the Giants.
ALDS Game 4: Astros 10, White Sox 1
Altuve hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs as the Astros win the best-of-five game series, 3-1.
Altuve earned 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 126th among all players, 18th among American League batters and third among AL second basemen.
Altuve had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0, best among all Astros players Tuesday. Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. had a game score of -1.0 (4IP 5H R 3BB 5K ND). White Sox starting pitcher Carlos Rodon had a game score of -3.8 (2.2IP 3H 2R 2BB 3K L). White Sox designated hitter Gavin Sheets had a game score of 0.0 (HR 2B 2-4 R BI).
The White Sox, now eliminated from the postseason, ranked second in Box-Toppers team rankings (124.9 Box-Toppers points), while the Astros ranked 10th (114.0 points).
The White Sox led AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings and led most of the season, including in 20 of the final 22 weekly team ranking reports of the season, dating back to April 29. They led all teams for several weeks in May, June and July.
The White Sox also finished the season strongest among AL teams, picking up 9.2 points in the final 10 days of the season, fourth-most among all teams.
The Astros, by contrast, gained 4.0 points in the final days of the season, which was the lowest among all teams that qualified for the postseason. The Astros’ 114.0 Box-Toppers points is the lowest among all five AL teams that qualified for the postseason and currently the lowest among currently non-eliminated postseason teams.
The Astros advance to the AL Championship Series beginning Friday, facing the Red Sox, who rank just above the Astros, in ninth overall in Box-Toppers team rankings with 115.9 points. The Astros and Red Sox are the Box-Toppers’ two lowest-ranking AL playoff qualifiers, finishing behind the eighth-place Blue Jays (116.0), who did not qualify for the postseason.
NLDS Game 4: Braves 5, Brewers 4
Minter struck out three over 1 1/3 scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing no hits and no walks as the Braves win the best-of-five game series over the Brewers, 3-1.
Minter entered the game in the sixth inning and did not earn the win. The score was tied, 2-2, when he exited and the Braves did not take the lead until the eighth inning.
Minter earned 0.0 Box-Toppers points in the 2021 regular season after earning 1.0 point in 2020. He ranks 875th among all players, 215th among NL pitchers and 89th among NL middle relievers.
Minter had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.1. He won Player of the Game honors because he had a higher game score than the pitcher who otherwise would have been Player of the Game and had more innings pitched. To automatically qualify to earn Player of the Game honors, a pitcher either needs three innings pitched or needs to earn the win or save. Minter had neither. However, two Braves relief pitchers Tyler Matzek (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W) and Will Smith both had game scores of +2.0 (1IP H 0R 0BB 2K Sv). Matzek earned the win and Smith earned the save, so both automatically qualified to be considered Player of the Game. In game score ties, a win beats a save, so Matzek was the provisional Player of the Game winner. But since Minter had a higher game score (+4.1) and the same or more innings pitched than Matzek (1.1 vs. 1.0), Minter won Player of the Game honors.
If any Braves batter had earned a game score of +2.0, that batter would have won Player of the Game honors and Minter would not have been considered for Player of the Game, even with a higher game score. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+1.0) among Braves batters (1-2 R BI).
Braves starting pitcher Charlie Morton had a game score of -0.9 (3.1IP 4H 2R 2BB 2K ND). Brewers starting pitcher Eric Lauer had a game score of -4.8 (3.2IP 4H 2R 2BB 2K ND).
The Brewers, now eliminated from the postseason, ranked fourth in Box-Toppers team rankings (122.8 Box-Toppers points), just ahead of the fifth-place Braves (122.4 points).
In the final 10 days of the season, the Braves fared better than the Brewers. The Braves picked up 9.7 Box-Toppers points from Sept. 24 to Oct. 3, while the Brewers picked up 4.5 points over that span. As a result, the Brewers fell from second place overall to fourth and the Braves rose from sixth place to fifth.
The Brewers spent time as Box-Toppers’ top NL team in June and July and were the overall top-ranked team in the team rankings reports on July 1 and July 11.
The Braves advance to the NL Championship Series beginning Saturday, facing either the top-ranked Dodgers (146.7 Box-Toppers points) or the third-ranked Giants (124.6), who will play the deciding Game 5 of their NL Division Series Thursday.
NLDS Game 4: Dodgers 7, Giants 2
Betts homered and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs as the Dodgers evened the best-of-five game series with the Giants, 2-2.
Betts earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 303rd among all players, 62nd among NL batters and 26th among NL outfielders.
Betts had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0, best among all Dodgers players Tuesday. Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler had a game score of +1.1 (4.1IP 3H R 2BB 4K ND). Giants starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani had a game score of -5.8 in the loss (1.2IP 5H 2R 0BB 2K L).
Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box‑Toppers game score (BTG).| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +5.0 | HOU 10, CHW 1 | Jose Altuve, 2B | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +4.1 | `ATL 5, MIL 4 | A.J. Minter | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| +2.0 | LAD 7, SF 2 | Mookie Betts, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Coming Thursday: The final game of the final league division series to decide who faces the Braves in the NL Championship Series:
NLDS Game 5: Dodgers at Giants, series tied, 2-2
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Dodgers—Corey Knebel, 0.0 Box-Toppers points, 1,204th among all players, 275th among NL pitchers. Knebel earned no points in 27 appearances in the 2021 regular season, including four starts, none longer than two innings. He’s made two brief postseason relief appearances in 2021. He last earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Sept. 24, 2018, with the Brewers, a season in which he earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points as a closing pitcher.
Giants—Logan Webb, 15.5 Box-Toppers points, 14th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.
The Dodgers had announced that Julio Urias would start the game, but announced the change to Knebel hours before the game. Reports indicate this is a strategic move rather than one due to a Urias injury. In fact, the reports indicate the left-hander Urias is likely to appear, in effect, as a long reliever for right-hander Knebel once he serves as an “opener,” pitching an inning or two.
Urias has 19.1 Box-Toppers points in 2021, fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers. He was Player of the Game in the NLDS Game 2 win over the Giants on Saturday (5IP 3H R BB 5K W).
Webb, meanwhile, was Player of the Game in the NLDS Game 1 win over the Dodgers on Friday (7.2IP 5H 0R 0BB 10K W).
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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