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David Fry of the Guardians and Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s two American League Division Series playoff games.
The New York Yankees win their division series over the Kansas City Royals and advance to the AL Championship Series. The Cleveland Guardians tie their series with the Detroit Tigers which will conclude with Game 5 Saturday in Cleveland.
AL Division Series Game 4: Guardians 5, Tigers 4
David Fry of the Guardians hit a pinch-hit, seventh-inning, two-run homer that gave the Guardians the lead. He then drove in an insurance run in the ninth inning with a sacrifice bunt. Fry went 1-for-1, scoring once and driving in three runs.
The Guardians tie the Tigers in the best-of-five game series, 2-2, forcing a decisive Game 5 Saturday.
Fry earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 62nd among AL batters.
Fry had a +4.0 Box-Toppers game score Thursday, best among all Guardians players. Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee had a -3.0 game score (4IP 4H 2R 2BB 3K ND). Guardians middle reliever Hunter Gaddis, who earned the win, had a +2.2 game score (1.2IP H 0R BB 3K W). Tigers starting pitcher Reese Olson had a 0.0 game score (4IP 5H R BB 4K ND). Tigers top batter Wenceel Perez had a +1.0 game score (2-2 0R BI).
AL Division Series Game 4: Yankees 4, Royals 1
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole struck out four over seven innings, allowing one run, six hits and no walks.
The Yankees win the best-of-five-game series, 3-1, eliminating the Royals.
Cole earned 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 61st overall and 28th among AL pitchers.
Cole had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +3.0. Yankees closing pitcher Luke Weaver also had a +3.0 game score (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv), but pitchers earning the win, as Cole did, hold the tiebreaking advantage in Player of the Game honors over pitchers earning the save. Yankees top batter Giancarlo Stanton had a 0.0 game score (2B 2-3 0R BI). Royals starting pitcher Michael Wacha had a -4.8 game score (4.2IP 6H 2R BB 2K L). Royals top batter Tommy Pham had a 0.0 game score (3-3 0R 0BI).
This series featured the top two AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings. Yankees players accumulated 120.9 Box-Toppers points in 2024, most among AL teams and fourth among all teams, behind three National League teams. The Royals have 115.1 Box-Toppers points, second among AL teams and sixth among all teams.
The Yankees also had the best winning percentage among AL teams (.580) and finished first in the AL East. However, the Royals—despite their high Box-Toppers team ranking—were tied with the fifth-best winning percentage among AL teams (.531) and finished second in the AL Central, 6.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians. They were the fifth-seeded AL playoff team.
While the Yankees had a bye from the Wild Card round, the Royals defeated the fourth-seeded AL playoff team in one AL Wild Card series, the Baltimore Orioles, in a two-game sweep to advance to the ALDS.
The Yankees led AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings at 12 of the 25 weekly reports this season, including leading the final three reports and leading six of the past nine going back to Aug. 1.
The Yankees now advance to the American League Championship Series beginning Monday against the winner of the other ALDS—the Detroit Tigers or the Cleveland Guardians.
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).| 10/10 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +4.0 | CLE 5, DET 4 | David Fry PH‑DH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | NYY 3, KC 1 | Gerrit Cole (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
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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 2024 (’24). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’23-24), the period 2019-2024 (’19-24) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2024 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2023 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’24 | ’23‑24 | ’19‑24 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.7 | 26.7 | 104.1 | 165.0 | -7.3 |
| Fry, David 4848 | dh ca ph | cle al | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | +1.5 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Friday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):
NLDS Game 5, Padres at Dodgers, series tied, 2-2
Padres—Yu Darvish, 8.7 points, 34th among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 6.4 points, 48th among NL pitchers.
A Box-Toppers look at Friday’s League Division 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 2024 (’24), this year and last year (’23-24), over a six-year period (’19-24) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’24 | ’23‑24 | ’19‑24 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SD | Darvish, Yu 3003 | 8.7 | 15.7 | 65.7 | 139.7 |
| LAD | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
* Player has yet to earn any career 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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