Rays' Chris Archer tops players for Wednesday, May 10; Athletics' Triggs rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 10:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 7.0
2 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 6.7
3 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 6.7
4 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 6.0
5 Carrasco, Carlos 2885 pi sp cle al 5.4
6 Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 5.4
7 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 5.0
8 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
9 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
10 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 5.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Archer struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks, in the 12-1 win over the Royals.

National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher German Marquez struck out eight over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk-in the 3-0 win over the Cubs.

This was Marquez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Marquez made his Major League debut Sept. 8, 2016, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,788th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Phillies.

Cano has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Yankees and has 76.9 career points, sixth among active AL batters. His best season was 2013 with the Yankees, when he had 12.5 points, fourth among AL batters. In 2016, Cano had 8.0 points with the Mariners, second among AL second basemen.

National League Batter of the Day—Dexter Fowler of the Cardinals hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead triple in the 7-5 win over the Marlins. Fowler went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in two runs.

Rankings—Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Triggs (6IP 3H R 3BB 4K W in the 3-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.4 for the season. Triggs ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Marquez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cano and Fowler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

5/10 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 TB 12, KC 1 Chris Archer (W,3-1) - - - - 8.0 5 0 0 0 11
NL 12.0 COL 3, CHC 0 German Marquez (W,1-2) - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 1 8
6.0 ARI 7, DET 1 Zack Godley (W,1-0) - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 6
4.1 LAD 5, PIT 2 Kenta Maeda (W,3-2) - - - - 8.1 5 2 2 0 5
BAT 4.0 SEA 11, PHI 6 Robinson Cano, 2B 5 2 4 3 - - - - - -
4.0 WSH 7, BAL 6 Matt Albers (W,2-0) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 TOR 8, CLE 7 Ezequiel Carrera, RF 5 3 3 2 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 STL 7, MIA 5 Dexter Fowler, PH 1 1 1 2 - - - - - -
2.0 SF 6, NYM 5 Buster Posey, 1B-C 4 3 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 TEX 4, SD 3 Shin-Soo Choo, DH 3 1 3 1 - - - - - -
2.0 HOU 4, ATL 2 Carlos Correa, SS 3 1 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 OAK 3, LAA 1 Andrew Triggs (W,5-2) - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 3 4
1.0 MIL 7, BOS 4 Travis Shaw, 3B 4 2 2 1 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
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 +/-
Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 5.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 4.4
Shaw, Travis 3544 3b 1b mil nl 2.5 9.5 13.7 13.7 -4.5
Fowler, Dexter 2698 cf ph stl nl 2.5 4.0 18.0 20.5 1.0
Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 rf dh tex al 2.5 3.5 23.5 50.2 1.5
Maeda, Kenta 3609 pi sp lad nl 2.0 12.0 12.0 12.0 -8.0
Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 2.0 11.0 51.1 51.1 -7.0
Posey, Buster 2745 ca 1b sf nl 2.0 5.5 30.5 35.0 -1.5
Marquez, German 3788 pi sp col nl 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
Cano, Robinson 2092 2b sea al 1.5 9.5 39.0 76.9 -6.5
Correa, Carlos 3506 ss hou al 1.0 8.7 15.9 15.9 -6.7
Godley, Zack 3538 pi sp ari nl 1.0 2.0 5.7 5.7 0.0
Albers, Matt 2274 pi cp dc nl 1.0 2.0 3.0 6.0 0.0
Carrera, Ezequiel 2873 rf tor al 1.0 1.0 3.5 5.5 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Ivan Nova tops players for Saturday, April 29, rises to 3rd Box-Toppers player rankings

Pirates pitcher Ivan Nova is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.

Nova pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Marlins.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 29:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 6.0
2 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 5.7
3 Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0
4 Vargas, Jason 2055 pi sp kc al 5.0
5 Holland, Greg 2906 pi cp col nl 5.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp bos al 4.7
7 Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 4.4
8 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 4.0
9 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 4.0
10 Paxton, James 3280 pi sp sea al 4.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nova earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to third in season player rankings, second among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (6.0 Box-Toppers points).

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing five hits, in the 2-1 win over the Astros.

Triggs earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season and rising to seventh in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Braves hit three homers, going 3-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Brewers.

With Saturday’s Player of the Game honor, Kemp has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Dodgers and has 60.6 career points, fourth among active NL batters. His best season was 2012 with the Dodgers, when he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points, third among NL batters. In 2016, he had 7.5 points with the Padres and the Braves, sixth among NL outfielders.

American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Judge of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-2, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 12-4 win over the Orioles.

Judge earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 points for the season, rising to lead AL batters, passing previous leader, Logan Morrison of the Rays (3.2).

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Allen Cordoba of the Padres (HR 1-2 2R 3BI in the 12-4 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut April 3 and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,780th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers (2HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 6-5 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut April 25 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,781st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Nova earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Triggs earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kemp and Judge each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

4/29 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 PIT 4, MIA 0 Ivan Nova (W,3-2) - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 0 7
AL 11.0 OAK 2, HOU 1 Andrew Triggs (W,4-1) - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 0 9
BAT 6.0 ATL 11, MIL 3 Matt Kemp, LF 5 3 3 5 - - - - - -
BAT 6.0 NYY 12, BAL 4 Aaron Judge, RF 2 4 2 2 - - - - - -
6.0 TEX 6, LAA 3 Yu Darvish (W,3-2) - - - - 6.0 3 2 1 4 10
4.2 NYM 5, WSH 3 Hansel Robles (W,4-0; H,4) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 1 4
4.2 `CLE 4, SEA 3 Andrew Miller (H,5) - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 1 4
4.0 TOR 4, TB 1 Justin Smoak, 1B 3 2 3 2 - - - - - -
4.0 SD 12, SF 4 Allen Cordoba, PR-LF 2 2 1 3 - - - - - -
3.0 CHW 6, DET 4 (F/10) Jose Abreu, 1B 3 2 2 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 7, BOS 4 Wade Davis (S,6) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
2.0 LAD 6, PHI 5 Cody Bellinger, LF 4 2 2 2 - - - - - -
2.0 COL 7, ARI 6 Alexi Amarista, PH 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
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 +/-
Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0 13.0 28.7 36.1 -3.0
Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 4.4 5.4 5.4 5.4 3.4
Judge, Aaron 3767 rf nyy al 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0
Darvish, Yu 3003 pi sp tex al 3.0 13.4 58.6 58.6 -7.4
Miller, Andrew 2436 pi mr cp cle al 2.0 10.0 17.0 25.0 -6.0
Kemp, Matt 2151 lf atl nl 1.5 9.0 32.0 60.6 -6.0
Davis, Wade 2681 pi cp chi nl 1.0 5.0 20.0 27.0 -3.0
Smoak, Justin 2731 1b tor al 1.0 4.5 17.7 23.9 -2.5
Abreu, Jose 3308 1b chi al 1.0 2.5 21.0 21.0 -0.5
Robles, Hansel 3580 pi mr cp nym nl 1.0 2.0 4.7 4.7 0.0
Amarista, Alexi 3032 ss ph col nl 1.0 1.0 10.0 10.0 1.0
Bellinger, Cody 3781 lf lad nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Cordova, Allen 3780 lf pr sd nl 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Tuesday, April 18, rises to 5th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.

Scherzer struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hit and three walks, in the 3-1 win over the Braves.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 18:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Santana, Ervin 2005 pi sp min al 4.7
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 4.0
3 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 3.4
4 Morrison, Logan 2794 1b tb al 3.2
5 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 3.0
6 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 3.0
7 Kimbrel, Craig 2825 pi cp bos al 3.0
8 Devenski, Chris 3702 pi mr cp hou al 3.0
9 Bedrosian, Cam 3694 pi cp ana al 3.0
10 Marte, Starling 3122 lf cf pit nl 3.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season. He also now has 134.7 career points and rises to 30th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 29th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5).

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs struck out five over six innings, allowing two runs (none earned) and three hits, in the 4-2 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies homered twice and doubled, going 3-for-4 and driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 8-7 win over the Blue Jays.

Streak—Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 consecutive seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Encarnacion (HR 1-3 2R 3BI in the 11-4 win over the Twins) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Reds and has 68.1 career points, ninth among active AL batters. His best season was 2015 with the Blue Jays, when he had 10.4 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL batters.

Rankings—Angels closing pitcher Cam Bedrosian rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Bedrosian (2IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 5-2 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Notable—Starling Marte of the Pirates was suspended Tuesday for 80 games for violating baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. Marte currently ranks 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 3.0 Box-Toppers points. He was NL Batter of the Day on April 9 and April 15.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Triggs earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado and Betts each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

4/18 Score Game Player of the Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 WSH 3, ATL 1 Max Scherzer (W,2-1) - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 3 7
7.0 MIA 5, SEA 0 Wei-Yin Chen (W,2-0) - - - - 7.0 0 0 0 2 2
AL 6.0 OAK 4, TEX 2 Andrew Triggs (W,3-0) - - - - 6.0 3 2 0 0 5
5.1 CHW 4, NYY 1 Miguel Gonzalez (W,2-0) - - - - 8.1 4 1 1 1 4
4.1 ARI 11, SD 2 Shelby Miller (W,2-1) - - - - 7.1 4 1 1 2 5
BAT 4.0 COL 4, LAD 3 Nolan Arenado, 3B 4 2 3 3 - - - - - -
4.0 CIN 9, BAL 3 Adam Duvall, LF 4 1 2 5 - - - - - -
4.0 TB 5, DET 1 Matt Andriese (W,1-0) - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 1 5
BAT 3.0 BOS 8, TOR 7 Mookie Betts, RF 5 3 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CHC 9, MIL 7 Miguel Montero, C 4 2 3 2 - - - - - -
3.0 CLE 11, MIN 4 Edwin Encarnacion, DH 3 2 1 3 - - - - - -
3.0 LAA 5, HOU 2 Cam Bedrosian (S,3) - - - - 2.0 2 0 0 0 3
2.0 PHI 6, NYM 2 (F/10) Aaron Altherr, PH-LF 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 SF 2, KC 1 (F/11) Mark Melancon (S,3) - - - - 1.0 2 0 0 0 3
1.0 `STL 2, PIT 1 Matt Bowman (H,3) - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 1
MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
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 +/-
Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 3.0 28.7 106.9 134.7 -22.7
Bedrosian, Cam 3694 pi cp ana al 3.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 0.0
Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 2.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 1.7
Duvall, Adam 3573 lf cin nl 2.0 8.5 10.0 10.0 -4.5
Arenado, Nolan 3306 3b col nl 1.5 12.2 22.2 22.2 -9.2
Betts, Mookie 3404 rf bos al 1.5 7.7 12.7 12.7 -4.7
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 pi sp chi al 1.0 10.1 38.9 38.9 -8.1
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 dh 1b cle al 1.0 9.0 44.1 68.1 -7.0
Melancon, Mark 2792 pi cp sf nl 1.0 4.0 20.0 25.0 -2.0
Altherr, Aaron 3563 lf ph phi nl 1.0 3.5 4.5 4.5 -1.5
Miller, Shelby 3134 pi sp ari nl 1.0 3.0 39.1 39.1 -1.0
Chen, Wei-Yin 3026 pi sp fla nl 1.0 3.0 28.1 28.1 -1.0
Montero, Miguel 2304 ca chi nl 1.0 3.0 16.7 32.9 -1.0
Andriese, Matt 3505 pi sp mr tb al 1.0 3.0 6.0 6.0 -1.0
Bowman, Matt 3699 pi mr stl nl 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 0.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Orioles' Kevin Gausman tops players for Sunday, Aug. 28; Dodgers' Stewart tops NL players

Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 28:  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 20.7
2 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 20.0
3 Fernandez, Jose 3147 pi sp fla nl 18.4
4 Kluber, Corey 3200 pi sp cle al 17.2
5 Hamels, Cole 2135 pi sp tex al 16.8
6 Lester, Jon 2173 pi sp chi nl 15.4
7 Cueto, Johnny 2400 pi sp sf nl 14.4
8 Strasburg, Stephen 2736 pi sp dc nl 14.1
9 Syndergaard, Noah 3472 pi sp nym nl 14.0
10 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 13.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Gausman pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing seven hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Brock Stewart pitched five scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Cubs. Stewart did not earn the win, picking up the no decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

This was Stewart’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Stewart made his Major League debut June 29 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,722nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit three home runs and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 9-6 win over the Twins.

Donaldson earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Donaldson ranks 34th among all players and fourth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Joe Panik of the Giants hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 13-4 win over the Braves.

Debut—Two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Athletics pitcher Andrew Triggs (6IP 4H 3R 0BB 8K W in the 7-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut April 25 and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,723rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Royals pitcher Matt Strahm (2.2IP 0H 0R BB K W in the 10-4 over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut July 31, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,724th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Gausman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stewart earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Panik each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/28 Score Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 BAL 5, NYY 0 Kevin Gausman (W,6-10) - - - - 7.0 7 0 0 0 9
NL 9.0 `LAD 1, CHC 0 Brock Stewart - - - - 5.0 2 0 0 2 8
8.0 LAA 5, DET 0 Tyler Skaggs (W,2-3) - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 2 6
BAT 6.0 TOR 9, MIN 6 Josh Donaldson, 3B 4 3 3 4 - - - - - -
BAT 5.0 SF 13, ATL 4 Joe Panik, 2B 4 2 3 4 - - - - - -
5.0 TB 10, HOU 4 Chris Archer (W,8-17) - - - - 7.0 4 3 3 2 10
5.0 TEX 2, CLE 1 Derek Holland (W,6-6) - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 0 5
5.0 PIT 3, MIL 1 Ivan Nova (W,11-6) - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 0 4
4.0 COL 5, WSH 3 Nolan Arenado, 3B 4 1 4 3 - - - - - -
4.0 OAK 7, STL 4 Andrew Triggs (W,1-1) - - - - 6.0 4 3 3 0 8
4.0 CHW 4, SEA 1 Carlos Rodon (W,5-8) - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 1 6
4.0 `PHI 5, NYM 1 Vince Velasquez - - - - 5.0 5 1 1 1 7
3.0 ARI 11, CIN 2 Welington Castillo, C 3 0 2 4 - - - - - -
2.2 KC 10, BOS 4 Matt Strahm (W,2-0) - - - - 2.2 0 0 0 1 1
1.0 SD 3, MIA 1 Ryan Schimpf, 2B 3 1 2 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the 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 (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game Pos Team 16 15-16 11-16 Career +/-
Donaldson, Josh 3144 3b tor al 9.7 19.6 39.6 39.6 -0.2
Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 9.0 25.0 49.1 49.1 -7.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306 3b col nl 9.0 17.5 19.0 19.0 0.5
Velasquez, Vince 3611 pi sp phi nl 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191 pi sp bal al 7.4 13.1 20.8 20.8 1.7
Panik, Joe 3401 2b sf nl 5.5 9.5 10.5 10.5 1.5
Schimpf, Ryan 3686 2b sd nl 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2 5.2
Nova, Ivan 2796 pi sp pit nl 5.0 6.0 27.1 28.1 4.0
Rodon, Carlos 3494 pi sp chi al 4.0 12.1 12.1 12.1 -4.1
Castillo, Wellington 3251 ca ari nl 4.0 7.5 10.5 10.5 0.5
Holland, Derek 2634 pi sp tex al 4.0 6.7 38.8 45.8 1.3
Skaggs, Tyler 3183 pi sp ana al 2.7 2.7 12.4 12.4 2.7
Stewart, Brock 3722 pi sp lad nl 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7
Triggs, Andrew 3723 pi sp oak al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Strahm, Matt 3724 pi mr kc al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?