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Both National League Division Series begin Thursday.
The NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals face the NL East champion Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the NL Wild Card champion Washington Nationals take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the NL West in the other series.
Read MoreYandy Diaz of the Rays is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s American League Wild Card Game.
Diaz hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-1 win over the Athletics. The Rays advance to the AL Division Series Friday against the Astros.
Read MoreThe Tampa Bay Rays visit the Oakland Athletics in the American League one-game Wild Card playoff game Wednesday.
Starting pitchers are:
Rays—Charlie Morton, 18.8 Box-Toppers points in 2019, fifth among all players and third among American League pitchers. Morton is also the top Rays player in 2019’s Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Athletics—Sean Manaea, 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2019, 265th among all players and 66th among AL pitchers.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s National League Wild Card Game.
Strasburg pitched three innings of scoreless middle relief, striking out four, allowing two hits and no walks and picking up the win, in the 4-3 win over the Brewers. The Nationals advance to the NL Divisional Series Thursday against the Dodgers.
Read MoreThe Milwaukee Brewers visit the Washington Nationals in the National League one-game Wild Card playoff game Tuesday.
Starting pitchers are:
Brewers—Brandon Woodruff, 7.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 94th among all players, 40th among NL pitchers.
Nationals—Max Scherzer, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 15th among all players, ninth among NL pitchers.
Read MoreBox-Toppers is casting a vote for the American League Cy Young Award to Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.
We are also casting our vote for AL Most Valuable Player to … Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole.
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Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2019, earning the fourth-most Box-Toppers points in a single season since tracking began in 1995.
Meanwhile, Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals leads among National League pitchers, Nelson Cruz of the Twins leads among AL batters and Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals leads among NL batters.
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The Houston Astros finish the 2019 season with a large lead in Box-Toppers team rankings.
The Astros lead the rankings for the 10th straight week, while the Washington Nationals continue to lead National League teams in the rankings and were the hottest team since the last rankings report Sept. 19.
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Rangers pitcher Lance Lynn is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Cole now has 32.2 Box-Toppers points for the season, the fourth-highest single-season total since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and most in any season since 2002.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Cole Hamels is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. He also now has the 12th-highest single-season Box-Toppers point total (27.5) since 1995, when player tracking began.
Read MoreOrioles pitcher Asher Wojciechowski is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers rises to third place among National League batters in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreMarlins pitcher Jordan Yamamoto is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg increases his lead among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Brewers pitcher Josh Hader rises to eighth place in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Zack Greinke is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to seventh place in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Rays pitcher Charlie Morton maintains his fifth-place spot in season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, increasing his lead in season player rankings and becoming just the fourth player to reach 30 Box-Toppers points in a season.
Cole struck out 14 over seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks, in the 3-0 win over the Mariners.
Read MoreJorge Alfaro of the Marlins is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Luis Severino is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
In addition, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole wraps up Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors after the only other player in contention for the season Box-Toppers points lead—teammate Justin Verlander—did not earn Player of the Game honors Sunday. With only one start remaining for Verlander and only 2.0 Box-Toppers points possible, Cole’s 2.7-point lead is now all but insurmountable.
Read MoreYankees pitcher James Paxton is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg extended his lead among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Strasburg maintains his third-place overall rank.
Read MoreMets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Also Friday, two players in Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 earned Player of the Game honors—Indians pitcher Shane Bieber (ranked fourth) and Rays pitcher Charlie Morton (ranked fifth).
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Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole leads Box-Toppers weekly player rankings report for the fourth straight week.
Meanwhile, Nelson Cruz of the Twins regains the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters and Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals rises to lead National League batters in 2019 points. Plus, Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals continues to lead NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points.
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The Houston Astros maintain the lead in Box-Toppers team rankings, leading for the ninth straight week, and are also the hottest team of the past week.
Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals maintain their lead among National League teams in the penultimate (and also next-to-last) weekly team rankings report of the 2019 season. The final team rankings report will be posted after the completion of regular season games Sunday, Sept. 29.
Read MoreBox-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.