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Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove tops players in Wednesday’s four Wild Card playoff games.
Three teams swept the best-of-three-game series Wednesday and will advance to their league division series beginning Saturday—the Padres, Tigers and Royals. The Brewers and Mets will play a decisive Game 3 in their Wild Card series on Thursday.
Other Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s Wild Card series games:
Andy Ibanez of the Tigers
Garrett Mitchell of the Brewers
Royals relief pitcher Angel Zerpa
NL Wild Card Game 2: Padres 5, Braves 4
Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove struck out four over 3 2/3 innings, allowing one run, one hit and no walks.
Musgrove did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings to earn the win. He left the game in the fourth inning with right elbow tightness and his availability in future postseason games is in question.
The Padres win the best-of-three series, 2-0, eliminating the Braves.
Musgrove earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 66th among all players and 28th among National League pitchers.
Musgrove had a +4.2 Box-Toppers game score, best among all Padres players Wednesday and tops among all four of the day’s Player of the Game winners. Top Padres batter was Fernando Tatis Jr. with a +1.0 game score (3-3 R 0BI). Braves starting pitcher Max Fried had a -14.0 game score in the loss (2IP 8H 5R 0BB 2K L).
The Padres were the higher-seeded playoff team and also ranked higher in 2024 Box-Toppers team rankings. The Padres were the fourth-seeded team, while the Braves were the fifth seed. The Padres rank third in Box-Toppers team rankings, with its players accumulating 121.8 Box-Toppers points in 2024, including picking up 6.0 points in the final 10 days of the season. The Braves rank fifth with 118.9 Box-Toppers points, including picking up 9.7 points in the final days of the season.
The Padres will face the Los Angeles Dodgers, the top-seeded NL team, in the NL Division Series beginning Saturday in Los Angeles.
AL Wild Card Game 2: Tigers 5, Astros 2
Andy Ibanez of the Tigers hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning, pinch-hit double, driving in three runs.
The Tigers win the best-of-three series, 2-0, eliminating the Astros.
Ibanez earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 70th among American League batters and 10th among AL second basemen.
Ibanez had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday’s of +3.0. Tigers starting pitcher Tyler Holton had a +2.0 Box-Toppers game score (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K ND). Astros starting pitcher Hunter Brown had a +8.2 Box-Toppers game score in the loss (5.2IP 2H R 2BB 9K ND).
This constitutes an upset with the sixth-seeded AL playoff team beating the third-seeded team. In Box-Toppers terms, it’s even a bigger upset. The Tigers rank 22nd among the 30 teams in Box-Toppers rankings this season, lowest by far of any of the 12 postseason teams for 2024. The Astros rank 10th.
Tigers players accumulated 84.9 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 22nd overall, while the Astros had 110.5, 10th overall.
The Tigers will face the Cleveland Guardians, the second-seeded AL team, in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday in Cleveland.
NL Wild Card Game 2: Brewers 5, Mets 3
Garrett Mitchell of the Brewers hit an eighth-inning, pinch-hit, two-run, go-ahead home run.
The Brewers tie the best-of-three series with the Mets, 1-1.
Mitchell had no Box-Toppers points in the 2024 regular season. He has 1.0 career Box-Toppers point, earned in 2022 with the Brewers.
Mitchell had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +3.0. Brewers starting pitcher Frankie Montas had a -4.8 game score (3.2IP 6H 3R ER BB 3K ND). Mets pitcher Sean Manaea had a -1.0 game score in the loss (5IP 6H 2R 0BB 4K ND). Jackson Chourio of the Brewers, who hit two home runs, had a +2.0 game score (2HR 2-4 2R 2BI).
AL Wild Card Game 2: Royals 2, Orioles 1
Royals relief pitcher Angel Zerpa struck out two over one scoreless and hitless inning of middle relief, walking none. Zerpa pitched in the fifth and sixth innings and was the pitcher of record when the Royals took their 2-1 lead, earning the win.
The Royals win the best-of-three series, 2-0, eliminating the Orioles.
Zerpa earned no Box-Toppers points in 60 appearances in the 2024 regular season. He earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023 with the Royals.
Zerpa had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +3.0. Top Royals batter was Kyle Isbel with a 0.0 game score (1-2 R 0BI). Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo had a +2.1 game score (4.1IP 5H R BB 6K ND). Orioles starting pitcher Zach Eflin had a 0.0 Box-Toppers game score in the loss (4IP 4H R BB 3K ND).
Though the Orioles were the higher seed in the series, the Royals rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Orioles, the top AL Wild Card team, are the fourth-seeded team in the AL. The Royals, the second-ranked AL Wild Card team, are the fifth seed. But the Royals are sixth overall in Box-Toppers team rankings and second among AL teams with 115.1 Box-Toppers points. The Orioles are 12th overall and fifth among AL teams with 106.5 Box-Toppers points.
The Royals will face the New York Yankees, the top-seeded AL team, in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday.
All of Wednesday’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).| 10/2 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +4.2 | `SD 5, ATL 4 | Joe Musgrove | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +3.0 | DET 5, HOU 2 | Andy Ibáñez PH‑3B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | MIL 5, NYM 3 | Garrett Mitchell PR‑DH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | KC 2, BAL 1 | Angel Zerpa (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | sd nl | 9.7 | 16.7 | 60.2 | 69.9 | +2.7 |
| Ibanez, Andy 4496 | 2b ph | det al | 2.5 | 8.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -3.0 |
| Zerpa, Angel 4939 | pi mr | kc al | 0.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | -2.0 |
| Mitchell, Garrett 4723 | cf | mil nl | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
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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Thursday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):
NL Wild Card Game 3, Mets at Brewers, tied 1-1
Mets—Jose Quintana, 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 58th among all players, 25th among NL pitchers.
Brewers—Tobias Myers, 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 59th among all players, 26th 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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Box-Toppers 2024 player rankings leaders
A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | Quintana, Jose 3040 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 32.8 | 93.1 |
| MIL | Myers, Tobias 5026 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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, game-by-game view.
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