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.
▪️ Subscribe to Box-Toppers Email Newsletter.
Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly tops players in Saturday’s four league division series playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s league division series games:
Ranger Suarez of the Phillies.
Yordan Alvarez of the Astros.
Evan Carter of the Rangers.
NL Division Series Game 1: Diamondbacks 11, Dodgers 2
Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly struck out five over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks.
The Diamondbacks take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five game series.
Kelly earned 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 18th overall, seventh among NL pitchers.
Kelly had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +6.1, best among all Diamondbacks players. Diamondbacks top batter, designated hitter Tommy Pham, had a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score (HR 4-5 3R BI). Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw had a -18.9 Box-Toppers game score (0.1IP 6H 6R BB 0K L) in a disastrous outing.
NL Division Series Game 1: Phillies 3, Braves 0
Phillies pitcher Ranger Suarez struck out four over 3 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk.
Suarez did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings to earn the win. However, he did pitch three innings which is enough to be automatically considered for Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
The Phillies now lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.
Suarez earned 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 275th overall, 83rd among NL pitchers.
Suarez had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.2, best among all Phillies players Saturday. Phillies top batter, Bryce Harper, had a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score (HR 2-2 2R BI). Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider had a +5.0 game score in the loss (7IP 5H 2R ER 2BB 8K L). Strider led players in 2023 Box-Toppers points (21.1).
AL Division Series Game 1: Astros 6, Twins 4
Yordan Alvarez of the Astros hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs.
The Astros now lead the best-of-five game series, 1-0.
Alvarez earned 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 118th overall, 16th among AL batters.
Alvarez had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0. Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander also had a +5.0 Box-Toppers game score (6IP 4H 0R 3BB 6K W), but Alvarez beat him for Player of the Game because in cases of game score ties, batters rank ahead of pitchers. Twins starting pitcher Bailey Ober had a -5.0 Box-Toppers game score (3IP 4H 3R 0BB 2K L).
AL Division Series Game 1: Rangers 3, Orioles 2
Evan Carter of the Rangers doubled and went 1-for-2, scoring once and driving in one run.
The Rangers take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five game series.
Carter earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2023, making his Box-Toppers debut with his first career Player of the Game honor on Sept. 22.
Carter had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 to top Rangers players. Rangers starting pitcher Andrew Heaney had a -0.8 Box-Toppers game score (3.2IP 2H R BB K ND). Orioles starting pitcher Kyle Bradish had a +1.2 Box-Toppers game score (4.2IP 7H 2BB 9K L).
All of Saturday’s Player of the Game winners are listed 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 | ARI 11, LAD 2 | Merrill Kelly W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| +5.2 | `PHI 3, ATL 0 | Ranger Suárez | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| +5.0 | HOU 6, MIN 4 | Yordan Alvarez DH | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.0 | TEX 3, BAL 2 | Evan Carter LF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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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 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.0 | 24.0 | 39.0 | 39.0 | +2.0 |
| Alvarez, Yordan 4209 | dh lf | hou al | 6.5 | 15.2 | 25.7 | 25.7 | -2.2 |
| Suarez, Ranger 4228 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.7 | 8.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 | -1.3 |
| Carter, Evan 4947 | lf | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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Sunday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):
AL Division Series Game 2, Rangers lead Orioles, 1-0
Rangers—Jordan Montgomery, 10.4 points in 2023, 43rd overall, 21st among AL pitchers. Montgomery was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card series Game 1 win over the Rays.
Orioles—Grayson Rodriguez, 8.0 points, 77th overall, 40th among AL pitchers.
More details—Previews of AL Division Series.
AL Division Series Game 2, Rangers lead Orioles, 1-0
Twins—Pablo Lopez, 13.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 16th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.
Astros—Framber Valdez, 10.0 points, 48th overall, 26th among AL pitchers.
More details—Previews of AL Division Series.
Both NL Division Series are idle Sunday for a needless rest day and will resume with Game 2s Monday.
A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’s Division Series 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 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 | Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | 10.4 | 19.8 | 30.5 | 36.5 |
| BAL | Rodriguez, Grayson 4790 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
| MIN | Lopez, Pablo 4028 | 13.4 | 24.1 | 47.2 | 47.2 |
| HOU | Valdez, Framber 4048 | 10.0 | 26.0 | 41.4 | 41.4 |
* 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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Box-Toppers 2023 player rankings leaders
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Previews of all four Wild Card series