Kelvin Herrera pitched three scoreless innings—the seventh, eighth and ninth—to earn Player of the Game honors as the Kansas City Royals won the 2015 World Series Sunday.
The Royals again came from behind in Game 5, scoring two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game 2-2 and scoring five in the top of the 12th inning to defeat the Mets, 7-2 in the 12-inning game and 4-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Herrera kept the Mets off the board for three innings, giving up one hit and striking out three. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, highest among Royals players. While he did not earn the win or the save, picking up a no-decision, he did pitch the requisite three innings required to be eligible to earn Player of the Game honors. He is the only pitcher this postseason to earn Player of the Game honors without earning a win or a save.
Had Herrera not pitched three innings, Player of the Game honors would have gone to Royals top batter, pinch hitter Christian Colon, who hit the go-ahead 12th-inning single (1-1 R BI). Colon had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
Closing pitcher Wade Davis had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (1IP H 0R 3K), but was not eligible to earn Player of the Game honors because he pitched fewer than three innings and did not pick up the win or the save. Davis was not eligible to earn the save because the Royals led by more than three runs when he entered.
Herrera, during the regular season, had no Box-Toppers points. In both 2013 and 2014, Herrera had 2.0 points each season. It is the third straight World Series game in which the Player of the Game had zero regular season Box-Toppers points:
Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 (6IP 2H 2R 5K ND). Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0 (8IP 5H 2R 2BB 9K ND), highest among all players Sunday.
Mets pitcher Jeurys Familia, who had a blown save pitching in the ninth and 10th innings, had the Mets second-highest Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 (2IP 0H 0R 2K). Curtis Granderson had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Mets batters of 0.0 (HR 1-4 2R BI). Addison Reed, who picked up the loss for the Mets, had the lowest Box-Toppers game score of all players of −5.9 (0.1IP 3H 5R BB 0K).
Royals catcher Salvador Perez was named World Series Most Valuable Player. He did not earn Player of the Game honors in any World Series game and had a positive Box-Toppers game score in only one game the Royals won—in Game 4, he had a score of +1.0, highest among Royals batters.
Game 5 narrative via Box-Toppers Twitter feed
Mets pitcher Matt Harvey had complete control of World Series Game 5—until he didn't. Here are real-time tweets from @BoxToppers as the game progressed, complete with real-time statistical errors:
#WorldSeries Gm 5
#Royals Edinson Volquez (7.0 Box-Toppers pts, ranked 105th)
#Mets Matt Harvey (15.4 B-T pts, 16th)
https://t.co/oIAGjoxNUz
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Curtis Granderson #Mets takes early lead as Box-Toppers Player of Game w/solo HR in #WorldSeries Game 5, B-T game score +2.
NY 1-KC 0 B1
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Matt Harvey #Mets takes lead as Box-Toppers Player of Game in #WorldSeries Game 5 vs. #Royals (3IP 2H 0R 2K, B-T gm score +3).
NY 1-KC 0 E3
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Matt Harvey #Mets extends lead as Box-Toppers Player of Game in #WorldSeries Gm 5 vs. #Royals (4IP 2H 0R 5K, B-T gm score +7).
NY 1-KC 0 M4
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Matt Harvey #Mets extends lead as Box-Toppers Player of Gm in #WorldSeries Gm 5 v. #Royals (5IP 2H 0R BB 8K, B-T gm score +10).
NY 1-KC 0 M5
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Matt Harvey #Mets extends lead as Box-Toppers Player of Gm in #WorldSeries Gm5 v. #Royals (6IP 3H 0R 1BB 9K, B-T gm score +11).
NY 1-KC 0 M5
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Matt Harvey #Mets still leads as Box-Toppers Player of Gm in #WorldSeries Gm5 v. #Royals (7IP 4H 0R 1BB 9K, B-T gm score +11).
NY 2-KC 0 M7
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Edinson Volquez #Royals exits #WorldSeries Game 5 vs. #Mets (6IP 2H 2R 5BB 5K, B-T gm score +1) on hook for L.
NY 2-KC 0 E7.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Matt Harvey #Mets extends lead as Box-Toppers Player of Gm in #WorldSeries Gm5 v. #Royals (8IP 4H 0R 1BB 9K, B-T gm score +12).
NY 2-KC 0 M8
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Matt Harvey #Mets exits #WorldSeries Gm5 w/lead as Box-Toppers Player of Gm (8+IP 5H R 3BB 9K, B-T gm score +8).
NY 2-KC 1 T9.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015#Royals tie #Mets in #WorldSeries Game 5, 2-2 B9
Herrera leads KC as Player of Game (2IP H 0R 3K), Harvey leads NY (8IP 5H 2R 2BB 9K).
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015In T10, #Royals, #Mets tied 2-2 in #WorldSeries Game 5.
Box-Toppers Player of Game leaders:
KC-Herrera B-T gm score +5
NY-Harvey +6
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015As #Royals take 3-2 lead over #Mets in #WorldSeries Gm5 in T12, Herrera leads as Box-Toppers Player of Game (3IP H 0R 3K, B-T gm score +5).
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015#WorldSeries MVP? #Royals Game 2 CG winner Johnny Cueto? https://t.co/NpJxBiVnT1
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015Kelvin Herrera #Royals (3IP H 0R 3K ND) is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in #WorldSeries Game 5 win, 7-2, as KC beats #Mets in series, 4-1.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) November 2, 2015About 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 Royals in World Series Game 5
Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Royals who played in World Series Game 5 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score (pitchers are listed twice—once for batting and once for pitching). Kelvin Herrera is Player of the Game (POG).
| 11/1 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 5.0 | `Royals | Kelvin Herrera | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3.0 | Royals | Wade Davis | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Royals | Christian Colon, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Jarrod Dyson, PR | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Drew Butera, C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Kelvin Herrera, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Wade Davis, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez, P | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Kendrys Morales, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Paulo Orlando, RF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, 2B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Alex Rios, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -5.0 | Royals | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Though the baseball season is now over, in coming days, Box-Toppers will feature season-end features, including Box-Toppers 2015 All-Star teams, top 100 player rankings and analysis of the Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Awards, among many other things. Stay current on Twitter, Facebook or subscribe to Box-Toppers’ RSS feed.
