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Mookie Betts of the Dodgers and Jhonkensy Noel of the Guardians are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s two League Championship Series games.
In both best-of-seven-games series, the Los Angeles Dodgers take a 3-1 lead over the New York Mets in the National League, while the Cleveland Guardians now trail the New York Yankees, 2-1, in the American League.
NL Championship Series Game 4: Dodgers 10, Mets 2
Betts homered, doubled and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in four runs.
Betts earned 3.5 Box-Toppers points in the 2024 regular season, 273rd among all players and 59th among NL batters. Betts was limited to 116 games in 2024 after his left hand was fractured when he was hit by a pitch in June and missed nearly two months. In 2023, when he played in 152 games, he earned 8.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among NL batters.
Betts had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +5.0, best among Dodgers players. Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto had a +3.1 game score (4.1IP 4H 2R BB 8K ND). Dodgers relief pitcher Evan Phillips, who earned the win, had a +0.1 game score (1.1IP 2H 0R BB 2K W). Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani had a +3.0 game score (HR 1-3 4R BI).
Mets starting pitcher Jose Quintana had a -13.9 game score, lowest among all players in the game (3.1IP 5H 5R 4BB 2K L). Mets reliever Jose Butto had a 0.0 game score (2IP H R 2BB 3K ND). Mets top batter was catcher Francisco Alvarez with a +1.0 game score (1-1 R 0BI).
AL Championship Series Game 3: Guardians 7, Yankees 5 (F/10)
Jhonkensy Noel of the Guardians hit a pinch-hit, game-tying, ninth-inning, two-run home run, which sent the game into the 10th inning.
The Guardians won the game with a walk-off two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning by David Fry.
Player of the Game Noel earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in his 2024 rookie season, 199th among all players, 25th among AL batters and tied for fourth among all AL rookies.
Noel had a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score Thursday, best among all Guardians players. Guardians starter Matthew Boyd had a +2.0 game score (5IP 2H R 3BB 4K ND). Fry, who hit the game-winning homer, had a +2.0 game score (HR 1-2 R 2BI).
Yankees starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt had a -4.8 game score (4.2IP 5H 2R 2BB 2K ND). Yankees reliever Clay Holmes had the game’s lowest game score of -5.8 (0.2IP 2H 2R 0BB 0K L). Yankees top batter, Giancarlo Stanton, who hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning home run, had a 0.0 game score (1-3 R BI).
Thursday’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).| 10/17 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +5.0 | LAD 10, NYM 2 | Mookie Betts RF | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | CLE 7, NYY 5 (F/10) | Jhonkensy Noel PH‑RF | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noel, Jhonkensy 5061 | rf | cle al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | +5.0 |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | ss rf | lad nl | 3.5 | 12.0 | 37.9 | 66.0 | -5.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Friday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart):
NLCS Game 5: Dodgers lead Mets, 3-1
Dodgers—Jack Flaherty, 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 34th overall, 17th among NL pitchers.
Flaherty was Box-Toppers Player of the Game Oct. 13 in the NL Division Series. He also has started Oct. 6 in NLDS Game 2.
Mets—David Peterson, 4.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 78th among NL pitchers.
Peterson has not won Player of the Game honors in the 2024 postseason. He has appeared four times, all in relief: Oct. 3 in the NL Wild Card Game 3, Oct. 5 in NLDS Game 1, Oct. 9 in NLDS Game 4 and Oct. 13 in NLCS Game 1.
NLCS Preview: Surging Mets favored over injury-depleted Dodgers
ALCS Game 4, Yankees lead Guardians, 2-1
Yankees—Luis Gil, 17.4 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players, second among AL pitchers.
Gil is the only player ranked in the top 10 in 2024 Box-Toppers points who is still active in the postseason. Though he leads the Yankees in 2024 Box-Toppers points, he has yet to appear in any of the Yankees’ seven games this postseason. Gil got off to a hot start but struggled in the second half of the season, only earning 4.0 of his 17.4 points after June 4.
Guardians—Gavin Williams, 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 79th among AL pitchers.
Williams also has yet to appear in the 2024 postseason.
ALCS Preview: Top-ranked, top-seeded Yankees favored over Guardians
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’s League 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 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAD | Flaherty, Jack 3971 | 12.0 | 16.0 | 44.2 | 57.3 |
| NYM | Peterson, David 4347 | 4.7 | 7.7 | 17.7 | 17.7 |
| NYY | Gil, Luis 4498 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 |
| CLE | Williams, Gavin 4865 | 3.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
* 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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ALCS Preview: Top-ranked, top-seeded Yankees favored over Guardians
NLCS Preview: Surging Mets favored over injury-depleted Dodgers