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Tommy Edman of the Dodgers is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Sunday’s National League Championship Series Game 6.
The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Mets in the series four games to two and advance to the World Series.
NL Championship Series Game 6: Dodgers 10, Mets 5
Edman homered, doubled and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs.
Edman earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, 417th among all players and 104th among NL batters.
Edman had a Box-Toppers game score Sunday of +3.0, best among all Dodgers players. Dodgers starting pitcher Michael Kopech had a -3.0 game score (1IP H R 2BB K ND). Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius, who picked up the win, had a -1.9 game score (1.1IP 2H 0R BB 0K W). Closer Blake Treinen was the only Dodgers pitcher with a positive game score (+2.0) and the only one of the seven pitchers with two full innings (2IP 2H R 0BB 4K Sv).
Other notable Dodgers batters include catcher Will Smith with a +2.0 game score (HR 1-3 2R 2BI) and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani with a +1.0 game score (2-4 2R BI).
Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea had the game’s lowest Box-Toppers game score of -14.0 (2IP 6H 5R 2BB 2K L). It was the shortest of his four 2024 postseason outings and the one in which he allowed the most runs. Top Mets batter was catcher Francisco Alvarez with a +1.0 game score (SF 2-3 R BI).
Dodgers were Box-Toppers underdogs in series
The Dodgers, who advance to the World Series beginning Friday in Los Angeles against the New York Yankees, are the top-seeded NL playoff team, but were the lowest-ranked of the six NL playoff teams in Box-Toppers rankings.
Dodgers players on the roster on the season’s final day accumulated 113.7 Box-Toppers points in 2024, eighth among all teams and sixth among NL teams. While the Dodgers had baseball’s best winning percentage (.605), they ranked lower in Box-Toppers rankings because they shed players later in the season who had earned Box-Toppers points, helping them to win games earlier in the season, which reduced their team Box-Toppers point total.
For example, the Dodgers traded starting pitcher James Paxton, who had earned 6.0 points, to the Red Sox, they traded outfielder Jason Heyward (3.5 points) to the Astros and they waived infielder Amed Rosario (2.5 points). None of the players earned additional points after the Dodgers let them go. While none of the players by themselves earned significant points, those three alone added up to 12.0, which would have given the Dodgers 125.7 points for the season, putting them ahead of the first-place Philadelphia Phillies (124.9).
As it was, the Dodgers were Box-Toppers underdogs in each of the first two postseason series they played not only because of their lower Box-Toppers point total, but also because their key starting pitchers were unavailable due to injury. Tyler Glasnow (11.7 Box-Toppers points, 19th among NL pitchers) and Gavin Stone (9.0 points, 31st among NL pitchers) were out. Also, their next-highest-ranked starter, Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6.4 points, 48th among NL pitchers) was recently returning from injury and was limited in his outings. Walker Buehler (1.7 points, 149th among NL pitchers) had also missed significant time on the injured list this season. In addition, the active leader in career Box-Toppers points Clayton Kershaw (272.4), who only earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2024, was also out injured.
The only Dodgers starter either not injured or not just coming off injury was Jack Flaherty (12.0 Box-Toppers points, 17th among NL pitchers), the team’s Box-Toppers points leader.
Still, the Dodgers were able to piece together two postseason wins, including the NLCS Game 6 clincher, by employing bullpen games—having relievers pitch usually two or fewer innings.
As top seed, the Dodgers earned a bye from the Wild Card round of the playoffs and faced the San Diego Padres in the NL Division Series. (The Padres defeated the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card round). The Dodgers beat the Padres in the NLDS in five games, 3-2.
Why Box-Toppers favored the lower-seeded Mets
The Mets finished third in the NL East with a .549 winning percentage, six games behind the Philadelphia Phillies. As the sixth seed in the NL playoffs, the Mets faced the third-seed Milwaukee Brewers in the Wild Card round, defeating them in three games, 2-1. The Mets then defeated the Phillies in the NLDS in four games, 3-1. The Phillies were the NL second-seeded postseason team but ranked first among all teams in Box-Toppers rankings.
Box-Toppers favored the Mets in the NLCS over the Dodgers because they had more team Box-Toppers points and better available starting pitching.
Mets players accumulated 113.8 Box-Toppers points in 2024, seventh overall and fifth among NL teams. The Mets combined point total was just 0.1 more than the Dodgers, the closest of any two of the 30 teams in 2024 team rankings. Both teams were the two lowest-ranked teams of all six NL postseason teams.
Dodgers NLCS Player of the Game winners
Four different Dodgers players won Player of the Game honors in the team’s four wins in the NLCS:
Edman was named series Most Valuable Player.
NLCS Preview: Surging Mets favored over injury-depleted Dodgers
Sunday’s Player of the Game winners are listed in the chart.
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).| 10/20 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +3.0 | LAD 10, NYM 5 | Tommy Edman SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edman, Tommy 4255 | cf ss | lad nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | -3.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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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