Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot atop season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 2:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.4 |
| 8 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.0 |
| 9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 7.0 |
Also Friday, three other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel and Royals pitcher Jason Vargas.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 14 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Brewers. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Dodgers trailed 1-0 when he exited.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, maintaining his first place spot in season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (10.0).
Kershaw also now has 196.4 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads all active players in career points.
American League Player of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-4 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Elias Diaz of the Pirates hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 12-7 win over the Mets. Diaz went 2-for-5, driving in six runs.
This was Diaz’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Diaz made his Major League debut Sept. 12, 2015, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,813rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Danny Valencia.
Rankings—Three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings:
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (7IP 4H 2R 3BB 7K W in the 13-3 win over the Athletics) rises to sixth place (from ninth) with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Rangers) rises to seventh place with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Royals pitcher Jason Vargas (CG 7H 0R BB 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Indians) rises to 10th place with 7.0 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
Notable—In addition to Kershaw, two other players with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (2-2B 3-3 R 4BI in the 15-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 146.9 career points. Cabrera rises to 22nd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jim Thome (146.7) on the “all-time” list. Cabrera now trails 21st-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3). Cabrera now rises to sixth place among all batters since 1995 in career Box-Toppers points. He has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Cubs pitcher John Lackey (7IP 4H 2R 2BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 124.2 career points, rising to 38th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 37th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lackey has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Valencia earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Diaz earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) 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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 6/2 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | `LAD 2, MIL 1 (F/12) | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | |
| AL | 8.0 | SEA 12, TB 4 | Danny Valencia, 1B | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | HOU 7, TEX 1 | Dallas Keuchel (W,9-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | SF 10, PHI 0 | Ty Blach (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | DET 15, CHW 5 | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.1 | BAL 3, BOS 2 | Alec Asher (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | PIT 12, NYM 7 | Elias Diaz, C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | TOR 7, NYY 5 | Justin Smoak, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | KC 4, CLE 0 | Jason Vargas (W,7-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | MIN 11, LAA 5 | Joe Mauer, 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 7, ARI 5 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 13, OAK 3 | Stephen Strasburg (W,7-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | `CHC 3, STL 2 | John Lackey | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | SD 8, COL 5 | Allen Cordoba, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 3, ATL 2 (F/10) | Devin Mesoraco, C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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.
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 | 37.1 | 136.8 | 196.4 | -11.7 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.4 | 22.5 | 81.6 | 90.3 | -7.7 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.4 | 14.4 | 50.2 | 50.2 | 0.4 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 7.0 | 8.0 | 33.4 | 54.2 | 6.0 |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | tor al | 5.5 | 9.0 | 22.2 | 28.4 | 2.0 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 | 16.4 | 42.8 | 124.2 | -10.4 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 2.0 | 14.0 | 59.8 | 146.9 | -10.0 |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Mauer, Joe 1869 | 1b | min al | 2.0 | 3.5 | 25.0 | 72.6 | 0.5 |
| Cordoba, Allen 3780 | lf pr | sd nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Valencia, Danny 2772 | 1b 3b | sea al | 1.7 | 6.2 | 10.7 | 14.7 | -2.8 |
| Diaz, Elias 3813 | ca | pit nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 1.0 | 7.5 | 31.7 | 40.2 | -5.5 |
| Asher, Alec 3735 | pi sp | bal al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Mesoraco, Devin 3037 | ca | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 1.0 |