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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.
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Rangers pitcher Jordan Montgomery is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Sunday’s American League Championship Series Game 1.
AL Championship Series Game 1: Rangers 2, Astros 0
Montgomery struck out six over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk.
The Rangers take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Montgomery earned 10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 43rd overall and 21st among AL pitchers. Montgomery becomes the third player this postseason to win Player of the Game honors for a second time. He also did it in the AL Wild Card series Game 1 win over the Rays. The two others who have also won twice this postseason are Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (Monday’s starter) and Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola.
Montgomery had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.1, best among all Rangers players Sunday. Rangers top batter was center fielder Leody Taveras with a +2.0 game score (HR 2-2 R BI). Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander had a -0.8 game score (6.2IP 6H 2R 2BB 5K L).
Details on Sunday’s ALCS Game 1 Player of the Game winner in the chart.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +6.1 | TEX 2, HOU 0 | Jordan Montgomery (W, 2‑0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
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 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 | 19.8 | 30.5 | 36.5 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Monday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart):
AL Championship Series Game 2: Rangers lead Astros, 1-0
Rangers—Nathan Eovaldi, 9.7 points, 56th overall, 30th among AL pitchers. Eovaldi has won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice this postseason—in the AL Wild Card win over the Rays on Oct. 4 and in the AL Division Series win over the Orioles on Oct. 10.)
Astros—Framber Valdez, 10.0 points, 48th overall, 26th among AL pitchers. Valdez has made one appearance this postseason, on Oct. 8 in an AL Division Series loss to the Twins.
More details—Preview of AL Championship Series
NL Championship Series Game 1: Diamondbacks at Phillies
Diamondbacks—Zac Gallen, 16.7 points, eighth overall, fourth among NL pitchers. Gallen has started two games this postseason but was not Player of the Game in either game—Oct. 4 in the NL Wild Card win over the Brewers or Oct. 9 in the NL Division Series win over the Dodgers.
Phillies—Zack Wheeler, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, 11th among all players, fifth among NL pitchers. Wheeler was Box-Toppers Player of the Game Oct. 3 in the NL Wild Card win over the Marlins. He also appeared Oct. 9 in the NL Division Series loss to the Braves.
A Box-Toppers look at Monday’s Championship Series 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 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEX | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | 9.7 | 15.7 | 43.5 | 69.3 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 10.0 | 26.0 | 41.4 | 41.4 |
| ARI | Gallen, Zac 4171 | 16.7 | 35.4 | 51.1 | 51.1 |
| PHI | Wheeler, Zack 3204 | 14.7 | 29.1 | 70.9 | 83.6 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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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. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
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Related
Box-Toppers 2023 player rankings leaders
Box-Toppers 2023 final team rankings
Previews of all four Wild Card series
Previews of 2023 National League Division Series
Previews of 2023 American League Division Series