Rafael Devers of the Red Sox and Austin Riley of the Braves are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s two league championship series games.
AL Championship Series Game 2: Red Sox 9, Astros 5
Devers hit a grand slam and went 1-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs as the Red Sox tied the best-of-five game series, 1-1.
Devers had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +3.0, best of all Red Sox players. Red Sox starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi had a game score of -3.9 (5.1IP 5H 3R BB 3K W). Astros starting pitcher Luis Garcia had a game score of -12.0 (1IP 2H 5R 3BB 2K L). Astros top batter, Yuli Gurriel, had a game score of +2.0 (HR 2-4 R 3BI).
Devers earned 7.5 Box-Toppers points in the 2021 regular season, eighth among AL batters.
The series resumes Monday in Boston.
NL Championship Series Game 1: Braves 3, Dodgers 2
Riley homered and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs as the Braves take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five game series. Riley singled in the bottom of the ninth, driving in the winning run.
Riley had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +1.0, best of all Braves players. Braves starting pitcher Max Fried had a game score of -1.0 (6IP 8H 2R 0BB 5K ND). Dodgers starting pitcher Corey Knebel had a game score of 0.0 (1IP H R 0BB 2K ND).
Riley earned 8.5 Box-Toppers points in the 2021 regular season, sixth among NL batters.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +3.0 | BOS 9, HOU 5 | Rafael Devers, 3B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | ATL 3, LAD 2 | Austin Riley, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Coming Sunday:
National League Championship Series Game 2, Dodgers vs. Braves
The pitching matchup Sunday:
Dodgers—Max Scherzer, 25.1 Box-Toppers points, first among all players, first among NL pitchers.
This is Scherzer’s fourth 2021 postseason appearance. He started the NL Wild Card Game Oct. 6 and NLDS Game 3 on Oct. 11. He also pitched an inning of relief and earned the save in NLDS Game 5 on Oct. 14. But he did not earn Player of the Game honors in any of those appearances.
Scherzer won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in eight of his first nine starts for the Dodgers from Aug. 4 to Sept. 18. But in five regular and postseason appearances since then, he has failed to win Player of the Game.
Braves—Ian Anderson, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 99th among all players, 40th among NL pitchers.
This is Anderson’s second 2021 postseason appearance. He was Player of the Game in the NLDS Game 3 win over the Brewers on Oct. 11.
Box-Toppers preview of the NLCS from Oct. 15
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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