Royals’ Mike Montgomery tops players for Saturday, Aug. 10; Dodgers’ Maeda tops NL players

Royals pitcher Mike Montgomery is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Montgomery struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Tigers.

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Cubs’ Mike Montgomery tops players for Monday, May 28; Astros’ Verlander rises to 8th in player rankings

Cubs pitcher Mike Montgomery is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Monday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

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David Ross tops players in World Series Game 7 as Cubs defeat Indians to secure 1st championship in 108 years

David Ross is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 7 as the Chicago Cubs win their first championship in 108 years.

The Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians 8-7 Wednesday in 10 innings, winning the best-of-seven-game series, 4-3.

Ross hit a sixth-inning solo home run, going 1-for-1 with a walk, and earning a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0, the highest among all Cubs players Wednesday.

During the regular season, Ross had 2.5 Box-Toppers points, 91st among National League batters and ninth among NL catchers. Ross has said he will retire after the 2016 season.

It is the first time this World Series and only the fifth time in 35 postseason games this year that a batter has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Mike Montgomery, who earned the save, had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+0.1) among Cubs pitchers (0.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K), getting the game’s final out with two pitches in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Cubs starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.8 (4.2IP 4H 2R BB 2K ND). Hendricks had 13.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 17th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester, who pitched three innings of relief, had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (3IP 3H 2R BB 4K ND). Lester had the highest regular season Box-Toppers point total of any player in the World Series, 22.1, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.

Indians starting pitcher Corey Kluber had a Box-Toppers game score of −10.0 (4IP 6H 4R 0BB 0K ND). Kluber had 21.2 regular season Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, first among American League pitchers. He earned Box-ToppersPlayer of the Game honors four times during the postseason, most of any player, including twice in the World Series. Pitching on short rest for the second time in the World Series, Kluber got off to a rocky start, giving up a lead-off solo home run to Dexter Fowler.

Cubs left fielder Ben Zobrist was named World Series Most Valuable Player, though he never had a Box-Toppers game score of more than 0.0 in any of the Cubs’ four wins. Box-Toppers would have chosen pitcher Jake Arrieta as MVP; he was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the Cubs’ Game 2 and Game 6 wins.

Box-Toppers 2016 final team rankings

Box-Toppers 2016 final top 10 player rankings

Box-Toppers point totals of all Cubs players active at season’s end

Box-Toppers point totals of all Indians players active at season’s end

Box-Toppers ALCS Preview

Box-Toppers NLCS Preview

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

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

Top Cubs in World Series Game 7: Cubs 8, Indians 7 (10 innings)

Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Cubs who played in World Series Game 7 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score.

BTG Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
2.0 * David Ross, C 1 1 1 1 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Miguel Montero, C 1 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Albert Almora Jr., PR-DH 0 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.1 Mike Montgomery (S,1) - - - - - - 0.1 0 0 0 0 0
0.0 Dexter Fowler, CF 5 1 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Anthony Rizzo, 1B 3 1 1 1 1 1 - - - - - -
0.0 Willson Contreras, C 2 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Jon Lester - - - - - - 3.0 3 2 1 1 4
0.0 Chris Coghlan, PR - - - - - - - - - - - -
-1.0 Kris Bryant, 3B 4 2 1 0 1 1 - - - - - -
-1.8 Kyle Hendricks - - - - - - 4.2 4 2 1 1 2
-2.0 Kyle Schwarber, DH 5 0 3 0 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Ben Zobrist, LF 5 1 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Javier Baez, 2B 5 1 1 1 0 2 - - - - - -
-2.0 Addison Russell, SS 3 0 0 1 1 0 - - - - - -
-2.8 Carl Edwards Jr. (H,4) - - - - - - 0.2 1 1 1 1 1
-3.9 Aroldis Chapman (W,2-0; BS,3) - - - - - - 1.1 3 2 2 0 2
-5.0 Jason Heyward, RF 5 0 0 0 0 1 - - - - - -
* Player of the Game
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Game 7 narrative via Box-Toppers Twitter feed

Here are real-time tweets from Box-Toppers Wednesday as World Series Game 7 progressed:

Mariners' Montgomery tops players for Tuesday, June 30; Sale, Keuchel rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings

Mariners pitcher Mike Montgomery is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 30.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 14.0
2 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 13.4
3 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 12.0
4 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 12.0
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 11.4
6 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 11.4
7 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 11.1
8 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 10.7
9 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 10.7
10 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 9.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to fifth place and Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to eighth place. Plus, Brewers closing pitcher Francisco Rodriguez has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 13 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Player of the Day—Montgomery pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout, striking out seven, in the 5-0 win over the Padres.

Montgomery had a Box-Toppers game score of 11, tied with White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, who was Player of the Game in the 2-1 win over the Cardinals. But Montgomery won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker because he earned the win in his game, while Sale picked up a no decision in his.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks  pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing three hits, in the 1-0 win over the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day—Mitch Moreland of the Rangers hit two home runs and drove in four runs in the 8-6 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Howie Kendrick of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, driving in two runs, in the 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks.

Rankings—Two pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings who started Tuesday earned Player of the Game honors. But another top 10 pitcher who started Tuesday did not:

  • White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to fifth in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors in the 2-1, 11-inning win over the Cardinals (8IP 6H R 12K ND). Sale earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
  • Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to eighth in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors in the 4-0 win over the Royals (8IP 7H 0R 7K W). Keuchel earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He is the ninth player with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points this season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.
  • Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole, ranked fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings, did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start Tuesday. Cole (6.2IP 9H 2R 6K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of −0.8 in the 5-4, 14-inning win over the Tigers. Player of the Game was closing pitcher Deolis Guerra (3IP 3H 0R 3K W), who had a Box-Toppers game score of 3. Cole has 12.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among NL pitchers.

Streak—Brewers closing pitcher Francsico Rodriguez has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 13 straight seasons.

Rodriguez was Player of the Game in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Phillies (1IP 0H 0R 2K Sv) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Rodriguez earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2003 with the Angels. The most Box-Toppers points he had in a single season was 10.0, in both 2005 and 2008 with the Angels. In 2014, he had 4.0 Box-Toppers points with the Brewers.

Rodriguez has 60.4 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 12th among all closing pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He has more career Box-Toppers points than all active closing pitchers—second place is Joe Nathan of the Tigers (52.0).

Debut—Pirates pitcher Deolis Guerra made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Guerra (3IP 3H 0R 3K W in the 5-4, 14-inning win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut June 27 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,521st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Montgomery earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hendricks earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Moreland and Kendrick each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/30 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Mariners Mike Montgomery (W, 3-2) - - - - - - 9.0 1 0 0 4 7
11.0 `White Sox Chris Sale - - - - - - 8.0 6 1 1 1 12
8.0 Astros Dallas Keuchel (W, 10-3) - - - - - - 8.0 7 0 0 0 7
8.0 Angels Andrew Heaney (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 7
NL 8.0 Cubs Kyle Hendricks (W, 3-4) - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 1 6
7.2 Nationals Jordan Zimmermann (W, 6-5) - - - - - - 7.2 6 0 0 0 6
BAT 5.0 Rangers Mitch Moreland 1B 3 2 2 4 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 `Marlins Carter Capps (H, 5) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 Rockies Jorge De La Rosa (W, 5-3) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 4 4
3.0 Pirates Deolis Guerra (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 3.0 3 0 0 0 3
2.2 Indians Danny Salazar (W, 7-3) - - - - - - 7.2 2 2 1 2 2
BAT 2.0 Dodgers Howie Kendrick 2B 5 1 4 2 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Twins Eduardo Nunez SS 4 2 3 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Red Sox Eduardo Rodriguez (W, 4-2) - - - - - - 6.0 4 1 1 2 4
2.0 Brewers Francisco Rodriguez (S, 17) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Montgomery tops players for Tuesday, June 23; Archer, Price rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings

Mariners pitcher Mike Montgomery is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, two pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season earned Player of the Game honors—Rays pitcher Chris Archer and Tigers pitcher David Price.

Player of the Day—Montgomery pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout, striking out 10, in the 7-0 win over the Royals.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 23.  


 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
What are those numbers after players' names?

This was Montgomery’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Montgomery made his Major League debut June 2 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,513th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Dodgers. Hammel picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because he left the game with a scoreless tie. The Cubs won on a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning.

National League Batter of the Day—Maikel Franco of the Phillies hit a three-run homer, a double and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 11-6 win over the Yankees. This was the second straight day Franco earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was NL Player of the Day on Monday, June 22.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 13-3 win over the Angels.

Rankings—Two pitchers rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:

  • Chris Archer of the Rays rose from fourth to third place. Archer (8IP 3H 2R 7K W in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind overall leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (13.4 Box-Toppers points).
  • David Price of the Tigers rose from sixth to fifth place. Price (6.2IP 9H R 7K W in the 7-3 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.1 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Debut—Xavier Scruggs of the Cardinals also made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Scruggs (2B 3-4 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2014, and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,514th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Montgomery earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hammel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Franco and Correa each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/23 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 15.0 Mariners Mike Montgomery (W, 2-2) - - - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 0 10
NL 9.2 `Cubs Jason Hammel - - - - - - 7.2 2 0 0 2 6
8.0 Rays Chris Archer (W, 9-4) - - - - - - 8.0 3 2 1 1 7
BAT 6.0 Phillies Maikel Franco 1B 3 2 2 5 1 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Nationals Stephen Strasburg (W, 4-5) - - - - - - 5.0 4 0 0 1 6
4.1 Brewers Will Smith (W, 3-0) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 4.0 Astros Carlos Correa SS 6 3 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Rockies Nolan Arenado 3B 4 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Pirates Mark Melancon (S, 24) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 Athletics Josh Phegley C 4 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Orioles David Lough CF 3 2 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Padres Brandon Maurer (W, 5-0) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 1 2
2.2 Tigers David Price (W, 7-2) - - - - - - 6.2 9 1 1 0 7
2.0 Cardinals Xavier Scruggs 1B 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.2 White Sox Jake Petricka (S, 2) - - - - - - 1.2 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.