Chris Taylor of the Dodgers is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s National League Championship Series Game 5.
Taylor hit three home runs and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 11-2 win over the Braves. The Dodgers trail the Braves in the best-of-seven game series, 3-2.
Taylor had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.0, best among Dodgers players. In the 2021 regular season, there were only eight instances of batters earning Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors with a higher game score, led by the +11.0 achieved by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. of the Blue Jays on Sept. 12 (2HR 2-3 5R 7BI).
Dodgers starting pitcher Joe Kelly had a Box-Toppers game score of -5.8 (0.2IP 2H 2R 0BB 0K ND). AJ Pollock of the Dodgers had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 (2HR 3-5 3R 4BI).
Braves starting pitcher Max Fried had a game score of -12.8 (4.2IP 8H 5R 2BB 3K L). Freddie Freeman of the Braves had a game score of 0.0 (HR 1-4 R 2BI).
Taylor earned 4.7 Box-Toppers points in the 2021 regular season, 203rd among all players and 34th among NL batters.
The series resumes with Game 6 in Atlanta on Saturday.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +8.0 | LAD 11, ATL 2 | Chris Taylor, 3B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Coming Friday:
AL Championship Series Game 6: Astros lead series over Red Sox, 3-2
The pitching matchup:
Red Sox—Nathan Eovaldi, 14.1 Box-Toppers points, 16th among all players, sixth among AL pitchers.
This is Eovaldi’s fifth appearance of the 2021 postseason. He was Player of the Game Oct. 5 in the AL Wild Card Game win over the Yankees. He also started Oct. 10 in the AL Division Series Game 3 win over the Rays, started Oct. 16 in the AL Championship Series win over the Astros and served as closer Oct. 19 in the ALCS loss to the Astros.
Astros—Luis Garcia, 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 49th among all players, 18th among AL pitchers.
This is Garcia’s third appearance of the 2021 postseason. He started Oct. 10 in the AL Division Series Game 3 loss to the White Sox and Oct. 16 in the AL Championship Series loss to the Red Sox.
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.
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