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The Los Angeles Dodgers are the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers’ 2021 preseason rankings. They also ended 2020 as Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team and World Series champions.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets made the biggest offseason improvement in players’ accumulated Box-Toppers points, while the Chicago Cubs saw the biggest decline.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers maintain their lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings for the third week.
Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox rise to lead American League teams and the Toronto Blue Jays are the week’s hottest team.
Read MoreWhite Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, pitching a no-hitter.
Giolito rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Shane Bieber extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Zack Greinke is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Rays pitcher Charlie Morton maintains his fifth-place spot in season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreBlue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Shoemaker struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 6-0 win over the Tigers.
Read MoreSteve Pearce of the Red Sox is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 4.
The Boston Red Sox win 9-6 to take a 3-1 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-seven game series.
Pearce homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs. It is his first Player of the Game honor of the 2018 postseason.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Charlie Morton is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Morton struck out 10 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in the 2-1 win over the Yankees.
Morton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season. With his rise to fifth place, Astros pitchers again occupy four of the top 10 spots in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Read MoreA comprehensive Box-Toppers analysis of all 2,428 games played in 2016 shows pitchers won Player of the Game honors more frequently than batters and won an overwhelming majority of overall Player of the Day honors.
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Rockies pitcher Jorge De La Rosa is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.7 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 6 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 8 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.4 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
De La Rosa pitched four scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing no hits and striking out five, in the 11-5 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez allowed one run over six innings, striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Nationals.
National League Batter of the Day—Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 10-3 win over the Twins.
American League Batter of the Day—Mitch Moreland of the Rangers doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 5-3 win over the Astros.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 105.3 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Wainwright (6IP 2H 2R 9K ND in the 3-2 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and maintains his rank of 60th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 59th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).
Wainwright has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 33rd among NL pitchers.
Debut—Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Bundy (2.1IP H 0R 3K W in the 6-5 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Sept. 23, 2012, and was playing in his 19th career game. He is the 3,655th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—De La Rosa earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ozuna and Moreland each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/8 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | COL 11/PIT 5 | Jorge De La Rosa (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 8.0 | `STL 3/CIN 2 | Adam Wainwright | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | CHW 3/DC 1 | Miguel Gonzalez (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 3.1 | BAL 6/TOR 5 | Dylan Bundy (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | MIA 10/MIN 3 | Marcell Ozuna, CF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | NYM 5/MIL 2 | Jeurys Familia (S,20) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 6/LAA 3 | Aroldis Chapman (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.1 | CLE 5/SEA 3 | Cody Allen (S,13) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 0.0 | TEX 5/HOU 3 | Mitch Moreland, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.5 | 6.5 | 54.6 | 105.3 | 0.5 |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi mr cp | cle al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -1.0 |
| Ozuna, Marcell 3190 | cf | fla nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 16.5 | 16.5 | 0.0 |
| Moreland, Mitch 2799 | 1b | tex al | 2.5 | 8.7 | 16.7 | 17.7 | -3.7 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | nyy al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 40.0 | 41.0 | -6.0 |
| Familia, Jeurys 3446 | pi cp | nym nl | 2.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -6.0 |
| De La Rosa, Jorge 1970 | pi sp mr | col nl | 2.0 | 8.0 | 21.8 | 48.6 | -4.0 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 1.7 | 8.4 | 30.5 | 30.5 | -5.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
(Apologies: Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Billy Hamilton of the Reds is Thursday, Aug. 13’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Hamilton homered and went 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 10-3 win over the Dodgers.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 18.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 5 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
American League Player of the Day—Mitch Moreland of the Rangers hit a two-run homer and a two-run double, going 4-for-4, in the 6-5 win over the Twins.
American League and National League Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Thursday because the overall Players of the Day were batters—Billy Hamilton and Mitch Moreland. In fact, batters were unusually dominant Thursday and were Players of the Game in seven of the nine games played.
Notable—Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong was the highest-ranked player to earn Player of the Game honors Thursday. Vogelsong (5IP 3H R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season and ranks 40th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Hamilton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Moreland earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/13 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | Reds | Billy Hamilton, CF | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 5.0 | Rangers | Mitch Moreland, 1B | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Cubs | Kyle Schwarber, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | Yankees | Stephen Drew, 2B | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Mets | Juan Lagares, PH-CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Giants | Ryan Vogelsong (W,8-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 2.2 | Angels | Jose Alvarez (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Pedro Alvarez, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Ryan Goins, SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Mariners pitcher Mike Montgomery is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| 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 |
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:
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.
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. | ||||||||||||||||
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright is Thursday’s Player of the Day, while Chris Colabello of the Twins takes the lead in Box-Toppers season player standings.
Wainwright pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out eight, in the 8-0 win over the Nationals. He earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, rising to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings. (See updated Top 10 Box-Toppers player rankings for 2014 on the home page.)
Colabello rose from second to first place among players in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors in the Twins 9-5 win over the Blue Jays. Colabello (3-4 3RBI) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 5.2 this season. (See updated Top 10 Box-Toppers player rankings for 2014 on the home page.)
Royals pitcher James Shields is American League Player of the Day. Shields allowed one run over eight innings and struck out 12 in the 5-1 win over the Astros. Shields and Wainwright were tied with Box-Toppers game scores of 12.0, but Wainwright was given the nod as Player of the Day because he had more innings pitched (nine vs. eight).
Mitch Moreland of the Rangers is AL Batter of the Day. Moreland went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs in the 8-6 win over the Mariners.
Pedro Alvarez of the Pirates is National League Batter of the Day. Alvarez hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3 in the 11-2 win over the Brewers.
Notable: Hyun-Jin Ryu rose to fourth place among players in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors. Ryu (7IP 0R W in the 2-1 win over the Giants) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season. (See updated Top 10 Box-Toppers player rankings for 2014 on the home page.)
Wainwright receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Shields receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Moreland and Alvarez each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Thursday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 417 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 12.0 | Cardinals | Adam Wainwright (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| AL | 12.0 | Royals | James Shields (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | |
| 8.0 | Red Sox | Jon Lester (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 7.0 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | `Phillies | A.J. Burnett | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Dodgers | Hyun-Jin Ryu (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rangers | Mitch Moreland DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Rockies | Franklin Morales (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Pirates | Pedro Alvarez 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Yankees | Brian Roberts 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Ian Kinsler 2B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Chris Colabello 1B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Reds pitcher Mat Latos is Thursday's Player of the Day. Latos gave up two runs over 8 1/3 innings in the 5-3, 10-inning win over the Marlins. Latos did not earn the win in the game.
Mariners pitcher Hector Noesi is American League Player of the Day. Noesi struck out four over 4 1/3 innings in the 3-2 win over the Yankees. Though Noesi left the game with the Mariners leading, he did not pitch the minimum five innings to earn the win.
Travis Snider of the Pirates is National League Batter of the Day. Snider homered and went 3-for-5 in the 7-1 win over the Brewers.
Mitch Moreland of the Rangers is AL Batter of the Day. Moreland went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs in the 10-4 win over the Tigers.
Thursday was kind of a lackluster day for Box-Toppers game scores. The top game scores of the day (3.1) were the lowest top game scores of the season. Most times, game scores in that range wouldn't win Player of the Day honors. But Thursday, two pitchers who didn't pick up wins in their games, were atop Box-Toppers standings.
Latos receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Noesi receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Snider and Moreland receive 1.5 each for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Thursday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
| 516 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 3.1 | `Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mat Latos | 8.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| AL | 3.1 | `Mariners | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hector Noesi | 4.1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| BAT | 3.0 | Pirates | Travis Snider RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3.0 | Mets | Daniel Murphy 2B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3.0 | Giants | Brandon Crawford SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3.0 | Nationals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Stephen Strasburg (W, 2-5) | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| BAT | 2.0 | Rangers | Mitch Moreland 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2.0 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Junichi Tazawa (W, 3-2) | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1.0 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Addison Reed (S, 13) | 1.0 | 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.
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.