Phillies’ Lorenzen tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 9 with no-hitter; Ohtani bolsters lead

Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, pitching a no-hitter.

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▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ Top 10 players in 2023 Box-Toppers points.
▪️ A B-T look at upcoming pitching matchups.
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Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, pitching a no-hitter.

Also Wednesday, Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani maintains his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman rises to second in player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day

Lorenzen pitched a no-hitter in the 7-0 win over the Nationals. He pitched a complete scoreless game, striking out five and walking four.

He threw 124 pitches and faced 31 total batters, just four over the minimum.

It is the fourth no-hitter of the season and the third completed by one pitcher.

Lorenzen earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, 30th among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day is Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman.

American League Player of the Day

Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out six over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Guardians.

Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.7 for the season, rising from fourth to second place overall, trailing only Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani (18.4), who also won Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Gausman also trails Ohtani among AL pitchers. However, Gausman has the most 2023 Box-Toppers points earned solely as a pitcher. (Ohtani has earned 9.7 of his points as pitcher with the other 8.7 earned as a designated hitter.)

National League Batter of the Day is Josh Bell of the Marlins.

National League Batter of the Day

Josh Bell of the Marlins hit two home runs, including a game-tying, eighth-inning, three-run shot, in the 5-4 win over the Reds. Bell went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs.

American League Batter of the Day is Jose Altuve of the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day

Jose Altuve of the Astros went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Orioles.

Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s win over the Giants.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 in Box-Toppers season player rankings for 2023. Players are ranked by Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned this season through Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Player Pos Team BTP
1 Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh ana al 18.4
2 Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7
3 Strider, Spencer 4626 pi sp atl nl 14.4
4 Luzardo, Jesus 4282 pi sp fla nl 13.1
5 Bassitt, Chris 3413 pi sp tor al 12.4
6 Miller, Bryce 4797 pi sp sea al 12.1
7 Burnes, Corbin 4029 pi sp mil nl 11.7
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp tex al 11.4
9 Bautista, Felix 4668 pi cp bal al 11.0
10 Gallen, Zac 4171 pi sp ari nl 10.7
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Rankings

Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani maintains first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

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Ohtani (6IP 3H R 0ER 3BB 5K W in the 4-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.4 for the season. He leads second-place player, Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman (14.7), who was Wednesday’s AL Player of the Day. He also leads Gausman among AL pitchers and leads AL batters ahead of Kyle Tucker of the Astros (9.5).

This is Ohtani’s 15th Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of 2023. He’s now earned eight as a pitcher and seven as a designated hitter. He has 9.7 Box-Toppers points as a pitcher and 8.7 as a batter.

Debut

Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, each with their first career Player of the Game honor:

  • Athletics pitcher Freddy Tarnok (4IP 2H 0R 2BB 4K W in the 2-0 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Aug. 17, 2022, and was playing in his sixth career game.

  • Mets pitcher Grant Hartwig (2.1IP H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut June 19 and was playing in his 16th career game.

  • Cade Marlowe of the Mariners (2-3 2R BI in the 6-1 win over the Padres) made his Major League debut July 20 and was playing in his 15th career game.

Scoring

  • Lorenzen earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day.

  • Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day.

  • Bell and Altuve each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day.

  • All of Wednesday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

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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).

8/9 BTG Game Player AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB +10.0 PHI 7, WSH 0 Michael Lorenzen (W, 7‑7) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 9.0 0 0 0 4 5
AL +9.0 TOR 1, CLE 0 Kevin Gausman (W, 9‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 7.0 4 0 0 0 6
+4.1 DET 9, MIN 5 Tyler Holton (W, 1‑2) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 2.1 0 0 0 1 3
BAT +4.0 MIA 5, CIN 4 Josh Bell 1B 4 2 2 4 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+4.0 CHW 9, NYY 2 Mike Clevinger (W, 5‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 1 1 3 6
+4.0 LAA 4, SF 1 Shohei Ohtani (W, 10‑5) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 3 1 0 3 5
+4.0 OAK 2, TEX 0 Freddy Tarnok (W, 1‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 4.0 2 0 0 2 4
+3.1 NYM 4, CHC 3 Grant Hartwig (W, 4‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 2.1 1 0 0 0 2
+3.1 `STL 6, TB 4 JoJo Romero (H, 3) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 1.1 1 0 0 0 3
BAT +3.0 HOU 8, BAL 2 Jose Altuve 2B 5 2 3 3 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+3.0 BOS 4, KC 3 Nick Pivetta (W, 8‑6) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 5.0 4 2 2 2 8
+2.0 ATL 6, PIT 5 Michael Harris II CF 4 2 3 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 SEA 6, SD 1 Cade Marlowe LF 3 2 2 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
+2.0 `LAD 2, ARI 0 Bobby Miller ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ 6.0 4 0 0 4 4
0.0 MIL 7, COL 6 (F/10) Andruw Monasterio 3B 5 2 2 1 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
MLB—Overall Box‑Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box‑Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box‑Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box‑Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box‑Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box‑Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
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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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career +/‑
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 pi sp dh  ana al 18.4 43.1 73.7 73.7 -6.3
Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp tor al 14.7 27.4 48.8 84.1 +2.0
Lorenzen, Michael 3479 pi sp phi nl 8.7 12.7 17.2 23.2 +4.7
Pivetta, Nick 3825 pi mr bos al 5.0 12.7 32.4 40.4 -2.7
Clevinger, Mike 3707 pi sp chi al 5.0 11.4 44.5 58.9 -1.4
Harris, Michael 4682 cf atl nl 4.5 8.0 8.0 8.0 +1.0
Miller, Bobby 4820 pi sp lad nl 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 +4.0
Bell, Josh E. 3682 1b fla nl 3.5 8.0 21.2 26.7 -1.0
Altuve, Jose 3007 2b hou al 3.5 7.5 20.0 51.5 -0.5
Holton, Tyler 4775 pi mr det al 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Monasterio, Andruw 4837 3b mil nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Romero, JoJo 4878 pi cp mr stl nl 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 +2.0
Hartwig, Grant 4896 pi mr nym nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Marlowe, Cade 4897 lf sea al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
Tarnock, Freddy 4895 pi mr oak al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’s 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.
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Game Starter ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career
HOU Brown, Hunter 4729 8.4 9.4 9.4 9.4
BAL Kremer, Dean 4330 6.7 14.4 18.1 18.1
ATL Elder, Bryce 4709 6.0 10.7 10.7 10.7
PIT Falter, Bailey 4473 0.0 4.0 5.0 5.0
MIN Maeda, Kenta 3609 7.7 7.7 41.2 61.2
DET Olson, Reese 4861 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
TOR Manoah, Alek 4424 2.0 15.1 25.8 25.8
CLE Syndergaard, Noah 3472 0.0 3.0 22.4 52.5
STL Liberatore, Matthew 4662 1.0 3.0 3.0 3.0
TB Littell, Zack 4533 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0
WSH Corbin, Patrick 3027 4.4 8.4 47.5 89.7
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 8.0 24.0 73.2 97.7
KC Marsh, Alec* 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
BOS Paxton, James 3280 4.0 4.0 35.1 59.9
COL Blach, Ty 3754 1.0 3.0 5.0 9.0
LAD Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
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