Reds' Mike Leake (8IP 0R 2H) tops players for Thursday, April 30

Reds pitcher Mike Leake is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Leake pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Braves. Leake also homered in the game.

American League Player of the Day—Brian Dozier of the Twins hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four, in the 12-2 win over the White Sox.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
5	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
7	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
8	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	3.7
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
10	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two doubles and drove in three runs in the 8-2 win over the Mets. This was Harper’s first Player of the Game honor since Sept. 19, 2013. After earning 9.4 Box-Toppers points in 2013, fifth among NL batters, Harper earned 0.0 points in 2014, as he battled injury much of the season.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday since a batter, Brian Dozier of the Twins, won AL Player of the Day honors.

Scoring—Leake earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Dozier earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Harper earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/30	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	Reds	Mike Leake (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	2	3
	5.2	Cardinals	Carlos Villanueva (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	0	0	0	0	2
AL	3.0	Twins	Brian Dozier 2B	5	2	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Royals	Danny Duffy (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	1	1	2	7
BAT	2.0	Nationals	Bryce Harper RF	4	1	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Garrett Richards (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	1	3	5
	1.0	Blue Jays	Russell Martin C	2	1	1	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Astros	Jose Altuve 2B	5	1	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Pirates' Gerrit Cole tops players for Wednesday, April 29, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Cole struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, in the 8-1 win over the Cubs. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season.

While Cole has the same number of Box-Toppers points as overall leader Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, Cole is in second place in player rankings because he had fewer points in 2014—Hernandez had 20.8, Cole had 5.7.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 29.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
5	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
7	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
8	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	3.7
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
10	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel allowed one run over eight innings in the 7-2 win over the Padres. Keuchel rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season.

Keuchel had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of 7.0, tied with three other AL players—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello and Rays pitcher Drew Smyly. But Keuchel beat Smyly in a tiebreaker because he earned the win in his game, while Smyly had a no-decision. And Keuchel beat Jimenez and Porcello in a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—he had eight, while the other two both had seven.

National League League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and went 3-for-5, in the 8-3 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Roberto Perez of the Indians homered, doubled and went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs, in the 7-5 win over the Royals.

Rankings—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday (2HR 2B 3-5 2R 4BI in the 10-7 win over the Twins). Cabrera earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.7 for the season. He leads all American League batters.

Cabrera now has 131.9 career Box-Toppers points and moves up to 25th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Wednesday’s point, Cabrera passes Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (131.8 Box-Toppers points). Cabrera now trails Jason Giambi and David Ortiz (who both have 133.4)

Cabrera ranks ninth among all batters since 1995 and is the fourth-ranked active batter, behind Alex Rodriguez (181.8), Albert Pujols (167.3) and David Ortiz (133.4).

Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Keuchel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Braun and Perez 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/29	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	0	1	8
	8.0	Dbacks	Josh Collmenter (W, 2-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	0	0	6
AL	7.0	Astros	Dallas Keuchel (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	0	4
	7.0	Orioles	Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	0	1	6
	7.0	Red Sox	Rick Porcello (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	2	6
	7.0	`Rays	Drew Smyly	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	1	10
BAT	5.0	Brewers	Ryan Braun RF	5	2	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	Indians	Roberto Perez C	3	3	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera 1B	5	2	3	4	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Angels	Mike Trout CF	3	2	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Marlins	Sam Dyson (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Nationals	Danny Espinosa 3B	5	2	4	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	`Mariners	Danny Farquhar (H, 4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	`Cardinals	Jordan Walden (H, 8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Dodgers	Scott Van Slyke LF	2	1	1	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Giants' Madison Bumgarner (8IP R 9K) tops players for Tuesday, April 28

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Player of the Day.

Bumgarner struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers. 

It was the second straight start in which Bumgarner outdueled Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5. Bumgarner was third among all players with 22.6.

This was Bumgarner’s first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor this season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 28.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
3	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
5	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
6	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
8	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
9	Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445	ss	fla nl	3.5
10	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher J.A. Happ struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Trumbo of the Diamondbacks homered, tripled and went 4-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs, in the 12-5 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Kendrys Morales of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 11-5 win over the Indians.

Rankings—Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday (8IP 3H 2R 6K W in the 4-2 win over the Brewers). Cueto earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.4 for the season. He becomes the top-ranked NL pitcher.

Notable—Dan Uggla of the Nationals earned his first Player of the Game honor in nearly two years (HR 3B 3-5 2R 5BI in the 13-12 win over the Braves). In 2011, Uggla earned 11.5 Box-Toppers points with the Braves (fifth among NL batters) but in 2013, earned only 1.5 Box-Toppers points (on June 9) and in 2014 earned no points and was released by both the Braves and the Giants.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Happ earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Trumbo and Morales 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

4/28	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	1	1	9
BAT	7.0	Dbacks	Mark Trumbo RF	4	3	4	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Reds	Johnny Cueto (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	2	2	0	6
	7.0	Cubs	Travis Wood (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	0	9
AL	6.2	Mariners	J.A. Happ (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	1	1	1	9
	6.0	Twins	Mike Pelfrey (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	1	2	7
	5.0	Nationals	Dan Uggla 2B	5	2	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	Royals	Kendrys Morales DH	5	4	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Astros	Luis Valbuena 3B	4	4	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Blue Jays	Marco Estrada (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	2	3
	3.0	Athletics	Josh Reddick RF	4	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Cardinals	Matt Adams 1B	4	1	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Yankees	Jacoby Ellsbury CF	4	2	3	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Marlins	Steve Cishek (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	1

Cubs' Jason Hammel (8IP 0R 7K) tops players for Monday, April 27

Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel is Monday’s Player of the Day.

Hammel pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 27.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
3	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
4	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
5	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
7	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
8	Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445	ss	fla nl	3.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
10	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hammel has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2006 with the Rays. His best season was 2014 when he had 10.4 Box-Toppers points with the Cubs (8.7) and the Athletics (1.7). He has 38.5 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks him 44th among active pitchers currently in the National League.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Adam Warren struck out six over 5 2/3 innings and allowed one run in the 4-1 win over the Rays. Warren earned no decision because he left with the game tied, 1-1.

National League Batter of the Day—Jay Bruce of the Reds hit a two-run homer, scored twice and drove in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Brewers.

American League Batter of the Day—Pablo Sandoval of the Red Sox homered, went 2-for-2 and drove in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Blue Jays.

Streak—Justin Morneau of the Rockies has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons. Morneau was Player of the Game in Monday’s 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks (3R HR 2-3 3BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Morneau earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2004 with the Twins. His best season was 2006 with the Twins when he had 12.2 Box-Toppers points, ranking seventh among AL batters. In 2014, he had 3.2 Box-Toppers points with the Rockies.

Morneau has 72.3 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 71st among all batters since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, behind Ryan Braun (72.7) and ahead of Chase Utley (72.1). He ranks sixth among active batters currently in the NL.

Debut—Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Walker (7IP R 5K W in the 3-1 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2013, and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,453rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. 

Scoring—Hammel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Warren earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Bruce and Sandoval each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/27	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Cubs	Jason Hammel (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	0	7
	6.0	Phillies	Cole Hamels (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	4	9
BAT	5.0	Reds	Jay Bruce RF	1	2	1	3	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	4.2	`Yankees	Adam Warren	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	5	1	1	0	6
BAT	4.0	Red Sox	Pablo Sandoval 3B	2	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Dodgers	Justin Turner PH	1	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mariners	Taijuan Walker (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	0	1	5
	3.0	Braves	Kelly Johnson LF	4	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Justin Morneau 1B	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	`Mets	Dillon Gee	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	1	1	0	3
	2.0	Royals	Mike Moustakas 3B	5	2	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Astros	Colby Rasmus LF	5	2	2	3	0	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Tigers	Yoenis Cespedes LF	4	1	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Rays' Archer tops players for Sunday, April 26, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Sunday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Archer pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and struck out seven, in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jays. Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season. He trails only Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (6.0 Box-Toppers points) in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 26.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
3	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
4	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
5	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
7	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
8	Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445	ss	fla nl	3.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
10	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano struck out seven over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 8-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Delmon Young of the Orioles drove in five and went 3-for-6 with three runs in the 18-7 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Montero of the Cubs homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Reds.

Rankings—Adeiny Hechavarria of the Marlins rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday (3B 2-4 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Nationals). Hechavarria earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.5 for the season.

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Liriano earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Young and Montero each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/26	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Rays	Chris Archer (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	7
NL	5.1	Pirates	Francisco Liriano (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	2	0	0	6	7
BAT	5.0	Orioles	Delmon Young RF	6	3	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera 1B	4	2	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	White Sox	David Robertson (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Astros	Jake Marisnick CF	4	3	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Padres	Brandon Morrow (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	4
	3.0	Twins	Casey Fien (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Cubs	Miguel Montero C	4	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Phillies	Freddy Galvis SS	3	2	3	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	White Sox	John Danks (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	3	3	1	8
	2.0	Yankees	Andrew Miller (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria SS	4	0	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Brewers	Gerardo Parra RF	4	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Rangers	Adam Rosales PR, 3B	0	1	0	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton tops players for Saturday, April 25, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Stanton homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two, in the 8-0 win over the Nationals. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season. He is the overall top-ranked batter and trails only Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, who has 6.0 Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 25.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
3	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
4	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
5	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
6	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
8	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4
9	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
10	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Ernesto Frieri struck out three in an inning of middle relief in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. Frieri had the AL-highest Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +4, which was tied with Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen, who was Player of the Game in the win over the Red Sox. But Frieri won the tiebreaker as AL Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game while Chen earned no decision.

American League Batter of the Day—Jed Lowrie of the Astros doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Since the top NL player who earned Player of the Game honors was a batter (Stanton) there is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday.

Rankings—Besides Stanton, two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:

• Mets pitcher Matt Harvey (8.2IP 2R 7K W in the 8-2 win over the Yankees) rose to fifth place. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.7 for the season.
• Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (4IP 0R 4K ND in the 5-3 win over the Brewers) rose to 10th place. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. Wainwright left the game with an ankle injury while batting in the fifth inning and had to be helped off the field. With the Box-Toppers point earned Saturday, Wainwright now has 101.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 59th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Saturdays' point, he passes Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Jason Schmidt (101.2) on that list.

Streak—Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons. Burnett was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks (7IP R 4K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Burnett began the 12-season streak in 2004, the year he earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points with the Marlins and has earned Player of the Game honors at least once in every season since. However, Burnett earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1999 with the Marlins. He did not score any Box-Toppers points in 2003, the only season since 1999 that he had 0.0 points.

Burnett had his best seasons in 2002 and 2005, both with the Marlins, when he scored 13.7 Box-Toppers points. In 2002, he ranked fourth among NL pitchers. In 2005, he ranked ninth among NL pitchers. In 2014, he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies, ranking 37th among NL pitchers.

Burnett has 122.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 33rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks 22nd among all pitchers since 1995. His career point total ranks sixth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Scoring—Stanton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Frieri earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Lowrie earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/25	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	5.0	Marlins	Giancarlo Stanton RF	3	3	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`Cardinals	Adam Wainwright	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	3	0	0	0	4
	4.2	Mets	Matt Harvey (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.2	5	2	2	2	7
	4.0	Dodgers	Andre Ethier RF	4	2	3	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	4.0	Rays	Ernesto Frieri (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	`Orioles	Wei-Yin Chen	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	2	2	1	5
BAT	3.0	Astros	Jed Lowrie SS	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	`Pirates	A.J. Burnett	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	2	4
	2.0	Tigers	Joakim Soria (S, 6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Braves	Jason Grilli (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Twins	Eduardo Nunez LF	4	1	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Angels	Grant Green 2B	3	2	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Giants	Joe Panik 2B	0	0	0	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Hernandez, pitching complete game shutout, tops players for Friday, April 24, extends his Box-Toppers player rankings lead

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, pitching a complete game shutout, is Friday’s Player of the Day and extends his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Hernandez struck out nine over nine innings, allowing five hits, in the 2-0 win over the Twins. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and is now 2.0 points ahead of the second-place player, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (4.0 Box-Toppers points).

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 24.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
3	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
4	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
6	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4
7	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	3.0
9	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hernandez now has 149.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 16th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1994. With Friday's points, he passes Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits, in the 1-0 win over the Braves. Harang had a no-decision because he left the game with the score tied 0-0. The Phillies won the game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off run by Freddy Galvis.

Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season. He rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2015.

American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Indians homered twice, doubled and drove in seven runs in the 13-1 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs and scoring another, in the 6-4 win over the Giants.

Rankings—Besides Hernandez and Harang, three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rose in Box-Toppers player rankings:

• Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7.2IP R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks) rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.
• Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke (7IP 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres) rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. Greinke now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 28th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Friday's point, he passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).
• Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (9IP 2H 0R 4K ND in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Lester was Player of the Game in Friday’s 7-3 win over the Reds (6IP 3R 10K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. 

Lester earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His best season was 2010 with the Red Sox when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players. In 2014, he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points in a season split between the Red Sox (10.0 Box-Toppers points) and the Athletics (6.4 points). He ranked sixth among AL pitchers in 2014. 

Lester has 110.1 career Box-Toppers points, moving him up to 47th place among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. (With Friday’s 1.0 Box-Toppers point, he passes Jeff Kent—109.7 and Tim Lincecum—109.3.) Lester ranks 33rd among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and ranks ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Tim Beckham of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Beckham (HR 2-2 R 2BI in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Sept. 19, 2013, and was playing in the 21st game of his career. He is the 3,452nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. 

Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Moss and LeMahieu each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

4/24	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	0	0	0	9
NL	11.0	`Phillies	Aaron Harang	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	1	6
	9.0	Cardinals	Carlos Martinez (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	8
	9.0	`Astros	Dallas Keuchel	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	2	4
	7.2	Yankees	Michael Pineda (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	1	1	0	7
BAT	7.0	Indians	Brandon Moss RF	5	2	3	7	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	3	7
	4.0	`Cubs	Jon Lester	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	3	3	1	10
	3.2	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	7	1	1	2	7
	3.0	Rays	Tim Beckham PH, DH	2	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Rockies	DJ LeMahieu 2B	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Red Sox	Brock Holt SS, LF	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Garrett Richards (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	3	5
	1.0	Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria SS	3	2	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Blue Jays' Hutchison, Marlins' Phelps top players for Thursday, April 23

Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Hutchison struck out seven over eight innings and allowed two runs in the 7-6 win over the Orioles.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher David Phelps pitched seven shutout innings and struck out five in the 9-1 win over the Phillies. Phelps tied Hutchison for the day’s top Box-Toppers game score of +7, but Hutchison won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more innings pitched than Phelps (eight vs. seven).

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0
2	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
3	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
6	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
7	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	3.0
8	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	3.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	3.0
10	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Mets drove in four runs and went 2-for-3 with a double, in the 6-3 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day Thursday because no AL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Streak—Brewers pitcher Kyle Lohse has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 15 straight seasons. Lohse was Player of the Game in Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Reds (7IP 3H 2R 4K W) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. Lohse earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Twins. His best season was 2011 with the Cardinals when he had 12.0 Box-Toppers points. In 2014, his second-best season, he had 11.1 points with the Brewers, ranking 17th among NL pitchers. He has 86.0 career Box-Toppers points, ranking him 17th among active pitchers currently in the NL.

The record for most consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point is 19, held by Jason Giambi (1995-2013). (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.) Three active players had Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons as of 2014, the longest current streaks—Tim Hudson of the Giants, Carlos Beltran of the Yankees and Torii Hunter of the Tigers. None of them has yet earned Box-Toppers points in 2015.

Debut—Angels pitcher Nick Tropeano made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Tropeano (6IP 5H 0R 5K W in the 2-0 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 10, 2014, and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,451st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Notables—Three other notable facts from Thursday:

• Corey Dickerson of the Rockies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Thursday (HR 2-3 in the 2-1 win over the Padres).
• Pirates pitcher Radhames Liz earned his first Box-Toppers point in more than five years. Liz (2IP H 0R 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Cubs) last earned Player of the Game honors Sept. 14, 2008 as a starting pitcher with the Orioles. It is the only other time he has earned Player of the Game honors.
• Thursday marks the first day of the season there are no changes in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings list. Hutchison is the highest-ranked player from Thursday’s list of Players of the Games. He has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranked 23rd among all players.

Scoring—Hutchison earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Phelps earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Murphy earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/23	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	Blue Jays	Drew Hutchison (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	2	2	0	7
NL	7.0	Marlins	David Phelps (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	5
	5.1	`Yankees	Masahiro Tanaka	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	1	1	2	6
	5.0	`Royals	Yordano Ventura	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	1	8
	5.0	Angels	Nick Tropeano (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	1	5
	4.0	Cardinals	Michael Wacha (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	2	6
BAT	3.0	Mets	Daniel Murphy 2B	3	0	2	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Brewers	Kyle Lohse (W, 1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	1	4
	3.0	`Giants	Ryan Vogelsong	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	1	5
	3.0	Pirates	Radhames Liz (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Rockies	Corey Dickerson LF	3	2	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rays	Brad Boxberger (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	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.

Athletics' Sonny Gray, Reds' Johnny Cueto top players for Wednesday, April 22

Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.

Gray struck out seven over seven innings and allowed one run on two hits in the 9-2 win over the Angels. Gray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season and rises to eighth in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 22.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0
2	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
3	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
6	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
7	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	3.0
8	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	3.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	3.0
10	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto struck out eight over eight innings and allowed one run on five hits in the 2-1 win over the Brewers. Cueto earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season and rises to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings.

National League Batter of the Day—Kolten Wong of the Cardinals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 7-5 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—Gregorio Petit of the Yankees doubled, scored and drove in three runs in the 13-4 win over the Tigers. It is Petit’s first Box-Toppers point in nearly six years. He last earned Player of the Game honors May 2, 2009, as a member of the Athletics.

Notable—Jose Abreu of the White Sox, last season’s Box-Toppers points leader among AL batters, scored his first Box-Toppers point of the season. Abreu (HR 2B 2-4 R 3BI in the 6-0 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game. In 2014, he had 15.5 Box-Toppers points.

Also notable—The NL’s top two Box-Toppers points leaders in 2014 faced off in a pitching duel Wednesday, but neither earned Player of the Game honors.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5, faced Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, second among NL pitchers and third place overall in 2014 with 22.6 Box-Toppers points.

The Giants beat the Dodgers 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth inning on Joe Panik’s walk-off sacrifice fly. Panik earned Player of the Game honors with an Box-Toppers game score of +1.0, the highest of any Giants player.

Had the Dodgers prevailed, Kershaw (6IP 3H 2R 9K ND) likely would have been Player of the Game. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +7. But he exited the game after six innings with the Giants leading 2-0. Kershaw has 1.0 Box-Toppers point this season, earned April 17.

Bumgarner also earned a no decision in the game, leaving with the score tied 2-2. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +0.1 (6.1IP 6H 2R 6K), allowing Panik’s low game score of +1 to beat him for Player of the Game. Bumgarner has yet to earn Player of the Game honors this season and so has no Box-Toppers points for 2015.

Scoring—Gray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cueto earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Wong and Petit 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/22	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	Athletics	Sonny Gray (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	2	7
NL	7.0	Reds	Johnny Cueto (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	1	2	8
	4.0	Twins	Mike Pelfrey (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	2	4
	4.0	Marlins	Jarred Cosart (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	1	0	4
	4.0	Rays	Brad Boxberger (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	3.0	Cardinals	Kolten Wong 2B	4	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Corey Dickerson LF	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Yankees	Gregorio Petit 2B	2	1	1	3	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Blue Jays	Devon Travis 2B	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	White Sox	Jose Abreu 1B	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Dbacks	Chris Owings 2B	4	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Pirates	Tony Watson (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Mets	Jeurys Familia (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Giants	Joe Panik PH, 2B	0	0	0	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.1	Mariners	J.A. Happ (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	8	2	2	0	5

Indians' Carlos Carrasco (5IP R 8K) tops players for Tuesday, April 21, rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Tuesday’s Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Carrasco struck out eight over five innings and allowed one run in the 6-2 win over the White Sox. Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season.

National League Player of the Day—Todd Frazier of the Reds hit a grand slam and went 2-for-3 with three runs, in the 16-10 win over the Brewers.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 21.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0
2	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
3	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
5	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
6	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	3.0
7	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	3.0
8	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
9	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	2.7
10	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	2.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Batter of the Day—Johnny Giavotella of the Angels homered and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 14-1 win over the Athletics.

Streak—Ryan Howard of the Phillies has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons. Howard was Player of the Game in Tuesday’s 7-3 win over the Marlins (HR 2-3 2R 2BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Howard, who has spent his entire career with the Phillies, earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005. His best season was 2009 when he had 15.4 Box-Toppers points, third among NL batters. In 2014, he had 7.2 Box-Toppers points, ranking fifth among NL first basemen. He has 92.2 career Box-Toppers points, ranking him 83rd among all players since record keeping began in 1995, 35th among all batters in that time and first among active first basemen currently in the NL (second place is Justin Morneau of the Rockies with 71.3 Box-Toppers points).

Debut—Dalton Pompey of the Blue Jays made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Pompey (2-2B 3-4 3R in the 13-6 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2014, and was playing in his 31st career game. He is the 3,450th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Young and Young—Both Major League players named Chris Young earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday:

• Royals pitcher Chris R. Young was Player of the Game in the 6-5 win over the Twins (2IP 0R K W).
• Chris B. Young of the Yankees was Player of the Game in the 5-2 win over the Tigers (HR 2B 3-3 R BI).

Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Frazier earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Giavotella earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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

4/21	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	Indians	Carlos Carrasco (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	0	8
BAT	6.0	Angels	Johnny Giavotella 2B	3	3	2	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	5.0	Reds	Todd Frazier 3B	4	3	2	4	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.1	Rangers	Shawn Tolleson (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	Giants	Justin Maxwell RF	3	3	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cubs	Starlin Castro SS	5	1	3	4	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Phillies	Ryan Howard 1B	3	2	2	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Astros	Jake Marisnick CF	2	2	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Royals	Chris Young (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Mets	Curtis Granderson RF	5	0	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Padres	Wil Myers CF	4	1	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Blue Jays	Dalton Pompey CF	4	3	3	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Chris Young RF	3	1	3	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.2	Red Sox	Wade Miley (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	3	0	0	4	3
	1.0	Nationals	Aaron Barrett (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	1

Reds' Anthony DeSclafani (8IP 0R) tops players for Monday, April 20

Reds pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Monday’s Player of the Day and rises to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

DeSclafani pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 6-1 win over the Brewers. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 20.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0
2	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
3	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
5	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
6	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	3.0
7	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
8	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	2.7
9	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
10	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Dan Otero pitched four scoreless innings of middle relief, allowing one hit and striking out four in the 6-3 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Padres hit a two-run double and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four total runs, in the 14-3 win over the Rockies. Kemp has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. He began the streak in 2006, when he earned his first Box-Toppers points with the Dodgers. His best year was 2012 with the Dodgers, when he had 10.0 Box-Toppers points, ranking third among NL batters. In 2014, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points with the Dodgers. Kemp has 47.6 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks him seventh among active outfielders currently in the NL. Monday was the first time he earned Box-Toppers points as a member of the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—Luis Valbuena of the Astros hit two home runs and drove in three runs in the 7-5 win over the Mariners.

Scoring—DeSclafani earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Otero earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Kemp and Valbuena each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/20	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	Reds	Anthony DeSclafani (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	1	5
	8.0	Cubs	Jake Arrieta (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	0	7
AL	7.0	Athletics	Dan Otero (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	1	0	0	0	4
BAT	6.0	Padres	Matt Kemp RF	4	3	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.1	Tigers	Alfredo Simon (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	7	1	1	0	7
BAT	4.0	Astros	Luis Valbuena 3B	3	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Royals	Edinson Volquez (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	5
	3.0	Red Sox	Justin Masterson (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	1	1	3	6
	3.0	White Sox	David Robertson (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2

Dodgers' Brandon McCarthy (6IP 0R 6K) tops players for Sunday, April 19

Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy is Sunday’s Player of the Day.

McCarthy pitched six scoreless innings and struck out six in the 7-0 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Tigers hit a grand slam and a two-run homer in the 9-1 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Jonny Gomes of the Braves hit a double and drove in four total runs in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 19.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0
2	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
5	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	3.0
6	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
7	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	2.7
8	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
10	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b dh	tor al	2.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Cole (6IP 2R 6K in the 5-2 win over the Brewers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Scoring—McCarthy earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cespedes earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gomes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/19	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	Dodgers	Brandon McCarthy (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	6
AL	6.0	Tigers	Yoenis Cespedes LF	4	2	2	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.1	Nationals	Stephen Strasburg (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	1	1	2	7
	5.0	Orioles	Adam Jones CF	5	1	4	5	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mariners	Nelson Cruz RF	6	2	3	5	0	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Braves	Jonny Gomes LF	2	0	1	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Yankees	Andrew Miller (S, 4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Royals	Wade Davis (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Twins	Shane Robinson CF	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt 1B	3	2	1	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	2	1	6
	2.0	Padres	Andrew Cashner (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	0	2	5
	2.0	Astros	Luke Gregerson (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Mets	Ruben Tejada SS	4	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Cardinals	Matt Carpenter 3B	3	1	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Mariners' Felix Hernandez, top player for Saturday, April 18, rises to top of Box-Toppers player rankings

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to the top of Box-Toppers player rankings.

Hernandez struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 3-1 win over the Rangers. Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, passing previous points leader, Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir, who has 3.7.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 18.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0
2	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
5	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
6	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	2.7
7	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
8	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
9	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b dh	tor al	2.5
10	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	2.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score of +12, tied with Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who was Player of the Game in the 9-0 win over the Rays. However, Hernandez won Player of the Day honors on a tie-breaker—he had more strikeouts than Tanaka Saturday (12 vs. 8).

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 5-4 win over the Marlins. deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season. He rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

American League Batter of the Day—Adam LaRoche of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBIs in the 12-3 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Odubel Herrera of the Phillies went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI, in the 5-3 win over the Nationals. This was Herrera’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 6 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,449th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Notables—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Donaldson (HR 3-4 2R BI in the 6-5 win over the Braves) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.5 for the season.

Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers earned just his third Player of the Game honor Saturday in his third season in baseball. While Puig is considered one of the game’s rising stars and an All-Star, he has so far only rarely earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and now has 3.5 Box-Toppers points since his Box-Toppers debut on June 4, 2013. On Saturday, Puig went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI in the 6-3 win over the Rockies. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and has that 1.0 point for the season. That equals his 2014 total of 1.0 Box-Toppers point—he was Player of the Game once in 2014, on May 12.

Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. LaRoche and Herrera each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

4/18	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	2	12
	13.0	Yankees	Masahiro Tanaka (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	0	8
NL	9.0	Mets	Jacob deGrom (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	0	8
	8.0	Pirates	Jeff Locke (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	0	6
	8.0	Astros	Dallas Keuchel (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	3	7
	7.0	`Cubs	Kyle Hendricks	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	0	8
	5.2	Giants	Chris Heston (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	1	1	1	6
	4.2	Athletics	Jesse Chavez (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	4	0	0	1	6
BAT	4.0	White Sox	Adam LaRoche 1B	5	2	3	4	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Indians	Danny Salazar (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	2	2	2	10
	3.0	Cardinals	Carlos Martinez (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	2	4
	3.0	Orioles	Zach Britton (S, 4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Phillies	Odubel Herrera CF	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Blue Jays	Josh Donaldson DH	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Dodgers	Yasiel Puig RF	3	1	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Friday, April 17, rises to 2nd in player rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Friday’s Player of the Day, while perennial Box-Toppers scorers David Price, Clayton Kershaw, Alex Rodriguez and Mike Trout also earned Player of the Game honors.

Scherzer struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 7-2 win over the Phillies. Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season and rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 17.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
4	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	2.7
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
7	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	2.5
8	Chirinos, Robinson 2924	ca	tex al	2.5
9	Markakis, Nick 2116	rf	atl nl	2.5
10	Rodriguez, Alex	dh 3b	nyy al	2.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher David Price struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the White Sox. Price did not pick up the win because he exited the game with the score tied 1-1. Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, rising to fifth in Box-Toppers player rankings.

American League Batter of the Day—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees hit two home runs (career 657 and 658) and went 3-for-4 with four RBIs, including driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, in the 5-4 win over the Rays. Rodriguez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, rising to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Rodriguez, the leading batter in Box-Toppers points since 1995 with 181.8, last earned Batter of the Day honors on May 23, 2012.

National League Batter of the Day—Nick Markakis of the Braves went 4-for-4 and scored three times in the 8-7 win over the Blue Jays. Markakis earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 2.5 for the season, rising to ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Notables—Three other notable players also earned Player of the Game honors in their wins Friday:

• Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5, scored his first Box-Toppers point of the season. Kershaw (6IP 3R 12K W in 7-3 win over the Rockies) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game.
• Mike Trout of the Angels, AL Most Valuable Player in 2014, earned his first Box-Toppers point of the season. Trout (2HR 2R 5BI in the 6-3 win over the Astros) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game. (Trout and Alex Rodriguez both had identical Box-Toppers game scores of +5, but Rodriguez won AL Batter of the Day honors by virtue of having more hits—three vs. two.)
• Robinson Chirinos of the Rangers rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Chirinos (HR 2-4 2R) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.5 for the season.

Debut—Twins pitcher Aaron Thompson made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Thompson (2IP 0R K ND in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Indians) made his Major League debut Aug. 24, 2011, and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,448th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Rodriguez and Markakis each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

4/17	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	0	9
AL	9.0	`Tigers	David Price	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	2	9
	7.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	3	1	1	12
	6.0	Dbacks	Josh Collmenter (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	0	0	1	2
BAT	5.0	Yankees	Alex Rodriguez DH	4	2	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Angels	Mike Trout CF	4	2	2	5	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mets	Bartolo Colon (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	5
BAT	3.0	Braves	Nick Markakis RF	4	3	4	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Padres	Wil Myers CF	4	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cardinals	Michael Wacha (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	4
	3.0	`Twins	Aaron Thompson	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	1
	3.0	Red Sox	Koji Uehara (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Pirates	Starling Marte LF	4	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Royals	Salvador Perez C	4	1	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Rangers	Robinson Chirinos C	4	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.