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Astros pitcher Yusei Kikuchi is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. In addition, Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal extends his lead among American League pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Read MoreRockies pitcher Cal Quantrill is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Padres pitcher Dylan Cease rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Cody Bradford is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Royals pitcher Brady Singer rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, two players extend significant streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday—Orioles closer Craig Kimbrel (15 seasons) and Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (10 seasons).
Read MoreTwins pitcher Bailey Ober is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Ober struck out eight over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 11-3 win over the Athletics.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings.
Woodruff struck out 12 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, four hits and no walks, in the 6-3 win over the Reds.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Nola struck out nine over 8 2/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 2-1 win over the Braves.
Read MorePadres pitcher Yu Darvish is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings, taking the 2021 Box-Toppers point lead among National League pitchers.
Darvish struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 7-0 win over the Rockies.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, the active leader in career Box-Toppers points earned his first points of the 2021 season as National League Player of the Day.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Braves pitcher Max Fried rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Rick Porcello is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, two players rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 after earning Player of the Game honors—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to eighth place and Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to ninth place.
Porcello, Corbin and Kluber are among five players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Read MoreGiants pitcher Andrew Suarez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Suarez struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Yu Darvish is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Darvish struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his player rankings lead among American League pitchers and becoming the 79th player since 1995 with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points.
Also Friday, Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians rises to first place in Box-Toppers points among AL batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
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Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 6.5 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.4 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 6.0 |
Also Sunday, Aaron Judge of the Yankees rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—first among all batters—after earning American League Batter of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Nelson struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, seven hits and no walks, in the 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Tommy Hunter pitched two scoreless innings—the ninth and the 10th—striking out three and allowing no hits, in the 8-6, 15-inning win over the Twins. Hunter picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the score was tied 5-5 when he exited.
Normally, middle relievers who pitch fewer than three innings and do not earn the win or save don’t earn Player of the Game honors. But Hunter did because he had a higher Box-Toppers game score and the same or more innings pitched than the player who otherwise would have won. Closer Erasmo Ramirez (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 was in line for Player of the Game honors. But Hunter edged him out because he had both a higher Box-Toppers game score (+5.0) and more innings pitched (2.0 vs. 1.0).
Additionally, Hunter, with only two innings pitched, was able to win AL Player of the Day honors because of lower Box-Toppers game scores of AL players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday, including his runner-up, Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin, who despite a complete game win (CG 6H R 0BB 3K W in the 10-1 win over the Royals) only had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0.
National League Batter of the Day—Adam Duvall of the Reds homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-4 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Aaron Judge of the Yankees hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4 in the 9-5 win over the Athletics.
Judge earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season, rising to seventh in season player rankings. He also rises to first among all batters, moving ahead of Bryce Harper of the Nationals (6.0), who falls out of the overall top 10 to 11th place.
Notable—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to 70th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Cueto (6IP 6H R BB 8K W in the 7-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 101.8 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes three players on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Mark Teixeira (101.3) and Tim Wakefield (101.4). Cueto now trails 69th-place player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
Scoring—Nelson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hunter earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Duvall and Judge 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.
| 5/28 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | MIL 9, ARI 5 | Jimmy Nelson (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | CIN 8, PHI 4 | Adam Duvall, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | COL 8, STL 4 | Gerardo Parra, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | SF 7, ATL 1 | Johnny Cueto (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | `TB 8, MIN 6 (F/15) | Tommy Hunter | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4.0 | CLE 10, KC 1 | Josh Tomlin (W,3-6) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | SD 5, WSH 3 | Kirby Yates (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.2 | LAD 9, CHC 4 | Josh Fields (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | NYY 9, OAK 5 | Aaron Judge, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | MIA 9, LAA 2 | JT Riddle, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 5, BOS 0 | Christian Bergman (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 8, BAL 4 | Yuli Gurriel, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | CHW 7, DET 3 | Miguel Gonzalez (W,4-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | NYM 7, PIT 2 | Jay Bruce, RF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | TEX 3, TOR 1 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 | 13.1 | 41.9 | 41.9 | -5.1 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 4.0 | 12.5 | 29.7 | 62.8 | -4.5 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 1.0 |
| Duvall, Adam 3573 | lf | cin nl | 3.5 | 10.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | -3.0 |
| Bergman, Christian 3799 | pi sp | sea al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Gurriel, Yuli 3796 | 1b | hou al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Parra, Gerardo 2746 | rf | col nl | 2.5 | 5.0 | 17.0 | 23.5 | 0.0 |
| Riddle, JT 3805 | ss | fla nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 18.4 | 72.0 | 101.8 | -14.4 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 2.0 | 11.2 | 16.2 | 21.7 | -7.2 |
| Tomlin, Josh 2771 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 20.4 | 26.4 | -3.0 |
| Hunter, Tommy 2623 | pi mr | tb al | 1.7 | 2.7 | 9.7 | 17.7 | 0.7 |
| Yates, Kirby 3628 | pi mr | sd nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Fields, Josh 3247 | pi mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
Twins pitcher Ervin Santana is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to take the lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 5 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Marte, Starling 3122 | lf cf | pit nl | 3.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 |
| 8 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 2.7 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 |
| 10 | Garcia, Avisail 3256 | rf | chi al | 2.5 |
Also Saturday, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia rises to fifth place on the “all-time” Box-Toppers points list (since record keeping began in 1995), moving ahead of Alex Rodriguez.
Player of the Day—Santana pitched a one-hit shutout, striking out eight and walking one, in the 6-0 win over the White Sox.
Santana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season and rising to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He passes previous leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (4.0).
Santana also now has 102.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 69th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes six players on the “all-time” list: Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7), Jason Schmidt (101.2), Mark Teixiera (101.3) and Tim Wakefield (101.4). Santana now trails 68th-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).
National League Player of the Day—Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood pitched a two-hit shutout, striking out four and walking one, in the 5-0 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians hit a pair of three-run homers and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in six, in the 13-6 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Starling Marte of the Pirates homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-7 win over the Cubs.
Marte earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season and rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, first among NL batters.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 187.7 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 187.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 169.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 157.1 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | atl nl | 149.5 |
| 20 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Santana (7.1IP 3H R BB 6K W in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 187.0 for his career. With the point, he passes former teammate Alex Rodriguez, who also has 187.0 career points, but Sabathia ranks ahead because he has more 2017 points—2.0 vs. 0.0.
Sabathia now trails fourth-ranked player on the “all-time” list, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (187.7), who only passed Sabathia on Friday. Sabathia had briefly been the highest-ranked active player in career Box-Toppers points until being passed by Kershaw Friday. He now only trails Kershaw by 0.7 points.
In two days, Rodriguez has moved from fourth place to sixth place on the “all-time” list after being passed by Kershaw on Friday and Sabathia on Saturday. He had been in fourth place since April 2, 2011.
Rankings—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Sale (7IP 3H R 3BB 12K W in the 2-1 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.7 for the season.
For the first time this season, all players in the season top 10 list have earned Player of the Game honors more than once in 2017.
Debut—Cesar Hernandez of the Phillies made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hernandez (HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-2 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut May 29, 2013, and was playing in his 393rd career game. He is the 3,770th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Hernandez and Marte both had Box-Toppers game scores Saturday of +2.0, but Marte won NL Batter of the Day honors over Hernandez on a tiebreaker—he had one stolen base in his game and Hernandez had none.
Scoring—Santana earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chatwood earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Marte each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
| 4/15 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | MIN 6, CHW 0 | Ervin Santana (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 14.0 | SEA 5, TEX 0 | James Paxton (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 11.0 | BOS 2, TB 1 | Chris Sale (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | COL 5, SF 0 | Tyler Chatwood (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| BAT | 9.0 | CLE 13, DET 6 | Jose Ramirez, 2B | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 8.0 | `TOR 2, BAL 1 | Marco Estrada | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 7.1 | NYY 3, STL 2 | CC Sabathia (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.1 | LAD 8, ARI 4 | Alex Wood (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 10, OAK 6 | Will Harris (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 4, SD 2 | Jim Johnson (S,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 5, NYM 4 | AJ Ramos (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | KC 3, LAA 2 | Joakim Soria (W,1-0; BS,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | PIT 8, CHC 7 | Starling Marte, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | PHI 4, WSH 2 | Cesar Hernandez, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 7, MIL 5 | Zack Cozart, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 | 8.7 | 41.5 | 102.0 | 0.7 |
| Marte, Starling 3122 | lf cf | pit nl | 3.0 | 5.5 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 0.5 |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 | 16.1 | 84.1 | 89.1 | -10.7 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 34.5 | 187.0 | -4.0 |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 6.4 | 13.1 | 13.1 | -2.4 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | col nl | 1.7 | 8.7 | 15.4 | 18.4 | -5.3 |
| Ramirez, Jose 3436 | 3b | cle al | 1.5 | 3.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 12.0 | 41.1 | 44.1 | -10.0 |
| Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp | atl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 16.0 | 22.7 | -3.0 |
| Ramos, A.J. 3210 | pi cp | fla nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -1.0 |
| Cozart, Zack 3012 | ss | cin nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -1.0 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi mr sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 0.0 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi mr cp | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.7 | 46.7 | 0.0 |
| Harris, Will 3093 | pi mr cp | hou al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 0.0 |
| Hernandez, Cesar 3770 | 2b | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Bagwell, Raines, Rodriguez elected to Hall of Fame; Schilling, Hoffman, Kent, Guerrero among the Box-Toppers leaders who were overlooked.
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Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | died* | 22.4 |
| 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 8 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
Chatwood pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing three hits and two walks, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out five, in the 1-0 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—John Jaso of the Pirates hit for the cycle (single, double, triple and three-run homer) in the 8-4 win over the Cubs. Jaso went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gomez of the Rangers hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning, three-run homer in the 8-5 win over the Brewers. Gomez also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice. This was the second straight day Gomez earned Player of the Game honors. He has 4.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 2.5 earned in the past two days.
Notable—Two batters with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
Cabrera also has the highest season Box-Toppers point total (12.0) of any of the 15 who earnedPlayer of the Game honors Wednesday. Cabrera ranks 31st among all players, fourth among AL batters, behind Manny Machado of the Orioles (12.7), Mike Trout of the Angels (12.5) and Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5).
Also notable—Hunter Renfroe of the Padres, who made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Wednesday, one of two players who earned Box-Toppers points two days in a row. (The other was AL Batter of the Day Carlos Gomez.)
Renfroe (HR 2-4 2R 4BI in the 6-5 win over the Dodgers) now has 2.5 Box-Toppers points.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Chatwood 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. Jaso and Gomez each earn 1.5 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.
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
| 9/28 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | COL 2, SF 0 | Tyler Chatwood (W,12-9) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | 10.1 | CHW 1, TB 0 | Miguel Gonzalez (W,5-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | PIT 8, CHC 4 | John Jaso, 1B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | `KC 5, MIN 2 | Jason Vargas | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 8, MIL 5 | Carlos Gomez, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SD 6, LAD 5 | Hunter Renfroe, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 12, PHI 2 | Dansby Swanson, SS | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | ARI 3, WSH 0 (6) | Shelby Miller (W,3-12) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 12, HOU 4 | Leonys Martin, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 6, CLE 3 (5) | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYY 5, BOS 3 | Mark Teixeira, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 3, TOR 2 | Hyun Soo Kim, PH-LF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 5, MIA 2 | Jeurys Familia (S,50) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 8, OAK 6 | A.J. Achter (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | CIN 2, STL 1 | Raisel Iglesias (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 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 | +/- |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 12.0 | 16.7 | 65.3 | 144.9 | 7.3 |
| Gonzalez, Miguel 3062 | pi sp | chi al | 9.1 | 15.8 | 37.9 | 37.9 | 2.4 |
| Familia, Jeurys 3446 | pi cp | nym nl | 8.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 0.0 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | col nl | 7.0 | 7.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 7.0 |
| Jaso, John 2705 | 1b | pit nl | 5.5 | 5.5 | 10.5 | 16.5 | 5.5 |
| Gomez, Carlos 2397 | lf | tex al | 4.5 | 10.5 | 21.0 | 32.0 | -1.5 |
| Teixeira, Mark 1738 | 1b | nyy al | 4.0 | 11.5 | 32.2 | 101.3 | -3.5 |
| Iglesias, Raisel 3467 | pi sp cp | cin nl | 3.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 0.3 |
| Renfroe, Hunter 3749 | rf | sd nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 12.0 | 38.1 | 38.1 | -8.0 |
| Kim, Hyun Soo 3671 | lf | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 35.5 | 47.2 | 0.0 |
| Martin, Leonys 3053 | cf | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 1.0 |
| Achter, A.J. 3752 | pi mr | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Swanson, Dansby 3751 | ss | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Red Sox pitcher David Price is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Price struck out nine over eight innings, allowing two runs, two hits and no walks, in the 12-2 win over the Orioles.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 |
Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 20th among all players and sixth among American League pitchers.
Price also now has 106.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, he passes five players on the “all-time” list—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers (104.9), Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7), Aramis Ramirez (105.8) and Frank Thomas (106.2). He now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks allowed one hit and one run over eight innings, striking out seven and walking two, in the 4-1 win over the Cardinals.
Hendricks earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Hendricks ranks 15th among all players and 11th among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasmany Tomas of the Diamondbacks hit a grand slam and doubled, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-9 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox homered and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 11-4 win over the Indians.
Notable—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson now has 12.1 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Hellickson (6.1IP 3H R 3BB 6K in the 6-2 win over the Pirates) now ranks 23rd among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 102.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Liriano (6.1IP 3H 2R BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Rays) now ranks 67th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list—Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and now trails 66th-ranked player Miguel Tejada (102.3). Liriano has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 30th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hendricks earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Tomas and Garcia 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.
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Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/12 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | BOS 12, BAL 2 | David Price (W,16-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |
| NL | 10.0 | CHC 4, STL 1 | Kyle Hendricks (W,15-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | ARI 12, COL 9 | Yasmany Tomas, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | OAK 16, KC 3 | Daniel Coulombe (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.1 | `DET 4, MIN 2 | Daniel Norris | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 5.2 | `CIN 3, MIL 0 | Keyvius Sampson | - | - | - | - | 4.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.1 | PHI 6, PIT 2 | Jeremy Hellickson (W,11-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | SEA 8, LAA 1 | Ariel Miranda (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | `TOR 3, TB 2 | Francisco Liriano | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | ATL 12, MIA 7 | Nick Markakis, RF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | CHW 11, CLE 4 | Avisail Garcia, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TEX 4, HOU 3 (12) | Rougned Odor, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 4, SF 0 | Paul Clemens (W,3-5) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | WSH 8, NYM 1 | Anthony Rendon, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | LAD 8, NYY 2 | Howie Kendrick, 1B | 3 | 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 | +/- |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.4 | 23.1 | 28.1 | 28.1 | 3.7 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 12.4 | 33.5 | 89.5 | 106.2 | -8.7 |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 12.1 | 17.1 | 40.8 | 43.8 | 7.1 |
| Tomas, Yasmany 3489 | rf lf | ari nl | 7.7 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 4.2 |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 | 21.9 | 62.4 | 102.2 | -7.9 |
| Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | tex al | 6.5 | 9.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 3.5 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 5.5 | 6.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 4.5 |
| Markakis, Nick 2116 | rf | atl nl | 5.0 | 9.5 | 20.5 | 47.1 | 0.5 |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b lf 1b | lad nl | 4.0 | 8.0 | 20.0 | 34.0 | 0.0 |
| Garcia, Avisail 3256 | dh rf | chi al | 2.5 | 5.5 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -0.5 |
| Coulombe, Daniel 3720 | pi mr | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Norris, Daniel 3548 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -3.0 |
| Clemens, Paul 3185 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| Miranda, Ariel 3738 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Sampson, Keyvius 3737 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and becomes the 73rd player since 1995 with 100 or more Box-Toppers points.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 12.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
Liriano struck out 13 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs, four hits and no walks, in the 5-3 win over the Brewers.
Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 101.2 for his career, rising to 69th place among all players since 1995, passing four players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Jason Schmidt (101.2). Liriano now trails 68th-ranked player Tim Wakefield (101.4). Liriano has 6.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 25th among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright struck out nine over eight innings, allowing two runs (one earned), four hits and one walk, in the 13-2 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—Justin Turner of the Dodgers hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 6-3 win over the Nationals.
American League Batter of the Day—Corey Dickerson of the Rays homered and went 2-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Athletics.
Notable—Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman had the most season Box-Toppers points among the nine who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Tillman (7IP 4H R 2BB 7K W in the 401 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, 45th among all players and 16th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Liriano earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wright earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Turner and Dickerson 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
| 7/21 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.2 | PIT 5, MIL 3 | Francisco Liriano (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13 | |
| AL | 9.0 | BOS 13, MIN 2 | Steven Wright (W,12-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | LAD 6, WSH 3 | Justin Turner, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | MIA 9, PHI 3 | Tom Koehler (W,7-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | BAL 4, NYY 1 | Chris Tillman (W,14-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | TB 7, OAK 3 | Corey Dickerson, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | STL 6, SD 5 | Stephen Piscotty, PH-1B-RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | COL 7, ATL 3 | Carlos Gonzalez, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | DET 2, CHW 1 (7) | Shane Greene (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 7.0 | 11.7 | 40.8 | 42.8 | 2.3 |
| Wright, Steven 3224 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 | 10.4 | 11.4 | 11.4 | 3.0 |
| Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 | 20.9 | 61.4 | 101.2 | -8.9 |
| Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | rf | col nl | 4.5 | 16.0 | 44.7 | 57.7 | -7.0 |
| Piscotty, Stephen 3570 | rf | stl nl | 4.0 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 8.2 | -0.2 |
| Dickerson, Corey 3222 | lf dh | tb al | 3.5 | 6.5 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 0.5 |
| Koehler, Tom 3159 | pi sp | fla nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 15.0 | 15.0 | -1.0 |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b 2b | lad nl | 2.5 | 6.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -1.5 |
| Greene, Shane 3381 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -1.0 |
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.