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Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Players of the Game
▪️ B-T points of the day’s top players
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Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s National League Division Series Game 5.
The Los Angeles Dodgers win the series in five games, 3-2, advancing to the NL Championship Series and eliminating the San Diego Padres.
NL Division Series Game 5: Dodgers 2, Padres 0
Yamamoto struck out two over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk.
Yamamoto earned 6.4 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 121st among all players and 48th among NL pitchers. Yamamoto was out injured from mid-June to September. His injury was initially diagnosed as a rotator cuff strain but was later revised to right triceps soreness, according to a report from MLB.com. Yamamoto last earned Player of the Game honors during the regular season on June 7, more than four months ago. At that time, his 6.4 Box-Toppers points for the season, which was to be his final total, was 25th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
Yamamoto had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +4.0, best among all Dodgers players Friday. Two Dodgers batters each had 0.0 game scores with identical line scores (and with identical last names): Enrique Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez (both HR 1-3 R BI). Both hit solo home runs—Enrique in the second and Teoscar in the seventh. Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish had a +2.2 game score in the loss (6.2IP 3H 2R BB 4K L).
While the Dodgers were the top-seeded National League playoff team, they were the lowest-ranked NL team in Box-Toppers rankings. The Padres, meanwhile, were the fourth-seeded NL team, but ranked in third place overall and third place among all teams in Box-Toppers rankings.
Padres players accumulated 121.8 Box-Toppers points in 2024, while the Dodgers earned 113.7, eighth overall.
However, the Dodgers had baseball’s best regular season winning percentage (.605), while the Padres (.574) finished five games behind the Dodgers in second place in the NL West.
The Dodgers had the first-round bye to the NLDS. The Padres advanced by sweeping the Atlanta Braves, 2-0, in the Wild Card series.
The Dodgers now advance to the National League Championship Series beginning Sunday against the New York Mets.
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).| 10/11 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +4.0 | LAD 2, SD 0 | Yoshinobu Yamamoto (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
` 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 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | +6.4 |
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Saturday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):
ALDS Game 5, Tigers at Guardians, series tied, 2-2
Tigers—Tarik Skubal, 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2024, second among all players, first among AL pitchers.
Skubal has been Box-Toppers Player of the Game twice this postseason: On Oct. 1 in the AL Wild Card Series and Oct. 7 in ALDS Game 2.
Guardians—Matthew Boyd, 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 93rd among AL pitchers.
A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’s League Division 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 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 | Skubal, Tarik 4414 | 21.1 | 31.8 | 51.2 | 51.2 |
| CLE | Boyd, Matthew 3550 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 12.0 | 31.8 |
* Player has yet to earn any career 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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