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Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.
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Mitch Garver of the Rangers is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Sunday’s American League Championship Series Game 6.
AL Championship Series Game 6: Rangers 9, Astros 2
Garver homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs.
The Rangers tie the best-of-seven game series with the Astros, 3-3, sending it to a deciding Game 7 Monday.
Garver earned 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 121st among all players, 19th among AL batters, first among AL catchers and seventh among AL designated hitters (Garver served as DH Sunday).
Garver had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0. Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi had a -1.9 Box-Toppers game score (6.1IP 5H 2R 3BB 4K W) and had won Player of the Game honors three times previously this postseason, tied for the most among all players. Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez had a -2.0 Box-Toppers game score (5IP 5H 3R 2BB 6K L). Astros top batter was designated hitter Yordan Alvarez with a +1.0 game score (2-3 R BI).
Details on Sunday’s league championship series Player of the Game winners in the chart.
Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winner
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games listed from highest to lowest Box‑Toppers game score (BTG).| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +3.0 | TEX 9, HOU 2 | Mitch Garver DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winner
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garver, Mitch 3950 | ca dh | tex al | 6.5 | 7.5 | 24.0 | 24.0 | +5.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Monday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart):
NL Championship Series Game 6: Phillies lead Diamondbacks, 3-2
It’s a rematch of Game 2 of the series won by the Phillies.
Diamondbacks—Merrill Kelly, 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 18th overall, seventh among NL pitchers.
Kelly was Player of the Game in one of his two 2023 postseason appearances—Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series game win over the Dodgers.
Phillies—Aaron Nola, 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 27th overall, 12th among NL pitchers.
Nola was Player of the Game in all three of his 2023 postseason appearances—Oct. 4 in the NL Wild Card win over the Marlins, Oct. 11 in the NL Division Series win over the Braves and Oct. 17 in the NL Championship Series Game 2.
More details—Preview of NL Championship Series.
AL Championship Series Game 7: Rangers at Astros, series tied, 3-3
It’s a rematch of Game 3 of the series won by the Astros.
Rangers—Max Scherzer, 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 10th overall, sixth among AL pitchers.
This is Scherzer’s second 2023 postseason appearance. He also started Oct. 18 in the Game 3 loss of this series. That was his first appearance since Sept. 12 when he exited with the shoulder injury that sidelined him for a month, through the end of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs for the Rangers. Scherzer has the second-most 2023 Box-Toppers points among players on the four active postseason teams, behind Diamondbacks pitcher Zac Gallen (16.7 points, eighth overall).
Astros—Cristian Javier, 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 102nd overall, 45th among AL pitchers.
Javier was Box-Toppers Player of the Game Oct. 10 in the AL Division Series win over the Twins. He also started Oct. 18 in the Game 3 win in this series, but did not earn Player of the Game honors.
The road team has won each game in this series so far and the Rangers are the road team Monday. It is very similar to the 2019 World Series in which the Washington Nationals won all four of its games on the road in Houston and the Houston Astros won all three of its games on the road in Washington. The starter for the Nationals in Game 7 of that series in Houston? Max Scherzer, who is starting Monday for the Rangers at Houston. In 2019’s Game 7, he had a team-low -7.0 Box-Toppers game score in that game (5IP 7H 2R 4BB 3K ND). (Nationals pitcher Patrick Corbin was Player of the Game.)
A Box-Toppers look at Monday’s Championship Series pitching matchups
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | Kelly, Merrill 4143 | 13.0 | 24.0 | 39.0 | 39.0 |
| PHI | Nola, Aaron 3569 | 12.0 | 28.0 | 77.2 | 101.7 |
| TEX | Scherzer, Max 2588 | 15.4 | 25.4 | 95.0 | 251.7 |
| HOU | Javier, Cristian 4290 | 7.0 | 22.7 | 30.7 | 30.7 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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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. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
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Related
Box-Toppers 2023 player rankings leaders
Box-Toppers 2023 final team rankings
Previews of all four Wild Card series
Previews of 2023 National League Division Series
Previews of 2023 American League Division Series