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.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.
Guardians pitcher Triston McKenzie tops players in Saturday’s four Wild Card playoff games:
Other Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s Wild Card series games:
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola.
Cal Raleigh of the Mariners.
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom.
AL Wild Card Game 2: Guardians 1, Rays 0
Guardians pitcher Triston McKenzie struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0, 15-inning win over the Rays. McKenzie did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
The Guardians win the best-of-three series, 2-0, eliminating the Rays and advancing to the best-of-five American League Divisional Series against the Yankees beginning Tuesday.
McKenzie earned 15.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 15th overall and sixth among AL pitchers.
McKenzie had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +10.0. No Guardians batter Saturday had a positive Box-Toppers game score—Oscar Gonzalez, who hit the game-winning, 15th-inning solo home run, had a -1.0 game score (HR 2-5 R BI). Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow had a +8.0 game score (5IP 2H 0R 0BB 5K ND).
NL Wild Card Game 2: Phillies 2, Cardinals 0
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out six over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals.
The Phillies win the best-of-three series, 2-0, eliminating the Cardinals and advancing to the best-of-five National League Divisional Series against the Braves beginning Tuesday.
Nola earned 16.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 13th overall, ninth among NL pitchers.
Nola had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +7.2. Phillies top batter Bryce Harper had a +0.0 game score (HR 2-4 R BI). Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas had a +0.1 game score (4.1IP 2H 2R BB 3K L).
AL Wild Card Game 2: Mariners 10, Blue Jays 9
Cal Raleigh doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, leading the Mariners back from a 8-1 deficit after the fifth inning.
The Mariners win the best-of-three series, 2-0, eliminating the Blue Jays and advancing to the best-of-five American League Divisional Series against the Astros beginning Tuesday.
Raleigh earned 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 89th among all players, seventh among AL batters and first among AL catchers.
Raleigh had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 to lead Mariners players. Mariners starting pitcher Robbie Ray had a -7.0 game score (3IP 6H 4R 4BB 2K ND). Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman had a -1.8 game score (5.2IP 5H 4R BB 7K ND).
NL Wild Card Game 2: Mets 7, Padres 3
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom struck out eight over six innings, allowing two runs, five hits and two walks.
The Mets even the best-of-three game series, 1-1, with the deciding game on Sunday.
deGrom earned 9.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 59th overall, 28th among NL pitchers.
deGrom had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +3.0 to lead Mets players. Mets top batter Francisco Lindor had a +1.0 game score (HR 2-4 2R BI). Padres starting pitcher Blake Snell had a -5.9 game score (3.1IP 4H 2R 6BB 5K ND).
All of Saturday’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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +10.0 | `CLE 1, TB 0 (F/15) | Triston McKenzie | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| +7.2 | PHI 2, STL 0 | Aaron Nola, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| +3.0 | SEA 10, TOR 9 | Cal Raleigh, C | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +3.0 | NYM 7, SD 3 | Jacob deGrom, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
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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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 16.0 | 26.7 | 81.0 | 89.7 | +5.3 |
| McKenzie, Triston 4303 | pi sp | cle al | 15.7 | 26.1 | 30.1 | 30.1 | +5.3 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.4 | 26.1 | 86.4 | 131.5 | -7.3 |
| Raleigh, Cal 4481 | ca ph | sea al | 7.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | +6.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
NOTE: These are player point totals as of the end of the 2022 regular season. No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default view.
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Only one Game 3 is needed among the four series. Here is Sunday’s pitching matchup (for more, see matchups chart below):
NL Wild Card Game 3, Padres at Mets, series tied 1-1
Padres—Joe Musgrove, 17.4 Box-Toppers points in 2022, ninth overall, sixth among NL pitchers.
Mets—Chris Bassitt, 11.0 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 43rd overall, 19th among NL pitchers.
More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series.
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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Related
A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’s Wild Card round pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2022 (’22), over a two-year period (’21-22), over a six-year period (’17-22) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’22 | ’21‑22 | ’17‑22 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SD | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | 17.4 | 33.5 | 49.5 | 53.2 |
| NYM | Bassitt, Chris 3413 | 11.0 | 24.7 | 39.8 | 43.8 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
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