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Three of the four players who won Cy Young or Most Valuable Player awards in 2017 also led their teams in Box-Toppers points for the season.
The only exception: American League Most Valuable Player Jose Altuve did not lead Astros batters in Box-Toppers points. In fact, with only 2.5 Box-Toppers points, he finished 11th among Astros batters and 21st among all Astros players.
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Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Estrada struck out 12 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 3-1 win over the Orioles.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.7 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 6 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 3-2 win over the Braves.
Strasburg earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season, most among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Strasburg ranks 22nd among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.
Strasburg also has the most career Box-Toppers points among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday with 87.3. That ranks 14th among active NL pitchers and 107th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs homered twice and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 13-6 win over the Brewers.
American League Batter of the Day—Yan Gomes of the Indians homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-6 win over the Astros.
Notable—Kyle Freeland of the Rockies became the third pitcher this season to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for batting.
Freeland (HR 2B 2-2 2R BI in the 6-4 win over the Reds) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 for batting, best among Rockies players Sunday. He had a Box-Toppers game score of -5.8 for pitching (5.2IP 5H 4R 2BB 3K W).
Previously this season, two Cardinals have earned Player of the Game honors for batting—Adam Wainwright on April 21 and Carlos Martinez on May 8. In 2016, pitchers earned Player of the Game honors for batting eight times.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Strasburg earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Bryant and Gomes 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.
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.
| 5/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.2 | TOR 3, BAL 1 | Marco Estrada (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| NL | 8.2 | WSH 3, ATL 2 | Stephen Strasburg (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 8.0 | SD 5, ARI 1 | Clayton Richard (W,3-5) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | `PIT 1, PHI 0 | Chad Kuhl | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | CHC 13, MIL 6 | Kris Bryant, 3B | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | CLE 8, HOU 6 | Yan Gomes, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | LAD 6, MIA 3 | Brandon McCarthy (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.1 | NYY 3, TB 2 | Dellin Betances (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | LAA 12, NYM 5 | Mike Trout, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CHW 8, SEA 1 | Derek Holland (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.2 | `TEX 5, DET 2 | Sam Dyson (H,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | KC 6, MIN 4 | Brandon Moss, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 12, OAK 3 | Hanley Ramirez, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 8, SF 3 | Randal Grichuk, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | COL 6, CIN 4 | Kyle Freeland, P | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIN 8, KC 4 | Robbie Grossman, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.4 | 19.5 | 78.6 | 87.3 | -10.7 |
| Holland, Derek 2634 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 30.1 | 49.8 | 0.0 |
| Richard, Clayton 2584 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 14.2 | 33.6 | 2.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 3.0 | 14.0 | 43.1 | 46.1 | -8.0 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -1.0 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 5.7 | 25.4 | 39.5 | 0.3 |
| Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | cle al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 12.2 | 12.2 | 2.0 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf | stl nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.5 |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | 3b lf | chi nl | 1.5 | 12.0 | 20.5 | 20.5 | -9.0 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 1.0 | 13.5 | 48.5 | 50.0 | -11.5 |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | dh 1b | bos al | 1.0 | 8.0 | 23.5 | 58.6 | -6.0 |
| Moss, Brandon 2520 | dh rf lf 1b | kc al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 26.0 | 28.0 | -3.0 |
| Grossman, Robbie 3267 | rf | min al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -1.0 |
| Kuhl, Chad 3687 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Dyson, Sam 3399 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
Pitcher Ryan Merritt led the Indians to a clinching American League Championship Series Game 5 win Wednesday, even though he has never earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors during the regular season.
Also Wednesday, Anthony Rizzo was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the Cubs’ Game 4 win to even the National League Championship Series with the Dodgers at two games apiece.
Merritt pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out three, to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
The Indians win the best-of-seven-game series over the Blue Jays, 4-1, and advance to the World Series beginning next Tuesday in Cleveland.
Merritt picked up a no decision because he did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win. However, he did pitch at least three innings, enough to qualify to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game.
Merritt had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +5.1, most of any Indians player. Left fielder Coco Crisp had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+1.0) among Indians batters (HR 1-2 R BI).
Opposing pitcher Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (6IP 5H 3R 0BB 7K L).
Merritt had no Box-Toppers points during the regular season and in fact is unranked because he has yet to earn his first career Player of the Game honor during the regular season. Merritt made his Major League debut May 30 and has played in four games, pitching a total of 11 innings.
The Indians ranked higher than the Blue Jays in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Indians ranked fourth with an accumulated 123.7 Box-Toppers points earned by their players in 2016. The Blue Jays ranked ninth with 114.0, the lowest of the five AL teams to qualify for the playoffs.
Yet, the Indians were weakened by the loss of two of their top starting pitchers—Danny Salazar (12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among AL pitchers) and Carlos Carrasco (12.4 points, ranked 10th among AL pitchers). Both were out with injuries. A third starter, Trevor Bauer (11.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 12th among AL pitchers), was injured during the series—cutting his pinky finger repairing a drone—and could only pitch 2/3 of an inning in Game 3 before having to be removed because he was bleeding so profusely from his drone wound.
Yet, the Indians were able to cobble together four wins with bullpen stars like Andrew Miller (8.0 Box-Toppers points, first among AL middle relievers) and Cody Allen (7.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL closers), plus their ace starter Corey Kluber (21.2 Box-Toppers points, first among AL pitchers).
One final note: In March, Box-Toppers somehow made the correct preseason forecast that the Indians and Blue Jays would face off in the American League Championship Series and the Cubs and Dodgers would face off in the National League Championship Series.
The only problem with that: Box-Toppers picked the Blue Jays to win the ALCS and the World Series. Now, that ain’t gonna happen.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Rizzo homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
The Cubs now even the best-of-seven-game National League Championship Series with the Dodgers, 2-2.
Rizzo had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +3.0, most among Cubs players. Cubs starting pitcher John Lackey (13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3.0 (4IP 3H 2R 3BB 3K ND).
Opposing pitcher Julio Urias of the Dodgers had a Box-Toppers game score of −6.8 (3.2IP 4H 4R 2BB 4K L).
Rizzo had 3.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 71st among NL batters and 16th among NL first basemen.
The series resumes Thursday with Game 5 in Los Angeles.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 5.1 | `CLE 3, TOR 0 | Ryan Merritt | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3.0 | CHC 10, LAD 2 | Anthony Rizzo, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | |||||||||||||
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
The pitching matchup Thursday is a rematch of the Game 1 starters from Saturday. The Cubs won that game, 8-4:
Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Kenta Maeada, 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 54th among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill and Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez are top players in Tuesday’s two League Championship Series games.
In both LCS games Tuesday, the top 10 pitcher was outdueled by a lesser-ranked starter:
Hill pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out six to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. The Dodgers take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Hill had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, most among Dodgers players. Top Dodgers batter was catcher Yasmani Grandal, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (HR 1-3 R 3BI).
Opposing starting pitcher Jake Arrieta of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.0 (5IP 6H 4R 0BB 5K L).
The series resumes Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Sanchez allowed one run over six innings, giving up two hits, two walks and striking out five to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. The Blue Jays stave off elimination and now trail the Indians 3-1 in the best-of-seven game series.
Sanchez had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +5.0, most among Blue Jays players. Top Blue Jays batter was first baseman Edwin Encarnacion who had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (2-4 0R 2BI).
Opposing starting pitcher Corey Kluber of the Indians had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (5IP 4H 2R 2BB 7K L).
The series resumes Wednesday in Toronto.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 8.0 | LAD 6, CHC 0 | Rich Hill (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 5.0 | TOR 5, CLE 1 | Aaron Sanchez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
Coming Wednesday\
Though the Blue Jays are on the brink of elimination, they hold the distinct advantage in pitching.
The Indians staff depleted by injury, throw a rookie on the mound to start Game 5 who has never earned a Box-Toppers point. Meanwhile, the Indians have already used their one healthy ace Corey Kluber, who leads AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points, twice during this series already. The Blue Jays counter with starter Marco Estrada, who ranks among the top 15 AL pitchers. And with Kluber unavailable for at least a couple of games, the Blue Jays may be able to stave off elimination and possibly make the series competitive.
The pitching matchup Wednesday:
Indians—Ryan Merritt, 0.0 Box-Toppers points, unranked. Merritt made his Major League debut May 30 and has played in four games but has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut—he has never earned Player of the Game honors.
Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
The Cubs lost Game 3 though they had a slight pitching advantage with Arrieta (15.7 Box-Toppers points) over Hill (14.4). They hold a more distinct advantage Wednesday when the higher-ranked and veteran pitcher John Lackey with 24 games of postseason experience takes on the rookie Julio Urias with two innings of postseason experience.
The pitching matchup Wednesday:
Cubs—John Lackey, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Julio Urias, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 179th among all players, 51st among NL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Player of the Game in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
The Indians beat the Blue Jays 2-0 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Kluber pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits, two walks and striking out six. It is the second time this postseason Kluber has earned Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game in the AL Division Series Game 2 win over the Red Sox on Oct. 7.
Kluber has 21.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, fifth among all players and first among AL pitchers.
Kluber had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +4.1. The Indians top batter, Francisco Lindor, had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 (HR 2-4 R 2BI).
On the losing side, Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada pitched a complete game and had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (8IP 6H 2R BB 6K 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.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 4.1 | CLE 2, TOR 0 | Corey Kluber (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
Coming Saturday:
The pitching matchup Saturday:
Blue Jays—J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, 11th among all players, third among AL pitchers.
Indians—Josh Tomlin, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 202nd among all players, 63rd among AL pitchers.
The pitching matchup Saturday:
Dodgers—Kenta Maeada, 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 54th among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays and Andrew Miller of the Indians are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.
Estrada allowed one run over 8 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, no walks and striking out six, in the 10-1 win over the Rangers. The Blue Jays now lead the Rangers 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Estrada had 11.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 37th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Estrada had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.1. Blue Jays’ top batter in the game was third baseman Josh Donaldson (two doubles, 4-4 2R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0. Rangers starting pitcher Cole Hamels had a bad day (3.1IP 6H 7R 3BB K L), earning a Box-Toppers game score of −17.9. During the regular year, Hamels had 15.4 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players and second among AL pitchers.
Indians 5, Red Sox 4—In the other ALDS Game 1, Indians pitcher Andrew Miller earned Player of the Game, allowing no runs over two innings of middle relief. He allowed one hit, one walk and struck out four.
During the regular season, Miller had 8.0 Box-Toppers points as a closer and middle reliever. He earned 4.0 points for the Yankees before his midseason trade to the Indians. He ranks 92nd among all players in Box-Toppers points, 32nd among AL pitchers, third among AL closing pitchers and first among AL middle relievers.
Indians’ top batter Thursday was second baseman Jason Kipnis (HR 3-4 R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
Neither starting pitcher fared particularly well. Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello (4.1IP 6H 5R 0BB 6K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.9. Indians starter Trevor Bauer (4.2IP 6H 3R 0BB 6K ND) had a game score of −1.8.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 8.1 | TOR 10, TEX 1 | Marco Estrada (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4.0 | CLE 5, BOS 4 | Andrew Miller (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||||
The pitching matchup Friday:
Blue Jays—J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, 11th among all players, third among AL pitchers.
Rangers—Yu Darvish, 10.4 Box-Toppers points, 51st among all players, 21st among AL pitchers.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Red Sox—David Price, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, 27th among all players, ninth among AL pitchers.
Indians—Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, first among AL pitchers.
Price and Kluber are the top two AL pitchers over the past two seasons. Over 2015 and 2016, Kluber ranks first among AL pitchers with 34.6 Box-Toppers points; Price ranks second with 33.5.
Though the Washington Nationals have the better winning percentage (.586 vs. .562), the Los Angeles Dodgers rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings. Dodgers players have accumulated 125.2 Box-Toppers points, third-most among all teams, while the Nationals have 116.1, ranked eighth.
The pitching matchup Friday features the season’s top two players in Box-Toppers player rankings:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among all players, ranked second among NL pitchers.
Nationals—Max Scherzer, 25.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players, ranked first among NL pitchers.
Kershaw led in Box-Toppers points much of the season and had earned 20.0 Box-Toppers points before the end of June, on pace to shatter the single-season Box-Toppers point record of 33.7. But then in late June, he went on the disabled list for two months. Despite his time away, Kershaw did not slip much down Box-Toppers rankings and was only passed by Scherzer in late August.
Kershaw and Scherzer are also the top two NL pitchers over the past two seasons. Over 2015 and 2016, Kershaw ranks first with 50.1 Box-Toppers points and Scherzer ranks second with 46.7. They are also the top two NL pitchers over the past six seasons. From 2011 to the present, Kershaw ranks first with 150.2 points and Scherzer ranks second with 111.3.
In addition to Kershaw, the Dodgers have one other player in a season’s top 10 Box-Toppers category list: Rich Hill with 14.4 Box-Toppers points ranks eighth among NL pitchers.
In addition to Scherzer, the Nationals have one other player a season’s top 10 Box-Toppers category list: Stephen Strasburg with 15.1 Box-Toppers points ranks 10th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Washington Nationals | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 24.4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 25.7 | |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | 14.4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | 15.1 | |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | 10.0 | Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | 12.7 | |
| Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | 8.7 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | 7.5 | |
| Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | 7.2 | Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | 6.0 | Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | 6.0 | |
| Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | 5.7 | Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | 5.7 | Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | 5.5 | |
| Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | 4.7 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | 3.7 | |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b lf 1b | 4.0 | Espinosa, Danny 2804 | ss 2b | 3.2 | |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 4.0 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | 3.0 | |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | cf | 4.0 | Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Toles, Andrew 3692 | rf lf cf ph | 4.0 | Turner, Trea 3730 | 2b cf | 2.5 | |
| Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf | 3.5 | Petit, Yusmeiro 2337 | pi mr sp | 2.0 | |
| Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | 3.5 | Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | 2.7 | Solis, Sammy 3651 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b 2b | 2.5 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 1b 3b | 1.5 | |
| Howell, J.P. 2016 | pi mr | 2.0 | Ramos, Wilson 2904 | ca | 1.5 | |
| Stewart, Brock 3722 | pi sp | 1.7 | den Dekker, Matt 3534 | lf ph | 1.5 | |
| Taylor, Chris 3684 | 2b | 1.5 | Taylor, Michael 3447 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | 1.0 | Robinson, Clint 3475 | 1b | 1.0 | |
| Hatcher, Chris 3420 | pi mr | 1.0 | Kelley, Shawn 2630 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | |
| Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | lf | 1.0 | Revere, Ben 2886 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 2b | 1.0 | Lobaton, Jose 3216 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Baez, Pedro 3678 | pi mr | 1.0 | Cole, A.J. 3727 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Totals | 125.2 | Totals | 116.1 | |||
The Cubs are the runaway leader in Box-Toppers team rankings, leading nearly all the season with 139.5 Box-Toppers points. The Giants are the lowest-ranking team to qualify for the postseason, ranked 10th with 112.7.
But the Giants have won the World Series each of the past three even-numbered years (2010, 2012 and 2014)—2016 is an even-numbered year. The Cubs last won the World Series in an even-numbered year, but that year was 1908, 106 years ago.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Giants—Johnny Cueto, 16.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Cueto is the only Giants players in the top 10 in a Box-Toppers category.
The Cubs have four other players in season top 10 lists:
| San Francisco Giants | Chicago Cubs | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | 16.4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | 22.1 | |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | 13.0 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | 15.7 | |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | 12.4 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | 10.7 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | 7.0 | Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | 13.0 | |
| Panik, Joe 3401 | 2b | 5.5 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | 10.5 | |
| Nunez, Eduardo 2795 | 3b 2b ss | 5.5 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | 7.4 | |
| Peavy, Jake 1635 | pi sp | 5.0 | Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi cp mr sp | 5.0 | |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | 3.5 | Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi cp | 5.0 | |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | 3.5 | Zobrist, Ben 2216 | 2b rf lf | 4.0 | |
| Casilla, Santiago 2301 | pi cp | 3.0 | Russell, Addison 3559 | ss | 3.5 | |
| Kontos, George 3106 | pi cp mr | 3.0 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | 3.0 | |
| Span, Denard 2502 | cf | 3.0 | Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi mr sp | 3.0 | |
| Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 | 2b ph | 3.0 | Soler, Jorge 3403 | lf | 2.5 | |
| Cain, Matt 2081 | pi sp | 2.7 | Coghlan, Chris 2610 | 3b rf ph | 2.5 | |
| Brown, Trevor 3610 | ca | 2.5 | Ross, David 1729 | ca | 2.5 | |
| Crawford, Brandon 2878 | ss | 2.0 | Montero, Miguel 2304 | ca ph | 2.0 | |
| Gillaspie, Conor 3218 | 3b ph | 2.0 | Smith, Joe 2388 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | 2.0 | Baez, Javier 3395 | 2b ss | 2.0 | |
| Law, Derek 3657 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | LaStella, Tommy 3367 | 3b 2b | 2.0 | |
| Pagan, Angel 2184 | lf | 1.0 | Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Beckham, Gordon 2620 | 2b | 1.0 | Szczur, Matt 3704 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Strickland, Hunter 3546 | pi mr | 1.0 | Wood, Travis 2777 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Okert, Steven 3745 | pi mr | 1.0 | Heyward, Jason 2695 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Osich, Josh 3677 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 112.7 | Totals | 139.5 | |||
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.
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card game.
Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out six and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the Mets.
Bumgarner had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0. Third baseman Conor Gillaspie who hit the ninth-inning, three-run homer that put the Giants ahead, had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (HR 2-4 R 3BI).
Bumgarner had 13.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 19th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers. Over the past two seasons, Bumgarner has 30.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among NL pitchers. Gillaspie had 2.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season.
The Giants, 10th-ranked in Box-Toppers team rankings (112.7), beat the Mets, ranked sixth (119.1). The Giants are the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the postseason but among the 10 teams in the playoffs, they were hottest down the stretch—in the season’s final 10 games, they picked up 8.7 Box-Toppers points.
The Giants will face the Cubs in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in Chicago. The Cubs have baseball’s best record and highest accumulated Box-Toppers point total of 139.5.
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 9.0 | SF 3, NYM 0 | Madison Bumgarner (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
Coming Thursday: The American League begins both division playoff series:
The Blue Jays rank 10th in Box-Toppers team rankings (114.0 Box-Toppers points) while the Rangers rank fifth (122.5). In the final 10 days of the season, the Rangers picked up 7.5 Box-Toppers points while the Blue Jays picked up 6.0.
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.
Rangers—Cole Hamels, 17.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth among all players, second among AL pitchers.
The Blue Jays have three players who are among the top 10 in their Box-Toppers category:
The Rangers also have three players who are among the top 10 in their Box-Toppers category:
| Toronto Blue Jays | Texas Rangers | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | 14.7 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | 17.8 | |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | 11.0 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | 10.4 | |
| Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | 10.7 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | 9.5 | |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | 10.5 | Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | 9.2 | |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | 9.7 | Lewis, Colby 1567 | pi sp | 7.7 | |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | 8.0 | Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf lf | 7.0 | |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | 8.0 | Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | 6.5 | |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | 7.0 | Beltran, Carlos 1194 | dh rf | 6.0 | |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | 6.7 | Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | ca | 5.7 | |
| Saunders, Michael 2768 | lf | 5.2 | Griffin, A.J. 3074 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | 3.5 | Gomez, Carlos 2397 | lf | 4.5 | |
| Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | 3.0 | Holland, Derek 2634 | pi sp | 4.0 | |
| Upton, Melvin 1922 | lf cf | 2.5 | Desmond, Ian 2673 | cf lf | 4.0 | |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | 2.0 | Moreland, Mitch 2799 | 1b | 3.5 | |
| Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi mr | 2.0 | Harrell, Lucas 2988 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Goins, Ryan 3478 | 2b | 1.5 | Rua, Ryan 3631 | 1b lf | 3.0 | |
| Bautista, Jose 2169 | rf | 1.0 | DeShields, Delino 3557 | cf lf | 2.0 | |
| Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | 1.0 | Perez, Martin 3213 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Bolsinger, Mike 3318 | pi sp | 1.0 | Barnette, Tony 3670 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Grilli, Jason 2209 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | Bush, Matt 3673 | pi mr cp | 2.0 | |
| Travis, Devon 3436 | 2b | 1.0 | Tolleson, Shawn 3077 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Benoit, Joaquin 1663 | pi mr | 1.0 | Choo, Shin-Soo 2267 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Cecil, Brett 2566 | pi mr | 1.0 | Claudio, Alex 3459 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Navarro, Dioner 2087 | dh ca | 1.0 | Jeffress, Jeremy 3473 | pi cp | 1.0 | |
| Diekman, Jake 3266 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Alvarez, Dario 3663 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Profar, Jurickson 3665 | ph | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 114.0 | Totals | 122.5 | |||
The Red Sox rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings (128.3 Box-Toppers points) while the Indians rank fourth (123.7). In the final 10 days of the season, the Indians picked up 6.0 Box-Toppers points while the Red Sox picked up 5.0.
The pitching matchup Thursday:
Red Sox—Rick Porcello, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 91st among all players, 31st among AL pitchers. (Despite leading all pitchers with 22 wins, Porcello did not rank highly in Box-Toppers player rankings in 2016.)
Indians—Trevor Bauer, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players, 12th among AL pitchers. (Bauer ranks higher than Porcello in Box-Toppers player rankings but has 10 fewer wins—he was 12-8 in 2016.)
The Red Sox are the AL’s top-ranked team in Box-Toppers points, but have only one player ranked in the top 10 in a Box-Toppers category—David Price, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks ninth among AL pitchers.
The Indians have three pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 pitchers list, none of whom is starting Game 1:
| Boston Red Sox | Cleveland Indians | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | 12.4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | 21.2 | |
| Pomeranz, Drew 3061 | pi sp | 12.4 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | 12.5 | |
| Wright, Steven 3224 | pi sp | 8.4 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | 12.4 | |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | 8.0 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | 11.4 | |
| Ortiz, David | dh | 8.0 | Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp mr | 8.0 | |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | 8.0 | Allen, Cody 3265 | pi cp mr | 7.0 | |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 1b 3b | 7.0 | Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | 7.0 | |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | 1b | 7.0 | Napoli, Mike 2161 | 1b | 6.5 | |
| Betts, Mookie 3404 | rf | 6.2 | Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi sp | 5.0 | |
| Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293 | cf | 5.5 | Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959 | rf | 3.5 | |
| Hill, Aaron 2056 | 2b | 5.5 | Crisp, Coco 1876 | lf | 3.0 | |
| Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp | 5.0 | Otero, Dan 3365 | pi mr | 3.0 | |
| Pedroia, Dustin 2320 | 2b | 5.0 | Shaw, Bryan 2995 | pi mr | 3.0 | |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | 4.7 | Clevinger, Mike 3707 | pi mr sp | 3.0 | |
| Uehara, Koji 2802 | pi cp | 4.0 | Byrd, Marlon 1751 | rf | 2.5 | |
| Ross, Robbie Jr. 2999 | pi cp mr sp | 3.0 | Santana, Carlos 2757 | dh 1b | 2.5 | |
| Leon, Sandy 3676 | ca | 3.0 | Almonte, Abraham 3554 | rf ph | 2.0 | |
| Holt, Brock 3340 | 3b lf | 2.5 | Naquin, Tyler 3662 | cf ph | 2.0 | |
| Ziegler, Brad 2504 | pi cp | 2.0 | Anderson, Cody 3509 | pi sp | 1.7 | |
| Abad, Fernando 3653 | pi mr | 2.0 | Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | 1.5 | |
| Hembree, Heath 3620 | pi cp | 1.7 | Brantley, Michael 2785 | lf | 1.0 | |
| Swihart, Blake 3565 | lf ca | 1.0 | McAllister, Zach 3088 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Kelly, Joe 3066 | pi sp | 1.0 | Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | 1.0 | Guyer, Brandon 3363 | lf | 1.0 | |
| Hanigan, Ryan 2708 | ca | 1.0 | Gimenez, Chris 2870 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Tazawa, Junichi 3151 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Vazquez, Christian 3380 | ca | 1.0 | ||||
| Brentz, Bryce 3680 | lf | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 128.3 | Totals | 123.7 | |||
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.
Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Also Monday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, edged within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of season leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Estrada pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing one hit and three walks, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.
Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 43rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 43rd among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Giants. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited the Dodgers trailed 1-0, before scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to win.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 22.7 for the season, maintaining his spot in second place among all players and among NL pitchers. He moves within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of overall leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7). Scherzer assumed the lead on Aug. 25. Previously, Kershaw led from May 7.
Madison Bumgarner, who started the game for the Giants, was in line to win Player of the Game (and overall Player of the Day) until the Dodgers made their ninth-inning comeback. Bumgarner (7IP H 0R 0BB 10K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0 (Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0). But because the bullpen blew the lead and the Giants lost, Bumgarner earns no Box-Toppers points, despite the impressive performance.
Bumgarner has 13.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 18th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
Kershaw now has 182.0 career Box-Toppers points, seventh-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails sixth-ranked player Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.0) by just 0.3 points. He trails fifth-ranked player (and active career pitching leader) CC Sabathia of the Yankees (184.0) by just 2.0 points. (See the updated list of the top 20 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 on the home page.)
National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Elvis Andrus of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 3-2 win over the Angels.
Notable—Two other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Monday:
Porcello—Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello earned Player of the Game honors Monday while also picking up his Major League-leading 21st win.
Porcello (CG 4H 2R 0BB 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, but still has just 8.0 points for the season. Despite ranking first in wins, he ranks 76th among all players in Box-Toppers points, 26th among AL pitchers. (More on Porcello here: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?)
Porcello had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +8.0, his highest game score during any of his 21 wins. But it still wasn’t enough to earn him his first overall or league Player of the Day honor of the season (he lost Player of the Day Monday to Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays who had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0). So Porcello still hasn’t earned any Box-Toppers bonus points this season in the eight times he earned Player of the Game honors.
This was also Porcello’s first Player of the Game honor in a month. He last earned Player of the Game on Aug. 19, even though he has earned the win in three more games since then.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Freeman and Andrus each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/19 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | TOR 3, SEA 2 | Marco Estrada (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | BOS 5, BAL 2 | Rick Porcello (W,21-4) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | `LAD 2, SF 1 | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 7, NYM 3 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CHC 5, CIN 2 | Jason Hammel (W,15-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 5, COL 3 | Carlos Martinez, P | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 3, ARI 2 | Brandon Maurer (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 4, OAK 2 | Ken Giles (S,12) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | TEX 3, LAA 2 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | KC 8, CHW 3 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIA 4, WSH 3 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 | 48.4 | 148.5 | 182.0 | -3.0 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.0 | 22.7 | 46.1 | 59.2 | 3.3 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.7 | 24.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | -3.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 10.0 | 18.0 | 42.1 | 42.1 | 2.0 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 9.2 | 9.2 | 16.7 | 19.7 | 9.2 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 8.0 | 12.0 | 33.7 | 42.7 | 4.0 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 7.5 | 12.2 | 22.2 | 38.2 | 2.8 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.5 | 10.5 | 38.7 | 38.7 | 4.5 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 6.5 | 12.0 | 33.7 | 39.2 | 1.0 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi cp mr | hou nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Maurer, Brandon 3157 | pi mr cp | sd nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
A look at Box-Toppers 100 top-ranked players for 2016 at the All-Star break. Blue Jays and top-ranked Cubs have most representatives on the list.
Read More
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. | ||||||||||||||||
Marco Estrada kept the Blue Jays alive in the American League Championship Series Wednesday, while Lucas Duda led the Mets to a sweep over the Cubs in the National League Championship Series.
Estrada is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day while Duda is Player of the Game in the deciding NLCS Game 4.
Estrada gave up one run over 7 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, to earn overall Player of the Day honors.
The Blue Jays now trail the Royals in the best-of-seven game series, 3-2.
Estrada had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +6.2, highest among Blue Jays players. Troy Tulowitzki had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Blue Jays batters of +3.0 (2B 2-4 R 3BI).
Estrada, during the regular season had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 85th among all players and 34th among AL pitchers.
The series resumes Friday with Game 6 in Kansas City.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
Lucas Duda hit a first-inning, three-run homer, plus two doubles and drove in five total runs, as the Mets swept the Cubs 4-0 in the best-of-seven game series.
Duda had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0, highest among all Mets players. Second-highest among Mets players: +3.0 Box-Toppers game score by Daniel Murphy (HR 2B 4-5 2R 2BI).
During the regular season, Duda had 2.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 377th among all players, 89th among NL batters and 17th among NL first basemen. In 2014, he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked 79th among all players, third among NL batters and first among NL first basemen.
The Mets were the lowest-ranked of all five NL playoff teams in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Mets ranked seventh among all teams with 122.0 Box-Toppers points, while the Cubs ranked third with 127.4.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player match ups.
The Mets now face the winner of the ALCS in the World Series beginning Tuesday in either Kansas City or Toronto.
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
| 10/21 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 6.2 | Blue Jays | Marco Estrada (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| POG | 5.0 | Mets | Lucas Duda, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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.
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.
Read More
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.
Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Estrada pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out 10, in the 1-0, 12-inning win over the Rays. Estrada picked up a no decision and did not earn the win because he left the game in scoreless tie. Estrada had a perfect game before allowing a hit in the eighth inning.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 11.1 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.4 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
| 8 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 |
| 9 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 9.4 |
National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson allowed one run on two hits over eight innings, striking out five, in the 4-1 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Brett Lawrie of the Athletics hit a grand slam and went 3-for-5 in the 8-2 win over the Rangers.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasmany Tomas of the Diamondbacks doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 8-7 win over the Rockies.
Notable—Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong has the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Vogelsong has 7.0 Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st among all players, 13th among NL pitchers. Vogelsong (6IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 6-0 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game.
Rankings—Two pitchers ranked among Box-Toppers top 10 players this season started Wednesday but both failed to earn Player of the Game honors as their teams both lost:
Streak—Omar Infante of the Royals has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons.
Infante was Player of the Game in Wednesday’s 8-2 win over the Mariners (2B 3-4 R 3BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Infante earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2004 with the Tigers. His best year was 2012 when he had 4.5 Box-Toppers points with the Tigers and ranked third among AL second basemen. Infante had 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2014 with the Royals.
Infante has 29.5 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks fifth among active AL second basemen.
Return—Dodgers pitcher J.P. Howell earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the first time in more than five years Wednesday. Howell (1.1IP H 0R K W in the 5-2 win over the Cubs) last earned Player of the Game honors on Aug. 5, 2009, when he was with the Rays.
Debut—Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Heaney (6IP 4H R 5K ND in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Astros) made his Major League debut June 19, 2014, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,515th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nelson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Lawrie and Tomas each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/24 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.2 | `Blue Jays | Marco Estrada | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| NL | 8.0 | Brewers | Jimmy Nelson (W, 4-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| 5.0 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W, 9-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | Twins | Phil Hughes (W, 6-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | `Nationals | Jordan Zimmermann | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Cardinals | Jaime Garcia (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `Angels | Andrew Heaney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Athletics | Brett Lawrie 3B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Royals | Omar Infante 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Clay Buchholz (W, 5-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Giants | Ryan Vogelsong (W, 6-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Reds | J.J. Hoover (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Yankees | Ivan Nova (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Dbacks | Yasmany Tomas RF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.1 | Dodgers | J.P. Howell (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Rangers pitcher Derek Holland is Monday's Player of the Day. Holland pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out nine, in the 12-0 win over the Astros.
Holland earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season, putting him in 36th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Brewers pitcher Marco Estrada is National League Player of the Day. Estrada pitched seven shutout innings, giving up only two hits, in the 5-0 win over the Braves.
Nick Hundley of the Padres is NL Batter of the Day. Hundley hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Jed Lowrie of the Athletics is American League Batter of the Day. Lowrie hit a three-run homer in the 10-5 win over the Angels.
Notable: Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright had a chance to retake the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings in his start against the Nationals Monday, but did not score any Box-Toppers points. Though Wainwright earned the win in the 4-3 victory, he gave up seven hits and three runs over seven innings and his Box-Toppers game score was -1.0. Closing pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was the Cardinals Player of the Game with a Box-Toppers game score of 1.2.
Wainwright is still in third place in Box-Toppers player rankings (see the updated top 10 list on the home page) with 19.2 points. He trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 20.7. Wainwright has one last chance to catch or pass Kershaw in his scheduled start on the final day of the regular season Sunday against the Cubs. (Kershaw has his final regular season scheduled start Friday against the Rockies.)
Holland receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Estrada receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Hundley and Lowrie each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 923 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Derek Holland (W, 10-9) | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Marco Estrada (W, 7-4) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | `Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Charlie Morton | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 7.2 | Marlins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nathan Eovaldi (W, 4-6) | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |||
| 4.2 | `Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yordano Ventura | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 3.1 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jose Quintana (W, 9-6) | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 3.0 | `Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnny Cueto | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |||
| BAT | 2.0 | Padres | Nick Hundley C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Athletics | Jed Lowrie DH | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | James Loney PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.2 | Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Trevor Rosenthal (S, 1) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Twins | Ryan Doumit PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Sunday, Aug. 25:
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers becomes the top American League player in Box-Toppers points for the season (and the fourth-ranked overall) after earning AL Batter of the Day honors Sunday.
Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for the honor, giving him 16.9 for the season. He passes previous AL leader, Indians pitcher Justin Masterson (16.4 points) and moves from sixth to fourth place overall.
In addition, 16.9 points is already a career high for Cabrera. His previous career high was 16.5 scored in 2009 with the Tigers. In 2007, he scored 15.0 with the Marlins. Last year, in which he led the AL in home runs, runs batted in and batting average, he scored 11.7.
Cabrera is the only batter who has consistently been ranked among the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points this season. He led all players several times during the season, as late as June 29.
Cabrera has 115.7 caeer Box-Toppers points, which puts him at 32nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record-keeping began.
Cabrera homered and went 3-for-4 in the 11-3 win over the Mets Sunday to earn AL Batter of the Day.
In other developments:
Brewers pitcher Marco Estrada is Sunday's Player of the Day. Estrada pitched seven shutout innings, gave up only one hit and struck out nine in the 3-1 win over the Reds.
Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is AL Player of the Day. Weaver struck out eight over eight innings in the 7-1 win over the Mariners.
John Mayberry of the Phillies is National League Batter of the Day. Mayberry hit a two-run homer in the 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
Estrada receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Weaver receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Mayberry each receive
1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Sunday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 825 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 13.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Marco Estrada (W, 6-4) | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| AL | 11.0 | Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jered Weaver (W, 8-7) | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 11.0 | `Padres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Andrew Cashner | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |||
| 10.0 | Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ryan Vogelsong (W, 3-4) | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 8.0 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jake Peavy (W, 10-5) | 9.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 4.0 | Blue Jays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mark Buehrle (W, 10-7) | 8.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |||
| 4.0 | `Indians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Scott Kazmir | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||
| BAT | 3.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera 3B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | J.J. Hardy SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| BAT | 2.0 | Phillies | John Mayberry RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Josh Phegley C | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.1 | Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Craig Kimbrel (S, 41) | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Yankees | Robinson Cano 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Rockies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rex Brothers (S, 13) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Indians pitcher Justin Masterson is Monday's Player of the Day. Masterson pitched a complete game shutout, striking out nine, in the 1-0 win over the Yankees.
Masterson moves up to second place in season Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and now has 7.7 points, behind season leader Yu Darvish (8.0).
Brewers pitcher Marco Estrada is National League Player of the Day. Estrada gave up one run over seven innings in the 5-1 win over the Pirates.
Billy Butler of the Royals is American League Batter of the Day. Butler went 5-for-5 with five RBIs in the 11-4 win over the Angels.
Brian McCann of the Braves is NL Batter of the Day. McCann went 2-for-3 and homered in the 10-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Standings update: Bryce Harper of the Nationals rose to ninth place among players for the season. Harper was Player of the Game in the 6-2 win over the Dodgers and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.9 for the season. He is the Box-Toppers points leader among NL batters.
Masterson receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Estrada receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Butler and McCann receive 1.5 each for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
| 513 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | Indians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Justin Masterson (W, 6-2) | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | Royals | Billy Butler DH | 5 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 7.0 | Athletics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A.J. Griffin (W, 4-3) | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |||
| NL | 6.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Marco Estrada (W, 3-2) | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Adam Warren (S, 1) | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 5.0 | Tigers | Andy Dirks LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| BAT | 4.0 | Braves | Brian McCann C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4.0 | Twins | Aaron Hicks CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4.0 | Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Travis Wood (W, 4-2) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Matt Carpenter 2B, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Bryce Harper RF | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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.