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Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Players of the Game
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Padres pitcher Michael King tops players in Tuesday’s four Wild Card playoff games.
Other Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s Wild Card series games:
Royals pitcher Cole Ragans.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal.
Mark Vientos of the Mets.
NL Wild Card Game 1: Padres 4, Braves 0
Padres pitcher Michael King struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks.
The Padres now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.
King earned 12.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 25th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
King had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +14.0. Padres top batter Kyle Higashioka had a +2.0 game score (HR SF 1-2 R 2BI). Braves starter AJ Smith-Shawver had a -7.9 game score (1.1 4H 3R 0BB K L).
AL Wild Card Game 1: Royals 1, Orioles 0
Royals pitcher Cole Ragans struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing no walks.
The Royals now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Ragans earned 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 32nd among all players and 16th among AL pitchers.
Ragans had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +10.0. Royals top batter Tuesday was Maikel Garcia with a 0.0 game score (1-2 R 0BI). Orioles starting pitcher Corbin Burnes had a +3.0 game score (8IP 5H R BB 3K L).
AL Wild Card Game 1: Tigers 3, Astros 1
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal struck out six over six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk.
The Tigers now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Skubal earned 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024, second among all players and first among AL pitchers.
Skubal had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0. Tigers top batter was Jake Rogers with a 0.0 game score (2-4 R BI). Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez had a -7.9 game score (4.1IP 7H 3R 2BB 3K L).
NL Wild Card Game 1: Mets 8, Brewers 4
Mark Vientos of the Mets went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs.
The Mets now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Vientos earned 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 43rd among NL batters and fifth among NL third baseman.
Vientos had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +2.0. Mets starting pitcher Luis Severino had a -8.0 game score (6IP 8H 4R 3ER 2BB 3K L). Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta had a 0.0 game score (4IP 2H 3R BB 5K ND).
All of Tuesday’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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +14.0 | SD 4, ATL 0 | Michael King (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| +10.0 | KC 1, BAL 0 | Cole Ragans (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| +7.0 | DET 3, HOU 1 | Tarik Skubal (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| +2.0 | NYM 8, MIL 4 | Mark Vientos 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
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 2024 (’24). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’23-24), the period 2019-2024 (’19-24) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2024 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2023 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’24 | ’23‑24 | ’19‑24 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 21.1 | 31.8 | 51.2 | 51.2 | +10.4 |
| King, Michael 4549 | pi sp | sd nl | 12.7 | 21.7 | 27.4 | 27.4 | +3.7 |
| Ragans, Cole 4889 | pi sp | kc al | 12.0 | 16.4 | 16.4 | 16.4 | +7.6 |
| Vientos, Mark 5024 | 3b | nym nl | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +4.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Wednesday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):
AL Wild Card Game 2, Tigers lead Astros, 1-0
Tigers—Tyler Holton, 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 436th among all players, 107th among AL pitchers.
Astros—Hunter Brown, 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 31st among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.
More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series
AL Wild Card Game 2, Royals lead Orioles, 1-0
Royals—Seth Lugo, 14.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 13th among all players, seventh among AL pitchers.
Orioles—Zach Eflin, 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 94th among all players, 39th among AL pitchers.
More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series
NL Wild Card Game 2, Mets lead Brewers, 1-0
Mets—Sean Manaea, 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 11th among all players, sixth among NL pitchers.
Brewers—Frankie Montas, 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 146th among all players, 59th among NL pitchers.
More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series
NL Wild Card Game 2, Padres lead Braves, 1-0
Braves—Max Fried, 13.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 17th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers.
Padres—Joe Musgrove, 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 66th among all players, 28th 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. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
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A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’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 2024 (’24), this year and last year (’23-24), over a six-year period (’19-24) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’24 | ’23‑24 | ’19‑24 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | Holton, Tyler 4775 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| HOU | Brown, Hunter 4729 | 12.0 | 22.1 | 23.1 | 23.1 |
| KC | Lugo, Seth 3729 | 14.1 | 20.5 | 29.5 | 38.5 |
| BAL | Eflin, Zach 3679 | 7.7 | 19.7 | 38.5 | 51.2 |
| NYM | Manaea, Sean 3637 | 15.4 | 19.1 | 46.5 | 69.3 |
| MIL | Montas, Frankie 3803 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 38.5 | 41.5 |
| ATL | Fried, Max 4011 | 13.4 | 22.4 | 65.9 | 66.9 |
| SD | Musgrove, Joe 3705 | 9.7 | 16.7 | 60.2 | 69.9 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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