Box-Toppers Toppers Box
Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler and Jeremy Pena of the Astros are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Sunday’s two deciding league championship series games.
The Philadelphia Phillies and the Houston Astros both win their series and advance to the World Series, which begins Friday in Houston.
NL Championship Series Game 5: Phillies 4, Padres 3
Wheeler struck out eight over six innings, allowing two runs, three hits and no walks. Wheeler did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Padres took the lead after he exited.
The Phillies win the best-of-seven game series, 4-1, eliminating the Padres.
Wheeler earned 14.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 22nd among all players, 11th among NL pitchers. This is the third time this postseason Wheeler has earned Player of the Game honors and the second time in this series. He was Player of the Game in the Oct. 7 NL Wild Card series Game 1 win over the Cardinals and the Oct. 18 NLCS Game 1 win over the Padres. He also started the NLDS Game 2 loss to the Braves.
He joins Padres closing pitcher Josh Hader as one of two players who have earned Player of the Game honors three times this postseason. Three other players have earned Player of the Game honors twice—Gerrit Cole of the Yankees, Aaron Nola of the Phillies and Framber Valdez of the Astros.
Wheeler had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0, best among all Phillies players Sunday. Phillies top batter Bryce Harper had a +1.0 game score (HR 2-4 R 2BI). Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish had a 0.0 game score (6IP 4H 2R 3BB 5K ND).
The Phillies advance to the World Series to face the American League champion Astros.
The Phillies were the sixth- and lowest-seeded NL playoff team. Last year, with only five teams per league making the postseason, they would not have qualified for the playoffs. The Phillies were 13th in Box-Toppers team rankings with 105.3 Box-Toppers points, seventh-best among the 15 NL teams. In fact, the Phillies finished behind two teams that did not qualify for the playoffs—the Milwaukee Brewers (10th with 107.7 Box-Toppers points) and the Minnesota Twins (11th with 105.6 points). And while they beat the NL East rival Atlanta Braves in four games in the NL Division Series, they finished 14 games behind them, in third place.
The Padres, the fifth-seeded NL postseason team, finished in eighth place in Box-Toppers team rankings with its players accumulating 114.7 Box-Toppers points.
AL Championship Series Game 4: Astros 6, Yankees 5
Jeremy Pena of the Astros hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
The Astros win the best-of-seven game series, 4-0, eliminating the Yankees.
Pena, a rookie who played in 136 games in 2022, has yet to earn his first regular season Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor and so has 0.0 Box-Toppers points. While he has had relatively high, positive Box-Toppers game scores in Astros wins in 2022, there was always another teammate who had a higher game score, winning Player of the Game honors.
Pena had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, best among all Astros players Sunday. Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. had a -5.0 game score (5IP 8H 4R 3ER BB 6K ND). Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes had a -7.0 game score (2IP 2H 3R 3BB 2K ND).
The Astros advance to the World Series to face the National League champion Phillies.
The Astros were the top-seeded AL team in the postseason and led AL teams in 2022 Box-Toppers points (131.4), second overall behind the Dodgers (133.1).
The Yankees were the second-seeded AL team in the postseason and were second among AL teams in 2022 Box-Toppers points (125.9), fourth among all teams.
Sunday’s Player of the Game winners are listed in the chart below.
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).Back to top
| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +7.0 | `PHI 4, SD 3 | Zack Wheeler | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |
| +3.0 | HOU 6, NYY 5 | Jeremy Peña, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2022 (’22). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’21-22), the period 2017-2022 (’17-22) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2022 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2021 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | phi nl | 14.4 | 35.5 | 57.2 | 68.9 | -6.7 |
| Pena, Jeremy* | ss | hou al | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
* Pena has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
NOTE: These are player point totals as of the end of the 2022 regular season. No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
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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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