Dodgers closing pitcher Kenley Jansen is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card Game.
Jansen struck out three in the ninth inning, allowing one hit, no runs and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals.
Jansen had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +3.0, best among all Dodgers players. During the regular season, Jansen had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, 141st among all players, 49th among National League pitchers and third among NL closers, behind Ian Kennedy of the Phillies (8.7) and Alex Reyes of the Cardinals (6.7). (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
Left fielder Chris Taylor, who hit the game-winning, walk-off, ninth-inning, two-run homer, had the second-best Box-Toppers game score among Dodgers players of +2.0 (HR 1-2 R 2BI). He was the only Dodgers batter with a game score above 0.0.
The Dodgers used six pitchers Wednesday and each of them managed to have positive Box-Toppers game scores, led by Jansen. Starting pitcher Max Scherzer had the lowest game score (+0.1) among Dodgers pitchers (4.1IP 3H R 3BB 4K ND). Scherzer led all players in 2021 Box-Toppers points with 25.1.
Here is how the other four Dodgers pitchers fared in Box-Toppers game scores Wednesday:
+1.2—Joe Kelly (0.2IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND).
+1.1—Corey Knebel (0.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND).
+1.0—Brusdar Graterol (1IP 0H 0H 0BB 0K ND).
+0.2—Blake Treinen (1.2IP H 0R BB K ND).
Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.1 (5.1IP R H R BB 5K ND). Wainwright had 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2021, 29th among all players and 18th among NL pitchers. Wainwright was also the top Cardinals player in 2021’s Box-Toppers season player rankings.
The Cardinals ranked 13th in Box-Toppers team rankings, the lowest-ranking among the 10 teams that qualified for the postseason. The Cardinals, with 105.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked behind three teams that did not qualify for the postseason—the Toronto Blue Jays (eighth overall with 116.0 points), the San Diego Padres (11th overall with 108.1 points) and the Philadelphia Phillies (12th overall with 106.6 points).
The Dodgers, by contrast, far and away led Box-Toppers team rankings in 2021. Its players accumulated 146.7 Box-Toppers points during the season, 21.8 points more than the second-ranked Chicago White Sox and 22.1 more than the second-ranked NL team, the San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers actually finished a game behind the Giants in the NL West despite having substantially more Box-Toppers points.
The Dodgers now face the top-seeded NL team, the Giants in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in San Francisco. The Giants are Box-Toppers third-ranked team overall with 124.6 points.
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 NL Wild Card Game
| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +3.0 | LAD 3, STL 1 | Kenley Jansen, (W 1‑0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.