Lorenzo Cain tops players as Royals blow out Giants in World Series Game 6, Tuesday, Oct. 28

Lorenzo Cain led an offensive onslaught in World Series Game 6 as the Royals beat the Giants 10-0, pushing the series to a decisive seventh game Wednesday. Cain is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Cain doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs as the Royals evened the series 3-3. 

Cain had a Box-Toppers game score of +3, highest of any Royals player in Tuesday’s game. It is the second time this postseason he has earned Player of the Game honors. Previously, he was top player in the American League Championship Series Game 2 win over the Orioles on Oct. 11.

During the regular season, Cain had 2.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 421st among all players, 107th among AL batters and 50th among AL outfielders.

Royals starting pitcher in Game 6, Yordano Ventura, also had a Box-Toppers game score of +3, the same as Cain’s. But under Box-Toppers rules, in cases of game score ties, batters hold the tiebreaker over pitchers. Ventura pitched seven scoreless innings, allowed three hits, walked five and struck out four, earning the win.

Giants starting pitcher in Game 6, Jake Peavy, who picked up the loss, had a Box-Toppers game score of −13.9. He gave up five runs and six hits over 1 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out two.

The baseball season ends Wednesday:

World Series Game 7: Giants at Royals, series tied 3-3

The pitching matchup Wednesday:

Royals: Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 113rd among all players, 40th among AL pitchers.

Giants: Tim Hudson, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 71st among all players, 34th among NL pitchers.

This is a rematch of Game 3 of the World Series, won by the Royals 3-2. Guthrie picked up the win (5IP 4H 2R 0K) and Hudson picked up the loss (5.2IP 4H 3R BB 2K). Royals middle relief pitcher Wade Davis was Box-Toppers Player of the Game.

Guthrie has started twice this postseason and Hudson has started three times. Neither pitcher has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors so far this postseason.

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.

Previous Box-Toppers 2014 World Series previews:

Giants have clear Box-Toppers advantage over Royals in World Series, but since 2014 is underdog year, watch out for David slaying 'Giant'

Royals sweep Giants in series—in regular season, interleague series back in August, that is

Can a Royals diehard fan of the 1970s rekindle lapsed fandom with Kansas City's 2014 World Series team? A personal essay

Top 7 players in World Series Game 6 

Here are the top seven Royals players in Friday's World Series Game 6, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Lorenzo Cain, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, is Player of the Game (POG). Starting pitcher Yordano Ventura also had a Box-Toppers game score of +3, but under Box-Toppers rules, batters hold the tiebreaker over pitchers in cases of game score ties.

1028	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	3.0	Royals	Lorenzo Cain CF, RF	3	1	2	3	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Royals	Yordano Ventura (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	5	4
	2.0	Royals	Mike Moustakas 3B	4	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Royals	Tim Collins	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	0.0	Royals	Eric Hosmer 1B	5	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Royals	Omar Infante 2B	4	2	2	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Royals	Norichika Aoki RF	3	1	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

Royals' Wade Davis, pitching scoreless 8th, tops players in World Series Game 3, Friday, Oct. 24

Reliever Wade Davis held the lead for the Royals, shutting down the Giants in the eighth inning and earned Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors for Friday in Game 3 of the World Series.

Davis pitched a scoreless inning and struck out two, as the Royals beat the Giants 3-2 to take a 2-1 game lead in the best-of-seven series.

Davis had a Box-Toppers game score of +3, the highest of any Royals player in Friday’s game. It is the second time this postseason he has earned Player of the Game honors. Previously, he was top player in the American League Championship Series Game 1 win over the Orioles. In the Royals’ 10 postseason wins this year, Davis is the first player from the team to earn Player of the Game honors more than once.

Davis did not earn a win or a save in the game and earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in a roundabout, but not uncommon fashion. Davis earned the honor because: 

• He had a higher Box-Toppers game score than the winning or saving pitcher who otherwise would have been Player of the Game.

• He had the same or more innings pitched as that player.

In Game 3, Royals closer Greg Holland—who earned the save—would have been Player of the Day, pitching a scoreless ninth inning and striking out one. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. However, two other Royals pitchers (see the chart below) had a higher Box-Toppers game score than Holland:

• Brandon Finnegan (0.2IP 0R K, Box-Toppers game score +1.2). However, Finnegan would not qualify for Player of the Game because though his game score was higher than Holland’s, he had fewer innings pitched.

• Davis, who beat Holland for the honor because he had the same number of innings pitched (one) and had a higher Box-Toppers game score (+3.0 vs. +1.0).

During the regular season, Davis had 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 117th among all players, 42nd among AL pitchers and first among AL middle relievers.

In close, low-scoring games, such as Game 3, Player of the Game honors often goes to relief pitchers who can hold the lead. In fact, only one Royals batter had a Box-Toppers game score of 0 or better—Alcides Escobar (2B 2-4 2R) had a game score of 0. Only five Royals (including four relief pitchers) had game scores of 0 or better.

Royals starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who earned the win, had a Box-Toppers game score of -3 (5IP 4H 2R 0K). Giants starting pitcher Tim Hudson, who earned the loss, had a Box-Toppers game score of -3.8 (5.2IP 4H 3R BB 2K).

Coming Saturday:

World Series Game 4: Royals lead Giants, 2-1

The pitching matchup Saturday:

Royals: Jason Vargas, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 107th among all players, 38th among AL pitchers.

Giants: Ryan Vogelsong, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 74th among all players, 36th among NL pitchers.

Vargas has started twice this postseason (ALDS Game 1 and ALCS Game 4) and Vogelsong has started twice (NLDS Game 4 and NLCS Game 4). Both have earned Player of the Game honors once:

• Vargas in ALCS Game 4.

• Vogelsong in NLDS Game 4.

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 2014 World Series previews:

Giants have clear Box-Toppers advantage over Royals in World Series, but since 2014 is underdog year, watch out for David slaying 'Giant'

Royals sweep Giants in series—in regular season, interleague series back in August, that is

Can a Royals diehard fan of the 1970s rekindle lapsed fandom with Kansas City's 2014 World Series team? A personal essay

Top 5 players in World Series Game 3 

Here are the top five Royals players in Friday's World Series Game 3, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Wade Davis, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, is Player of the Game (POG). Only five Royals players had game scores of 0 or better. Alcides Escobar was the Royals' highest-scoring batter, with a game score of 0.

1024	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	3.0	Royals	Wade Davis (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	1.2	Royals	Brandon Finnegan (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.2	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Royals	Greg Holland (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	0
	0.1	Royals	Kelvin Herrera (H, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	2	1
	0.0	Royals	Alcides Escobar SS	4	2	2	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

Royals' Omar Infante tops players in World Series Game 2, Wednesday, Oct. 22

Omar Infante of the Royals is Box-Toppers.com Player of the Day in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the World Series.

Infante doubled and hit a two-run homer, going 2-for-3 and scoring twice in the 7-2 win over the Giants. The Royals tie the best-of-seven game World Series 1-1.

Infante had a Box-Toppers game score of +3, the best of any Royals player Wednesday. (Pitchers Greg Holland and Wade Davis of the Royals also had Box-Toppers game scores of +3—see the chart below—but in cases of game score ties, Box-Toppers rules have batters finishing ahead of pitchers.)

During the regular season, Infante had 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking 243rd among all players, 51st among all AL batters and eighth among all AL second basemen.

This was the first time this postseaon Infante has earned Player of the Game honors. In fact, in the Royals’ nine postseason wins of 2014, a different player has earned Player of the Game honors each time. The previous eight are listed in this earlier post. (To compare, five different players have earned Player of the Game honors in the Giants' nine postseason wins of 2014.)

The World Series takes a day off Thursday before resuming Friday in San Francisco:

World Series Game 3: Royals at Giants, series tied, 1-1

The pitching matchup Friday:

Royals: Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 113rd among all players, 40th among AL pitchers.

Giants: Tim Hudson, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 71st among all players, 34th among NL pitchers.

Guthrie has started once this postseason and Hudson has started twice. Neither pitcher has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors so far this postseason.

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 2014 World Series previews:

Giants have clear Box-Toppers advantage over Royals in World Series, but since 2014 is underdog year, watch out for David slaying 'Giant'

Royals sweep Giants in series—in regular season, interleague series back in August, that is

Can a Royals diehard fan of the 1970s rekindle lapsed fandom with Kansas City's 2014 World Series team? A personal essay

Top 6 players in World Series Game 2 

Here are the top six Royals players in Wednesday's World Series Game 2, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Omar Infante, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, is Player of the Game (POG). Under Box-Toppers rules, batters beat pitchers in cases of game score ties, so Infante finished ahead of two pitchers who also had game scores of +3.0—Greg Holland and Wade Davis.

1022	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	3.0	Royals	Omar Infante 2B	3	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Royals	Greg Holland	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Royals	Wade Davis	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	1.0	Royals	Billy Butler DH	3	0	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Royals	Terrance Gore PR, DH	0	1	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.2	Royals	Kelvin Herrera (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	2	1

Rain was top player for Monday, Oct. 13; LCS Game 3s on tap for Tuesday

Rain was Monday’s Player of the Day, postponing the American League Championship Series Game 3 in Kansas City with the Orioles against the Royals.

There are two league championship series games Tuesday:

NLCS Game 3, Cardinals at Giants, series tied 1-1

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Cardinals: John Lackey, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 50th among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.

Giants: Tim Hudson, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 71st among all players, 34th among NL pitchers.

ALCS Game 3, Royals lead Orioles, 2-0

The pitching matchup Tuesday:

Orioles: Wei-Yin Chen, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 131st among all players, 50th among AL pitchers.

Royals: Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 113rd among all players, 40th among AL pitchers.

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.

Cardinals' Oscar Taveras tops players in NLCS Game 2, Sunday, Oct. 12

Oscar Taveras hit a pinch-hit, seventh-inning homer for the Cardinals to tie the National League Championship Series Game 2 against the Giants at 3-3 and is Box-Toppers.com Player of the Day for Sunday.

The Cardinals went on to win the game 5-4 on a walk-off homer by Kolten Wong in the bottom of the ninth, tying the best-of-seven game series with the Giants, 1-1.

Taveras hit the solo home run in his only at bat, going 1-for-1 with a run and an RBI, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of +2, the highest of any Cardinals player.

During the regular season he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point, ranking 719th among all players, 173rd among NL batters.

Wong, who hit the walk-off homer, had a Box-Toppers game score of 0—he went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

The series resumes Tuesday in San Francisco.

Coming Monday:

ALCS Game 3, Royals lead Orioles, 2-0

The pitching matchup Monday:

Orioles: Wei-Yin Chen, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 131st among all players, 50th among AL pitchers.

Royals: Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 113rd among all players, 40th among AL pitchers.

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

Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

1012	Score	Team	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	2.0	Cardinals	Oscar Taveras PH	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

ALCS Preview: Royals may have edge not because their pitching is strong, but because Orioles' pitching is weak

The Kansas City Royals may have an edge over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series not because their pitching is so strong but because the Orioles pitching staff is comparatively weaker.

However, the Orioles have the overall higher Box-Toppers team ranking and have two outfielders on Box-Toppers end-of-season 2014 All-Star team. The best-of-seven game ALCS begins Friday in Baltimore.

Below are position-by-position match-ups of each player likely in the starting line-up for both teams, along with the highest-rated starting pitchers in Box-Toppers points, the top closing pitcher and an extra pitcher. Also listed are each player’s Box-Toppers points earned in 2014, along with their overall rank among all players.

The top pitcher for both teams, James Shields of the Royals, had 13.7 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 22nd among all players. The Orioles top pitcher is Bud Norris, with 10.7, ranked 51st among all players. Only three other teams in baseball had their top pitcher earn fewer Box-Toppers points than Norris:

• Padres, Ross Tyson, 9.7.

• Red Sox, Koji Uehara, 9.0.

• Rockies, Tyler Matzek, 4.7.

In fact, the Orioles are one of only two teams in baseball whose leader in Box-Toppers points was a batter—Adam Jones, with 11.5 points, ranked 40th among all players. (The other team was the Rockies—Troy Tulowitzki had 11.6 points.)

Matching up the four top starting pitchers from highest to lowest Box-Toppers points from both teams, the Royals have the edge each time (see the chart below). The Royals also have the edge in closers (Greg Holland with 7.0 over Zachary Britton with 6.0). The Royals also have the edge when matching up the next-highest rated pitcher (Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 over Ubaldo Jimenez, 3.7). And one more thing, not included in the chart below—the Royals also have the AL’s top middle relief pitcher, Wade Davis, who has 7.0 Box-Toppers points.

The Orioles have the edge in overall Box-Toppers team rankings from 2014. They rank sixth among all teams with 113.4 Box-Toppers points, while the Royals are ranked 10th with 101.1 points—the Royals were the lowest ranked team that qualified for any of the four league division series. However, the Orioles will play the ALCS without suspended first baseman, Chris Davis, who earned 6.2 Box-Toppers points during the regular season.

The Orioles also have two players who will be on Box-Toppers end-of-season AL All-Star team. Adam Jones had the most Box-Toppers points among AL outfielders with 11.5. Nelson Cruz was second with 8.5. The Orioles also have the most notable batter (not included in the prospective starting line-up below) coming off the bench—Delmon Young with 5.5 Box-Toppers points.

However, looking at the prospective starting line-ups below, Royals batters have higher Box-Toppers point totals at five positions, while the Orioles are better in four. Also, adding up Box-Toppers points for the nine batters and six pitchers listed below, the Royals have the point total advantage—83.1 Box-Toppers points vs. 81.5.

Both teams were able to get a lot of bang for their buck this season, spending comparatively little and making it all the way to the ALCS. The Orioles had an opening day payroll of $107 million, ranking 15th among all teams. The Royals’ payroll of $92 million, ranked 19th.

ALCS Game 1, Royals at Orioles

The pitching matchup Friday:

Royals: James Shields, 13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 22nd among all players, 11th among AL pitchers.

Orioles: Chris Tillman, 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 152nd among all players, 53rd among AL pitchers.

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.

AL Championship Series player comparisons

Likely starting players for the Royals and Orioles listed by position with their Box-Toppers point total (BTP) for the 2014 regular season and their overall player rank among all players

Pos	Royals	BTP	Rank		Orioles	BTP	Rank
1B	Eric Hosmer	2.5	368		Steve Pearce	7.0	121
2B	Omar Infante	4.0	243		Jonathan Schoop	2.5	395
SS	Alicides Escboar	5.0	190		J.J. Hardy	4.2	236
3B	Mike Moustakas	4.0	251		Ryan Flaherty	0	761
CA	Salvador Perez	4.7	210		Caleb Joseph	2.0	470
CF	Lorenzo Cain	2.0	421		Adam Jones	11.5	40
LF	Alex Gordon	3.0	203		Alejandro De Aza	1.0	537
RF	Norichika Aoki	2.0	443		Nick Markakis	3.0	320
DH	Billy Butler	2.5	365		Nelson Cruz	8.5	77
SP	James Shields	13.7	22		Bud Norris	10.7	51
SP	Danny Duffy	10.0	58		Miguel Gonzalez	8.7	70
SP	Yordano Ventura	8.7	75		Wei-Yin Chen	6.7	131
SP	Jason Vargas	7.0	107		Chris Tillman	6.0	152
CP	Greg Holland	7.0	106		Zachary Britton	6.0	161
PI	Jeremy Guthrie	7.0	113		Ubaldo Jimenez	3.7	270

Royals' Jeremy Guthrie tops players for Monday, Aug. 5

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Monday, Aug. 5:

Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie is Monday's Player of the Day. Guthrie pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out seven, in the 13-0 win over the Twins. 

Giants pitcher Chad Gaudin is National League Player of the Day. Gaudin struck out eight and gave up one run over 6 1/3 innings (but earned no decision) in the 4-2 win over the Brewers. 

Alex Rios of the White Sox is American League Batter of the Day. Rios drove in four runs and went 2-for-4 in the 8-1 win over the Yankees. 

Notable: Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez became the 25th player this season to earn 10.0 or more Box-Toppers for the season. Sanchez (7.2 IP 11K ND in the 4-2 win vs. the Indians) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 10.0 for the season, putting him in 25th place in Box-Toppers points among players this season.

Guthrie receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Gaudin receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Rios receives 1.5 for being AL Batter of the Day.

All of Sunday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

805	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	11.0	Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jeremy Guthrie (W, 12-7)	9.0	4	0	0	1	7
	8.2	`Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Anibal Sanchez	7.2	4	2	2	2	11
	5.1	Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Josh Fields (S, 1)	1.1	0	0	0	0	4
NL	4.1	`Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chad Gaudin	6.1	4	1	1	4	8
	3.2	Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			David Carpenter (W, 3-0)	1.2	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	White Sox	Alex Rios RF	4	1	2	4	1	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Paco Rodriguez (S, 2)	2.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Blue Jays	Mark DeRosa PH, 1B	1	0	1	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.1	Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Martin Perez (W, 4-3)	6.1	4	2	2	4	7

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.