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Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi tops players in Wednesday’s four Wild Card playoff games, all of which ended in two-game sweeps.
Other Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s Wild Card series games:
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola.
Twins pitcher Sonny Gray.
Diamondbacks closing pitcher Paul Sewald.
AL Wild Card Game 2: Rangers 7, Rays 1
Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, six hits and no walks.
The Rangers win the best-of-three series, 2-0, and will advance to the AL Divisional Series Saturday against the Orioles.
Nathan Eovaldi earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 56th overall and 30th among AL pitchers.
Eovaldi had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +6.2. Rangers top batter Wednesday was third baseman Josh Jung (3B 2-2B 3-4 2R BI) with a +2.0 game score. Rays starting pitcher Zach Eflin had a game score of -11.0 (5IP 8H 5R 4ER 2BB 3K L).
These were two of Box-Toppers’ most highly ranked teams squaring off in the first round of the playoffs. In fact, these are the only two teams that led Box-Toppers team rankings reports all season. The Rays led for the first 14 straight weekly reports from April to July, losing to the Rangers (July 20) before regaining the lead July 27. Then the Rangers led each of the final nine weekly reports from Aug. 3 to the end of the season.
The Rays finished the season ranked fourth overall, second among AL teams, with its players accumulating 123.6 Box-Toppers points. The Rangers finished first overall with 128.1 Box-Toppers points, even though they ended up as the fourth-seeded AL playoff team.
NL Wild Card Game 2: Phillies 7, Marlins 1
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out three over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk.
The Phillies win the best-of-three series, 2-0 and will advance to face the Atlanta Braves in the NL Division Series Saturday.
Nola earned 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 27th overall and 12th among NL pitchers.
Nola had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +6.0. Phillies top batter Wednesday was second baseman Bryson Stott with a +2.0 game score (GS 1-4 R 4BI). Marlins starting pitcher Braxton Garrett had a game score of 0.0 (3IP 3H 2 BB 5K L).
The Phillies were the higher seeded team in the playoffs (fourth seed vs. Marlins’ fifth seed) and also ranked higher in Box-Toppers team rankings—the Phillies rank ninth with its players accumulating 112.2 Box-Toppers points in 2023 while the Marlins rank 11th with 107.9 Box-Toppers points.
AL Wild Card Game 2: Twins 2, Blue Jays 0
Twins pitcher Sonny Gray struck out six over five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and two walks.
The Twins win the best-of-three series, 2-0 and advance to face the Houston Astros in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday.
Gray earned 10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 42nd overall and 20th among AL pitchers. He had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +4.0. Twins’ top batter was Carlos Correa (2-3 0R BI) with a 0.0 game score. Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Berrios had a +2.0 game score (3IP 3H R BB 5K L).
While the Blue Jays were the lower playoff seed (sixth vs. third), they ranked higher than the Twins in Box-Toppers team rankings—the Blue Jays finished eighth with its players accumulating 114.3 Box-Toppers points, while the Twins finished 12th with 106.7 points, the lowest-ranking team to have won a division title (AL Central).
NL Wild Card Game 2: Diamondbacks 5, Brewers 2
Diamondbacks closing pitcher Paul Sewald struck out two over one scoreless inning, allowing one hit, no walks, and picking up the save.
The Diamondbacks win the best-of-three series, 2-0 and face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series beginning Saturday.
Sewald earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 174th among all players, 54th among NL pitchers and seventh among NL closers.
Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zac Gallen had a -2.0 game score (6IP 5H 2R 3BB 4K W). Diamondbacks top batter was second baseman Ketel Marte with a 0.0 game score (1-3 0R 2BI). Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta had a -3.0 game score (5IP 3H 4R 2BB 5K L).
The Diamondbacks are the lowest-ranked team in Box-Toppers rankings to make the postseason in 14th place with its players accumulating 102.1 Box-Toppers points in 2023. The Brewers ranked seventh with 115.8 points.
All of Wednesday’s Player of the Game winners are listed in the chart.
There are no games Thursday or Friday since all four Wild Card series ended in two-game sweeps.
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 points are awarded in postseason games.)
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Related
Box-Toppers 2023 player rankings leaders
Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +6.2 | TEX 7, TB 1 | Nathan Eovaldi (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| +6.0 | PHI 7, MIA 1 | Aaron Nola (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| +4.0 | MIN 2, TOR 0 | Sonny Gray (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| +2.0 | ARI 5, MIL 2 | Paul Sewald (S, 2) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners
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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 12.0 | 28.0 | 77.2 | 101.7 | -4.0 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | min al | 10.4 | 22.5 | 56.7 | 97.9 | -1.7 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | tex al | 9.7 | 15.7 | 43.5 | 69.3 | +3.7 |
| Sewald, Paul 3940 | pi cp | ari nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | +2.0 |
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