J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Monday’s American League Championship Series Game 3.
Martinez homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 12-3 win over the Astros. The Red Sox take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Martinez had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0, best among all Red Sox players. Red Sox starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez had a game score of +2.0 (6IP 5H 3R 0BB 7K W). Three other Red Sox batters each had game scores of +2.0:
Kyle Schwarber (GS 1-4 R 4BI).
Christian Vazquez (2-4 2R 2BI).
Christian Arroyo (HR 1-4 2R 3BI).
Astros starting pitcher Jose Urquidy had a game score Monday of -15.8 (1.2IP 5H 6R 5ER 2BB K L). Kyle Tucker of the Astros had a game score of +2.0 in the loss (HR 1-2 R 3BI).
Martinez earned 10.7 Box-Toppers points in the 2021 regular season, 40th among all players and second among AL batters, behind Jose Ramirez of the Indians (13.0). This is his first Player of the Game honor of the 2021 postseason.
The series resumes with Game 4 in Boston on Wednesday.
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 12, HOU 3 | J.D. Martinez, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Coming Tuesday:
NL Championship Series Game 3: Braves lead series over Dodgers, 2-0
Braves—Charlie Morton, 12.7 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 16th among NL pitchers.
Morton has not earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in two appearances in the 2021 postseason: NLDS Game 1 loss on Oct. 8 and NLDS Game 4 win on Oct. 12.
Dodgers—Walker Buehler, 16.7 Box-Toppers points, 10th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.
Buehler has not earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in two appearances in the 2021 postseason: NLDS Game 1 loss on Oct. 8 and NLDS Game 4 win on Oct. 12.
Box-Toppers preview of the NLCS from Oct. 15
AL Championship Series Game 4: Red Sox lead Astros in series, 2-1
Astros—Zack Greinke, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, 69th among all players, 26th among AL pitchers.
This is Greinke’s second appearance in the 2021 postseason. He pitched one inning of relief in the ALDS Game 3 loss to the White Sox on Oct. 10. Greinke has 217.8 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players since 1995, when player tracking began and third among all active players.
Red Sox—Nick Pivetta, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 184th among all players, 61st among AL pitchers.
This is Pivetta’s third appearance (but first start) in the 2021 postseason. He pitched 4 2/3 innings of relief in the ALDS Game 1 loss to the Rays on Oct. 7. He was Player of the Game in the ALDS Game 3 win over the Rays on Oct. 10, pitching four innings of relief.
Box-Toppers preview of the ALCS from Oct. 14
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.