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The Cleveland Indians are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2018 preseason rankings, the same position where they finished the 2017 season.
The Nationals top NL teams and the World Series-champion Astros fall to 8th.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Tampa Bay Rays and the Kansas City Royals had the biggest declines.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka had the best single-game performance of the 2017 season as measured by Box-Toppers game score.
There were 2,430 games played in 2017. Here are the 10 games in which the Box-Toppers Player of the Game had the highest Box-Toppers game scores.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the highest Box-Toppers game score of the season.
Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read More
Marlins pitcher Edison Volquez, pitching a no-hitter, is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| 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 Saturday, Albert Pujols of the Angels hit his 600th career home run and also earned Player of the Game honors, bolstering his status as top active batter in career Box-Toppers points with 184.3.
Player of the Day—Volquez pitched a no-hitter in the 3-0 win over the Diamondbacks, allowing two walks and striking out 10.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher David Price struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 5-2 win over the Orioles.
Price now has 107.9 career Box-Toppers points. With his points Saturday, he rises to 59th place among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (106.7) and Carlos Beltran of the Astros (107.6). Price now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Zunino of the Mariners hit a grand slam and doubled in the 9-2 win over the Rays. Zunino went 3-for-4 and drove in seven runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Chris Taylor of the Dodgers hit a go-ahead, ninth-inning grand slam in the 10-8 win over the Brewers. Taylor also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times.
Rankings—Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Chatwood (8IP 4H R BB 8K W in the 10-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.4 for the season. He ranks 21st among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels now has 184.3 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday, a game in which he hit his 600th career home run.
Pujols (GS 1-4 R 4BI in the 7-2 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season. His 184.3 career Box-Toppers points ranks seventh among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began, trailing sixth-place player Alex Rodriguez (187.0). Pujols is second among all batters since 1995 in Box-Toppers points behind Rodriguez. He is also third among active players in career Box-Toppers points, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (196.4) and Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (188.0).
Debut—Yankees pitcher Jordan Montgomery made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Montgomery (6IP 3H 0R 3BB 5K W in the 7-0 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut April 12 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,814th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Volquez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Price earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Zunino and Taylor 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.
| 6/3 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 17.0 | MIA 3, ARI 0 | Edinson Volquez (W,2-7) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| 9.0 | COL 10, SD 1 | Tyler Chatwood (W,5-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| AL | 8.0 | BOS 5, BAL 2 | David Price (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | SEA 9, TB 2 | Mike Zunino, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | LAD 10, MIL 8 | Chris Taylor, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | OAK 10, WSH 4 | Ryon Healy, 3B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | NYY 7, TOR 0 | Jordan Montgomery (W,3-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 6, CIN 5 (F/12) | Matt Adams, 1B | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | KC 12, CLE 5 | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | DET 10, CHW 1 | Jose Iglesias, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.2 | HOU 6, TEX 5 | Chris Devenski (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 5, STL 3 | Kyle Schwarber, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAA 7, MIN 2 | Albert Pujols, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 4, PIT 2 | Neil Walker, 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 5, SF 3 | Odubel Herrera, CF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | col nl | 5.4 | 12.4 | 19.1 | 22.1 | -1.6 |
| Healy, Ryon 3685 | 1b 3b dh | oak al | 4.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.5 |
| Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr | hou al | 4.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 0.3 |
| Iglesias, Jose 3532 | ss | det al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | fla nl | 3.0 | 9.4 | 39.1 | 67.2 | -3.4 |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b ph | atl nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 2.0 |
| Pujols, Albert 1438 | dh 1b | ana al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 34.5 | 184.3 | -6.0 |
| Schwarber, Kyle 3536 | lf ca | chi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 2.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 1.7 | 14.1 | 76.1 | 107.9 | -10.7 |
| Taylor, Chris 3684 | cf | lad nl | 1.5 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Zunino, Mike 3390 | ca | sea al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.5 |
| Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | kc al | 1.0 | 7.5 | 21.7 | 21.7 | -5.5 |
| Walker, Neil 2756 | 2b | nym nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 23.5 | 31.5 | -2.5 |
| Herrera, Odubel 3449 | cf | phi nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | -2.5 |
| Montgomery, Jordan 3814 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 6.5 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.4 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 6.4 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 |
Also Monday, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Roark pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing six hits, in the 3-0 win over the Giants.
American League Player of the Day—Carlos Beltran of the Astros hit a three-run homer and went 4-for-5, scoring three times, in the 16-8 win over the Twins.
Beltran earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 107.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Frank Thomas (106.2), Red Sox pitcher David Price (106.2) and Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (106.7), who was the starting opposing pitcher in Beltran’s game Monday. Beltran ranks 19th among all batters in career points since 1995 and fourth among all active batters.
Beltran has 2.7 Box-Toppers points in 2017 and earlier this season tied the record for longest consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points at 19 (1999-2017).
Streak |
Player |
Pos |
Duration |
Career BTP |
|
| 1 | 19 | Jason Giambi | 1b | 1995-2013 | 133.4 |
| 1 | 19 | Carlos Beltran* | rf | 1999-2017 | 107.6 |
| 3 | 18 | Jim Thome | 1b dh | 1995-2012 | 146.7 |
| 3 | 18 | Chipper Jones | 3b | 1995-2012 | 149.0 |
| 3 | 18 | Johnny Damon | lf | 1995-2012 | 63.0 |
| 3 | 18 | Alex Rodriguez | 3b | 1996-2013 | 187.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Mariano Rivera | pi cp | 1995-2011 | 126.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Derek Jeter | ss | 1996-2012 | 76.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Paul Konerko | 1b | 1998-2014 | 100.7 |
| 7 | 17 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | 1999-2015 | 157.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Torii Hunter | cf | 1999-2015 | 115.9 |
| 7 | 17 | David Ortiz | dh | 2000-2016 | 145.9 |
| 7 | 17 | CC Sabathia* | pi sp | 2001-2017 | 188.0 |
| 14 | 16 | Manny Ramirez | lf | 1995-2010 | 167.2 |
| 14 | 16 | Andy Pettitte | pi sp | 1995-2010 | 138.5 |
| 14 | 16 | Jamie Moyer | pi sp | 1995-2010 | 104.0 |
| 14 | 16 | Scott Rolen | 3b | 1996-2011 | 97.6 |
| 14 | 16 | Kevin Millwood | pi sp | 1997-2012 | 108.3 |
| 14 | 16 | Derek Lowe | pi sp | 1998-2013 | 91.5 |
| 14 | 16 | Aramis Ramirez | 3b | 2000-2015 | 105.8 |
| 14 | 16 | Mark Buehrle | pi sp | 2000-2015 | 116.7 |
| 14 | 16 | Albert Pujols* | dh 1b | 2001-2016 | 182.3 |
| 14 | 16 | Ichiro Suzuki* | rf | 2001-2016 | 53.7 |
| 24 | 15 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | 1995-2009 | 278.8 |
| 24 | 15 | Garret Anderson | lf | 1995-2009 | 86.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Ivan Rodriguez | ca | 1995-2009 | 79.0 |
| 24 | 15 | Tony Clark | 1b | 1995-2009 | 63.8 |
| 24 | 15 | Gary Sheffield | lf | 1995-2009 | 124.1 |
| 24 | 15 | Jason Kendall | ca | 1996-2010 | 40.9 |
| 24 | 15 | Vladimir Guerrero | rf | 1997-2011 | 128.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Bobby Abreu | rf | 1997-2011 | 95.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Mike Cameron | cf | 1997-2011 | 70.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Miguel Tejada | ss | 1997-2011 | 102.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Jorge Posada | ca | 1997-2011 | 79.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Livan Hernandez | pi sp | 1997-2011 | 76.7 |
| 24 | 15 | Kyle Lohse | pi sp | 2001-2015 | 89.0 |
| 24 | 15 | Jake Peavy | pi sp | 2002-2016 | 141.8 |
| 24 | 15 | Miguel Cabrera* | 1b | 2003-2017 | 145.9 |
National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Renfroe of the Padres hit a grand slam, going 1-for-4, in the 5-2 win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Carlos Beltran.
Rankings—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Carrasco (7IP 4H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Streaks—Two players extended streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after earning their first Player of the Game honors of the season Monday:
Cabrera (2-3 R 3BI in the 10-7 win over the Royals) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2003 with the Marlins, making his 15-season streak tied (with 14 others) for the 24th-longest streak in Box-Toppers tracking history. It is the fifth-longest currently active streak.
Cabrera has 145.9 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 23rd place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Monday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (145.2) and David Ortiz (145.9). (While Cabrera and Ortiz both have the same career Box-Toppers point total, Cabrera ranks ahead because he has more 2017 points—1.0 vs. 0.0.) Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).
Cabrera now has the seventh-most career Box-Toppers points among active players after passing Lester. And he has the seventh-most career points among all batters since 1995, passing Ortiz and trailing sixth-ranked Thome (146.7). Cabrera maintains his second-place rank in career points among active batters, trailing Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3).
Cabrera’s best season was 2013 with the Tigers when he had 16.9 Box-Toppers points, first among AL batters and eighth among all players. Cabrera also led AL batters in 2009 with the Tigers with 16.5 points, ninth among all players that season. In 2016, Cabrera had 12.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL batters.
Volquez (6IP 3H R 2BB 4K W in the 4-1 win over the Phillies) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 65.2 career points, 19th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2008 with the Reds when he had 15.1 Box-Toppers points, sixth among NL pitchers. In 2016, he had 6.4 points with the Royals.
Scoring—Roark earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Beltran earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Renfroe earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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.
| 5/29 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | WSH 3, SF 0 | Tanner Roark (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| AL | 5.0 | HOU 16, MIN 8 | Carlos Beltran, DH | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | TOR 17, CIN 2 | Justin Smoak, 1B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | CLE 5, OAK 3 | Carlos Carrasco (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | NYM 4, MIL 2 | Robert Gsellman (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | TB 10, TEX 8 | Alex Colome (S,14) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 5, BOS 4 | Melky Cabrera, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 10, KC 7 | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | SD 5, CHC 2 | Hunter Renfroe, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | MIA 4, PHI 1 | Edinson Volquez (W,1-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | `PIT 4, ARI 3 | Trevor Williams | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 5, STL 1 | Rich Hill (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 3, NYY 2 | Brad Brach (S,10) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 6, COL 5 | Edwin Diaz (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 6, LAA 3 | Jim Johnson (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 6.4 | 18.8 | 47.5 | 52.9 | -6.0 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 | 16.7 | 32.7 | 32.7 | -8.7 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 4.0 | 13.0 | 21.7 | 21.7 | -5.0 |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | tor al | 3.5 | 7.0 | 20.2 | 26.4 | 0.0 |
| Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp | atl nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 18.0 | 24.7 | -1.0 |
| Cabrera, Melky 2143 | lf ph | chi al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 17.0 | 33.5 | -1.0 |
| Renfroe, Hunter 3749 | rf | sd nl | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 0.5 |
| Beltran, Carlos 1194 | dh rf | hou al | 2.7 | 8.7 | 20.9 | 107.6 | -3.3 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | 16.4 | 20.4 | 40.1 | -12.4 |
| Diaz, Edwin 3690 | pi cp | sea al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -5.0 |
| Williams, Trevor 3792 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 1.0 | 13.0 | 58.8 | 145.9 | -11.0 |
| Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 7.4 | 37.1 | 65.2 | -5.4 |
| Brach, Brad 3374 | pi cp mr | bal al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -2.0 |
| Gsellman, Robert 3748 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | -0.7 |
Los Angeles Dodgers edge out Washington Nationals as Box-Toppers' top preseason team. Champion Cubs slip to 5th after key player losses. Indians rank 1st among AL teams.
Read MoreThere are new leaders in 3 of Box-Toppers main 4 categories: AL batter—Altuve, AL pitcher—Quintana, NL batter—Cespedes.
Read MoreArrieta remains atop Box-Toppers player rankings. Orioles' Machado, Reds' Suarez assume leads in Box-Toppers points among batters.
Read MoreArrieta rises to top after earning Player of the Day honors twice in past week. Volquez, Cano, Braun among new category leaders this week.
Read More
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, pitching a no-hitter, is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 |
| 2 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 4.4 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 4 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 5 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 3.7 |
| 6 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 3.5 |
| 7 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 10 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 |
Arrieta allowed no hits and four walks, striking out six, in the complete game, 16-0 win over the Reds, his second career no-hitter.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to first in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.
While Arrieta’s no-hitter is the first of the season, his Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +11.0 ranks 10th among the highest game scores of the season so far.
American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers. Volquez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season and rising to second place in season player rankings.
American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit a 10th-inning, go-ahead three-run homer in the 10-7 win over the Indians. Cano also went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.5 for the season and rising to sixth in season player rankings. He leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points and is the only batter ranked among the top 10 players.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL Batter of the Day earned Player of the Game honors. Kris Bryant of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.0 in his team’s win over the Reds (2HR 4-6 4R 6BI), but did not earn Player of the Game honors because he was overshadowed by teammate Arrieta, who threw a no-hitter and had a game score of +11.0. So despite Bryant’s strong performance, he earns no Box-Toppers points.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | nyy al | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 179.0 |
| 6 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 174.3 |
| 7 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 8 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 9 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 10 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 11 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 163.3 |
| 12 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 162.7 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 16 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 17 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 18 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 19 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 148.4 |
| 20 | Javier Vazquez | pi sp | retired | 148.3 |
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third in Box-Toppers season player rankings and 11th in “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Kershaw (8IP 10H R 10K ND in the 2-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season and 163.3 for his career. He passes Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (162.7) to move into 11th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He is also now the fourth-ranked active player in Box-Toppers points, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0), CC Sabathia (179.0) and Albert Pujols (174.3). Kershaw trails 10th-place player on the list, Roger Clemens (164.8).
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Tyler Wagner made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wagner (5IP 2H 0R K W in the 6-2 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut May 31, 2015, and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,618th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Volquez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Canoearns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/21 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | |
| 9.0 | Pirates | Gerrit Cole (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | Athletics | Rich Hill (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 5.1 | Twins | Ricky Nolasco (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | `Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 5.0 | Marlins | Tom Koehler (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Mariners | Robinson Cano, 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Dbacks | Tyler Wagner (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 3.0 | Rays | Logan Forsythe, 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Ian Desmond, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Darren O'Day (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 | 34.1 | 61.8 | 64.8 | -24.1 |
| Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 4.4 | 11.4 | 36.1 | 62.2 | -2.6 |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 | 29.7 | 129.8 | 163.3 | -21.7 |
| Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 3.5 | 10.0 | 39.0 | 70.9 | -3.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 2.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 26.4 | -1.3 |
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 20.0 | 30.4 | 30.4 | -18.0 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 1.0 | 13.0 | 37.5 | 37.5 | -11.0 |
| Koehler, Tom 3159 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -3.0 |
| Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | min al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 23.7 | 76.8 | -1.0 |
| O’Day, Darren 2577 | pi mr cp | bal al | 1.0 | 2.7 | 10.7 | 11.7 | -0.7 |
| Forsythe, Logan 3364 | 2b | tb al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -0.5 |
| Desmond, Ian 2673 | lf ss | tex al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 17.7 | 24.2 | 0.0 |
| Wagner, Tyler 3618 | pi mr | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez rose to second in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season and Eugenio Suarez of the Reds earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 2 | Volquez, Edinson 2220 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 |
| 3 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 4 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 |
| 5 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 2.0 |
| 6 | Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 2.0 |
| 7 | Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 |
| 8 | Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b ss | cin nl | 2.0 |
| 9 | Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 |
| 10 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | tex al | 2.0 |
Player of the Day—Estrada struck out eight over seven scoreless innings in the 3-0 win over the Red Sox.
National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis struck out six over seven innings, allowing two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Padres.
American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Belt of the Giants homered and went 2-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Dodgers.
Notable—Two players earned Box-Toppers points for the second time this season Sunday:
Debut—Aledmys Diaz of the Cardinals made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Diaz (2B 1-1 R 2BI in the 12-7 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut April 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,612th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Streak—Huston Street of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Street (1IP 0H 0R 2K Sv in the 3-1 win over the Rangers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Athletics. He has 51.0 career points, ranked second among active AL closing pitchers (behind Francisco Rodriguez of the Tigers who has 60.4). His best season was 2008 with the Athletics, when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points and ranked fourth among AL closing pitchers. He had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Angels.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bettis earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Machado and Belt 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/10 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Blue Jays | Marco Estrada (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Orioles | Manny Machado, 3B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 4.0 | Rockies | Chad Bettis (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4.0 | Brewers | Jimmy Nelson (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 3.2 | `Royals | Edinson Volquez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Giants | Brandon Belt, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Aledmys Diaz, SS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Joe Ross (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Huston Street (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Phillies | Jeremy Hellickson (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | Athletics | Sean Doolittle (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Reds | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Cubs | Tommy La Stella, 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Sunday’s Box-Toppers opening day Player of the Day.
Liriano struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Cardinals.
Liriano receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being opening day Player of the Day and now leads all players in Box-Toppers points with 2.0. He had 14.9 Box-Toppers points in 2015, ranked ninth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 4-3 win over the Mets.
Volquez has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 consecutive seasons. He first earned Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 59.5 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th among active AL pitchers. His best year was 2008 with the Reds when he had 15.1 points, ranked sixth among NL pitchers. He had 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Royals.
Notable—Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna was Player of the Game in the other regular season game Sunday. Osuna struck out two in one scoreless inning and earned the save in the 5-3 win over the Rays.
Also, Sunday, Angels pitcher A.J. Achter was Player of the Game in the final spring training game of the season, a 6-4 win over the Cubs. Achter struck out two in a scoreless seventh inning, picking up a no decision. (Achter earns no Box-Toppers points because he was playing in a spring training game.)
Scoring—Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Volquez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. All of Sunday’s other regular season 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/3 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | |
| AL | 6.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Roberto Osuna (S,1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| Spring training | ||||||||||||||||
| 3.0 | `Angels | A.J. Achter | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
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.
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.
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.
Royals pitcher Ryan Madson pitched a perfect seventh inning, striking out two and picking up the win, to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Saturday in World Series Game 4.
The Kansas City Royals came from behind, scoring three runs in the eighth inning, to beat the New York Mets, 5-3. The Royals take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Madson entered the game with the Royals trailing 3-2 and retired the side on 16 pitches, striking out Travis d’Arnaud of Michael Conforto, who had homered in his previous two at bats. After Madson exited, the Royals scored three runs in the eighth, making Madson the pitcher of record and allowing him to pick up the win.
Madson had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, highest among Royals players. Closer Wade Davis, who pitched two innings to earn the save, was leading Madson in the ninth inning in Box-Toppers game score until he gave up two hits. Davis had the second-highest Box-Toppers game score among Royals of +2.0.
Catcher Salvador Perez had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Royals batters of +1.0 (2B 3-4 R BI).
Madson, during the regular season, had 0.0 Box-Toppers points. In fact, Madson has not earned Box-Toppers points since the last time he was Player of the Game more than four years ago—May 30, 2011, when he was with the Phillies. Madson has 20.7 career Box-Toppers points from 2004 to 2011, all with the Phillies.
Royals starting pitcher Chris Young had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (4IP 2H 2R BB 3K ND). Mets starting pitcher Steven Matz had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.0. (5IP 7H 2R 5K ND).
Left fielder Michael Conforto had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Mets players of +3.0 (2HR 2-3 2R 2BI). Mets middle reliever Tyler Clippard, who picked up the loss pitching in the eighth inning, had the lowest Box-Toppers game score of the night of −5.9 (0.1IP 0H 2R 2BB 0K L).
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.
Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Royals who played in World Series Game 4 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score (pitchers are listed twice—once for batting and once for pitching). Ryan Madson is Player of the Game (POG).
| 10/31 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 3.0 | Royals | Ryan Madson (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 2.0 | Royals | Wade Davis (S,4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, 2B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Kendrys Morales, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Chris Young | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Danny Duffy, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Ryan Madson, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Paulo Orlando, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Chris Young, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Jarrod Dyson, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Wade Davis, P | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon, LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Danny Duffy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Alex Rios, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Sunday in New York:
The pitching match-up Sunday:
Royals—Edinson Volquez, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 105th among all players, 39th among AL pitchers. Volquez has been Player of the Game once during the postseason—on Oct. 16, he was top player in the American League Championship Series Game 1.
Mets—Matt Harvey, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers. Harvey has been Player of the Game once during the postseason—on Oct. 17, he was top player in the National League Championship Series Game 1.
This is a rematch of World Series Game 1, which the Royals won 5-4 in 14 innings. Neither starting pitcher was particularly effective. Volquez had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.0 and Harvey had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.0.
Box-Toppers season-end player rankings report
Box-Toppers point totals of all Royals players active at season's end
Box-Toppers point totals of all Mets players active at season's end
Chris Young pitched three innings of extra-innings relief to earn Player of the Game honors Tuesday in World Series Game 1, as the Royals came from behind to win 5-4 in 14 innings.
Young, slated to be the Game 4 starter, came on in relief in the 12th inning and finished out the game, allowing no hits or runs, striking out four and allowing one walk, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, the highest among Royals players.
The Royals take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven World Series.
The Royals trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, when Alex Gordon hit a one-out home run to tie the game, forcing extra innings. Eric Hosmer hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to score the winning run in the bottom of the 14th. While no Royals batter had a positive Box-Toppers game score, Hosmer had the highest score among Kansas City batters of −1.0 (2SF 0-3 2BI).
Chris Young, during the regular season, had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 78th among all players and 29th among American League pitchers.
Royals Game 1 starting pitcher Edinson Volquez had the lowest Box-Toppers game score among Kansas City players of −4.0 (6IP 6H 3R BB 3K ND).
Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.0 (6H 5K 3R 2BB 2K ND). Harvey had 15.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 16th among all players, eighth among National League pitchers.
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.
Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Royals who played in World Series Game 1 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score. Chris Young is Player of the Game (POG).
| 10/27 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 6.0 | Royals | Chris Young (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 4.0 | Royals | Wade Davis | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1.2 | Royals | Danny Duffy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Ryan Madson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -0.9 | Royals | Kelvin Herrera | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, 2B | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon, LF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Paulo Orlando, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Jarrod Dyson, PR-DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Kendrys Morales, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Alex Rios, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Coming Wednesday in Kansas City:
The pitching match-up Wednesday:
Mets—Jacob deGrom, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Royals—Johnny Cueto, 12.8 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers season-end player rankings report
Box-Toppers point totals of all Royals players active at season's end
Box-Toppers point totals of all Mets players active at season's end
Royals rank 2nd in Box-Toppers team rankings, Mets rank 7th. But Mets' top four starters have edge in combined Box-Toppers points over Royals' top four—54.9 vs. 39.5.
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Jacob deGrom struck out seven over seven innings, allowing two runs and four hits to lead the Mets to a win Tuesday in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.
deGrom is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Tuesday, while Alcides Escobar was Player of the Game in the Royals Game 4 win over the Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series.
deGrom had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 to lead all Mets players, as the Mets took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Yoenis Cespedes had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Mets batters of +1.0 (2B 3-5 R 2BI).
During the regular season, deGrom had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players and third among NL pitchers.
It is the second time this postseason deGrom has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game in the NL Division Series Game 1 win over the Dodgers.
The series resumes Wednesday with Game 4 in Chicago (more details below).
Alcides Escobar went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, as the Royals took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Escobar had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0, highest among Royals players. Lorenzo Cain had the second-highest score of +3.0 (2-3 R 3BI).
During the regular season, Escobar had 3.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 283rd among all players, 60th among AL batters and fifth among AL shortstops.
The series resumes Wednesday with Game 5 in Toronto (more details below).
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/20 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 5.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | |
| POG | 4.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Wednesday:
The pitching match-up Wednesday:
Royals—Edinson Volquez, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 105th among all players, 39th among AL pitchers. Volquez was Player of the Game in the ALCS Game 1 win over the Blue Jays.
Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 85th among all players, 34th among AL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
The pitching match-up Wednesday:
Mets—Steven Matz, 3.5 Box-Toppers points, 298th among all players, 76th among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Jason Hammel, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 52nd among all players, 22nd among NL pitchers.
Oct. 21, 2015 is the day in the “Back to the Future” movies in which the Cubs are predicted to win the World Series in a sweep over Miami, a city without a Major League team in the 1980s when the movies were made. It could actually be the day in which the Cubs are swept in the NLCS.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, to win Game 1 of the American League Championship Series and earn Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors.
The Kansas City Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-0 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Volquez had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0. Alcides Escobar, who hit two doubles and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in a run, had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Royals batters, +2.0.
Volquez, during the regular season had 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 105th among all players, 39th among AL pitchers.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/16 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 5.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
Coming Saturday:
The pitching match-up Saturday:
Blue Jays—David Price, 21.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, second among AL pitchers.
Royals—Yordano Ventura, 11.7 Box-Toppers points, 30th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.
The pitching match-up Saturday:
Cubs—Jon Lester, 12.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 28th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.
Mets—Matt Harvey, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.
The Royals have more team Box-Toppers points and possibly an overall pitching edge. But the Blue Jays have big bats led by Jose Bautista and top AL pitching ace, David Price.
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Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke is Box-Toppers top player in Saturday’s two National League Division Series playoff games.
Cubs pitcher Travis Wood is top player in the other NLDS game.
Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits.
During the regular season, Greinke had 20.7 Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.
The best-of-five game series is now tied 1-1 and resumes Monday in New York.
Cubs pitcher Travis Wood pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, allowing one hit and striking out two, picking up the win.
During the regular season, Wood had 3.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 313th among all players and 82nd among NL pitchers.
The best-of-five game series is now tied 1-1 and resumes Monday in Chicago.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/10 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 6.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |
| POG | 3.1 | Cubs | Travis Wood (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Coming Sunday: The American League Division Series playoffs resume with two Game 3s:
The pitching matchup Saturday:
Royals—Edinson Volquez, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, 105th among all players, 39th among AL pitchers.
Astros—Dallas Keuchel, 21.4 Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players, first among AL pitchers.
The pitching matchup Saturday:
Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 85th among all players, 34th among AL pitchers.
Rangers—Martin Perez, 1.0 Box-Toppers point, 550th among all players, 127th among AL pitchers.
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 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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.