Dodgers’ Yamamoto, pitching a complete game, tops players in World Series Game 2

Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pitching a complete game, is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 2.

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Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pitching a complete game, is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 2.

The Los Angeles Dodgers win 5-1 to tie the best-of-seven-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays at 1-1.

Yamamoto struck out eight over nine innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, with 105 total pitches. It is his second complete game of the 2025 postseason. He also did it in the National League Championship Series Game 2 win over the Brewers on Oct. 14.

Yamamoto earned 17.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, seventh among all players, fourth among NL pitchers and most among all World Series players.

This is Yamamoto’s third Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the 2025 postseason, now tied for the most with teammate, pitcher Blake Snell. Yamamoto was Player of the Game in the NL Wild Card Game 2 on Oct. 1 and the NLCS Game 2 on Oct. 14. He also started in the NLDS Game 3 loss against the Phillies Oct. 8.

Yamamoto is one of six players who have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors more than once this postseason along with Snell, teammates Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani. Also, Jorge Polanco of the Mariners and Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski have each won two Player of the Game honors this postseason.

Yamamoto had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday’s of +11.0 to lead all players. 

Dodgers top batter Will Smith had a +2.0 game score (HR 2-4 R 3BI). 

Dodgers top batter Will Smith had a +2.0 game score (HR 2-4 R 3BI). 

Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman recorded a +2.2 game score in the loss (6.2IP 4H 3R 0BB 6K L).

Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman recorded a +2.2 game score in the loss (6.2IP 4H 3R 0BB 6K L).

Blue Jays reliever Louis Varland had the game’s lowest game score of -6.8 (0.2IP 2H 2R BB 0K ND).

No Blue Jays batter had a positive game score. The highest score (-1.0) was by George Springer (2B 1-3 R 0BI).

Teoscar Hernández of the Dodgers had the game’s lowest game score among batters of -4.0 (0-4 4K).

The series takes a day off Sunday, moving from Toronto to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Monday.

A look at Box-Toppers game scores of all Dodgers players in World Series Game 2 (chart).

Top Dodgers in World Series Game 2: Dodgers 5, Blue Jays 1

Here are the Box-Toppers game scores (BTG) of all Dodgers players who appeared in World Series Game 2, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Player of the Game (POG) is Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

10/25 BTG Player of the Game AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
POG +11.0 Yoshinobu Yamamoto (W, 3‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   9.0 4 1 1 0 8
  +2.0 Will Smith C 4 1 2 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  0.0 Max Muncy 3B 3 1 1 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  0.0 Justin Dean CF 0 0 0 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑1.0 Freddie Freeman 1B 3 1 1 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑2.0 Shohei Ohtani DH 4 1 1 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑2.0 Andy Pages CF‑RF 4 1 1 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑3.0 Mookie Betts SS 3 0 0 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑4.0 Teoscar Hernández RF 4 0 0 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑4.0 Enrique Hernández LF 4 0 0 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑4.0 Tommy Edman 2B 4 0 0 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
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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 2025 (’25). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’24-’25), the period 2020-2025 (’20-25) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2025 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2024 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’25 ’24‑25 ’20‑25 Career +/‑
Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 pi sp lad nl 17.7 24.1 24.1 24.1 +11.3
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World Series Game 3, Blue Jays at Dodgers, series tied, 1-1

Monday’s pitching matchup (for more, see matchups chart below):

Blue Jays—Max Scherzer, 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 327th among all players, 97th among American League pitchers.

This is Scherzer’s second 2025 postseason appearance. He started in the ALCS Game 4 win over the Mariners on Oct. 16, but did not earn Player of the Game honors.

Scherzer, 41, has 256.7 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, second among active players (behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s 280.8) and first among active AL pitchers (ahead of Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole’s 165.0).

Dodgers—Tyler Glasnow, 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 185th among all players, 57th among NL pitchers.

Glasnow has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice this postseason. He was Player of the Game in the Oct. 9 NLDS Game 4 win over the Phillies and in the Oct. 16 NLCS Game 4 win over the Brewers. He also pitched in relief on Oct. 4 in the NLDS Game 1 win over the Phillies.

Both Game 3 starters missed time in 2025 but have track record of success

Both Scherzer and Glasnow missed significant time in 2025 on the injured list early in the season, contributing to their relatively low Box-Toppers point totals, but have performed well recently. Scherzer missed nearly three full months in the first half of the season due to inflammation in his right thumb, along with additional time for other injuries throughout the year. Glasnow missed two months in May and June with right shoulder inflammation.

Both pitchers had their second-lowest season Box-Toppers point totals in 2025. Scherzer, who has earned Box-Toppers points for 17 straight seasons, earned fewer points in 2024 with the Rangers (2.0). Glasnow earned fewer points in 2022 with the Rays (0.0), as he missed most of the season recovering from 2021 elbow reconstruction surgery.

Both pitchers have seasons earning 10 or more Box-Toppers points. Glasnow did it three times, most notably in 2021, his best season, when he earned 12.7 Box-Toppers points, all by June 8, at the time ranking first among all players. He went on the injured list shortly after that and underwent elbow reconstruction surgery in August 2021, and missed the rest of the season. By the end of the season, his 12.7 points still ranked 23rd among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

Scherzer has earned 10 or Box-Toppers points in 12 of his 17 seasons, including earning more than 20 points six times, including five straight seasons from 2014 to 2018. Scherzer led all players in Box-Toppers points twice: 2016 with the Nationals (25.7 points) and 2021 with the Dodgers (25.1 points). (He finished 2021 with the Dodgers after being traded from the Nationals.) His most recent season with more than 10 points was 2023 with the Mets and Rangers, when he had 15.4 points, 10th overall and sixth among AL pitchers.

A Box-Toppers look at Monday’s World 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 2025 (’25), this year and last year (’24-25), over a six-year period (’20-25) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’25 ’24‑25 ’20‑25 Career
TOR Scherzer, Max 2588 3.0 5.0 59.5 256.7
LAD Glasnow, Tyler 3948 5.0 16.7 49.8 65.5
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
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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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