King Felix reigns for 4th week. Pirates' Cole is top NL pitcher. Royals' Hosmer rises to lead AL batters, Nationals' Harper rises to lead NL batters.
Read MoreSt. Louis Cardinals top Box-Toppers team rankings, Washington Nationals rise to top 10
Redbirds lead teams for 2nd week. Royals rise to top AL teams. Preseason favorite Nationals rise to top 10 after early season slump.
Read MoreTigers' Sanchez, Phillies' Harang top players for Thursday, May 14
Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez is Thursday’s Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang rises to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings and Shane Victorino of the Red Sox scores a Box-Toppers point for the 10th season in a row.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 14.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 6.0 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 4 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.1 |
| 5 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 5.0 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 8 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
Player of the Day—Sanchez struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 13-1 win over the Twins.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out six, in the 4-2 win over the Pirates.
Harang rises to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 5.1 for the season. He ranks second among NL pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole of the Pirates (6.0).
National League Batter of the Day—Derek Norris of the Padres hit a three-run homer and a two-run triple in the 8-3 win over the Nationals.
American League Batter of the Day—Alcides Escobar of the Royals went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-3 win over the Rangers.
Streak—Shane Victorino of the Red Sox has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons.
Victorino was Player of the Game in Thursday’s 2-1 win over the Mariners (HR 2-3) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Victorino earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Phillies. His best season was 2009 with the Phillies, when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, 10th among NL batters. In 2014, he had 2.5 Box-Toppers points with the Red Sox.
Victorino has 48.2 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 24th among active batters currently in the AL.
Scoring—Sanchez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Norris and Escobar each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/14 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Tigers | Anibal Sanchez (W, 3-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| NL | 8.0 | Phillies | Aaron Harang (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 6.0 | Rays | Erasmo Ramirez (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Padres | Derek Norris C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Reds | Marlon Byrd LF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.1 | Cardinals | Trevor Rosenthal (S, 12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | Cubs | Pedro Strop (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Rockies | Carlos Gonzalez RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Chad Qualls (S, 4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | Shane Victorino RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Indians' Corey Kluber (8IP H 0R 18K) tops players for Wednesday, May 13 with highest Box-Toppers game score of 2015
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber, who struck out 18 and allowed one hit over eight innings, is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.
Kluber did not allow a hit until the seventh inning in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals. His Box-Toppers game score of 25 is the highest of the season, far outdistancing the previous high game scores of 15.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 13.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 6.0 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 4 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 5.0 |
| 6 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 7 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 |
| 8 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
Kluber led American League players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 25.8. This was his first Player of the Game honor this season and first Box-Toppers points of the season. Until now, he held the distinction of the player with the highest 2014 Box-Toppers point total who had yet to earn points in 2015, a dubious honor that now goes to Twins pitcher Phil Hughes (14.1 points in 2014).
Though it was Kluber’s first points of the season, he is not very far off pace from his 2014 point total. As Wednesday’s Player of the Day, Kluber now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season. As of May 14, 2014, Kluber had 3.0 Box-Toppers points. His 25.8 Box-Toppers points were the 17th-most points scored by a player in a single season since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Player of the Day—Reds pitcher Raisel Iglesias allowed one run and two hits over eight innings in the 5-1 win over the Braves.
This was Iglesias’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 12 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,467th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Michael Taylor of the Nationals hit a grand slam in the 9-6 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Batter of the Day—Prince Fielder of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-4 with two RBIs in the 5-2 win over the Royals.
Fielder has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2005 with the Brewers. His best year was 2011 with the Brewers when he had 15.7 Box-Toppers points, first among NL batters. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Rangers.
Fielder has 71.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 73rd among all batters since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. His career 71.8 points ranks ninth among active batters currently in the AL.
Notable—Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels moves up to 41st place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Hamels now has 114.8 Box-Toppers points and moves past Blue Jays pitcher Mark Buehrle (114.7). He trails 40th-place player Josh Beckett (114.9).
Hamels (7IP 2R 9K W in the 3-2 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.0 for the season, 19th among all players for 2015.
Hammel, Hamels—Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel and Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels have been Box-Toppers Players of the Game on the same day three times this season, including Wednesday. Obviously, the similarly-named hurlers are on the same starting rotation schedule and both are doing well so far—Hamels has earned Player of the Game honors four times and has 4.0 Box-Toppers points. Hammel has earned Player of the Game honors three times and also has 4.0 Box-Toppers points. Both were top players in their games on April 27, May 8 and May 13. In addition, the two have shared Player of the Game honors on the same day in previous seasons three different times—April 25, 2012, June 6, 2014, and Sept. 1, 2014.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Iglesias earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Taylor and Fielder each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/13 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 25.0 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W, 1-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | |
| 10.0 | White Sox | Jose Quintana (W, 2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | Reds | Raisel Iglesias (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | Phillies | Cole Hamels (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | `Cubs | Jason Hammel | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | Orioles | Miguel Gonzalez (W, 4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Nationals | Michael Taylor RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `Angels | Hector Santiago | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | Padres | James Shields (W, 5-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 3.1 | Twins | Ricky Nolasco (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Rays | Brad Boxberger (S, 10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Marlins | A.J. Ramos (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Rangers | Prince Fielder DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Astros | Chad Qualls (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Red Sox | Daniel Nava 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| ` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Giants' Chris Heston tops players for Tuesday, May 12, is among 3 to rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings
Giants pitcher Chris Heston is Tuesday’s Player of the Day and is one of three players to rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season.
Heston rises to seventh place Tuesday, while Rays pitcher Chris Archer rises to second place and Eric Hosmer of the Royals rises to fifth.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 12.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 6.0 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 4 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 5.0 |
| 6 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 7 | Heston, Chris 3437 | pi sp | sf nl | 5.0 |
| 8 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
Player of the Day—Heston pitched a complete game, allowing one run, two hits and striking out 10, in the 8-1 win over the Astros. Heston earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, putting him in seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings, third among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Brewers.
National League Batter of the Day—Andre Ethier of the Dodgers homered, went 5-for-5 and drove in three runs, in the 11-1 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Josh Reddick of the Athletics homered, went 4-for-5, scored twice and drove in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Red Sox.
Rankings—In addition to Heston, two other players rose in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
- Rays pitcher Chris Archer rose to second place. Archer (7IP 2R 8K ND in the 4-2 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season.
- Eric Hosmer of the Royals rose to fifth place. Hosmer (HR 2-3 2R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season. He takes the lead among AL batters, passing previous leader Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (4.7 Box-Toppers points).
Scoring—Heston earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Ethier and Reddick each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/12 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | Giants | Chris Heston (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | 11.0 | White Sox | Chris Sale (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 11.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 7.0 | Cardinals | Lance Lynn (W, 2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 4.2 | `Tigers | Alfredo Simon | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Dodgers | Andre Ethier RF | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Athletics | Josh Reddick RF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Mariners | Mike Zunino C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Blue Jays | Edwin Encarnacion 1B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Angels | C.J. Wilson (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Dbacks | Mark Trumbo RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Pirates | Josh Harrison 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Rays | Chris Archer | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1.0 | Reds | Todd Frazier 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Braves' Miller tops players for Monday, May 11; Yankees' Teixeira earns Box-Toppers points for 13th straight season
Braves pitcher Shelby Miller is Monday’s Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
Meanwhile, Mark Teixeira of the Yankees has now earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons and Cubs phenom Kris Bryant is one of two players to earn their career-first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 11.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 9 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 10 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
Player of the Day—Miller struck out eight over seven innings and allowed one run in the 2-1 win over the Reds. Miller earned no decision because he left the game with the score tied 1-1—the Braves scored the go-ahead run in the ninth.
Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, moving up to fourth in Box-Toppers player rankings, second among NL pitchers, behind Gerrit Cole of the Pirates (6.0).
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Colby Lewis allowed one run over seven innings and struck out five in the 8-2 win over the Royals.
American League Batter of the Day—Mark Teixeira of the Yankees hit a two-run homer, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 11-5 win over the Rays.
Teixeira has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 13 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor of the season. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2003 with the Rangers. His best season was 2009 with the Yankees when he had 11.5 Box-Toppers points, sixth among AL batters. In 2014, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Yankees.
Teixeira has 91.3 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 86th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. His career point total ranks 37th among all batters since 1995, seventh among active batters currently in the AL and third among active batters currently on the Yankees—behind Alex Rodriguez (183.8) and Carlos Beltran (95.4).
National League Batter of the Day—Scott Van Slyke of the Dodgers hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 5-3 win over the Marlins. Van Slyke also doubled and went 3-for-4 with two runs.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Kris Bryant of the Cubs (HR 1-2 R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut April 17 and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,465th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Red Sox pitcher Matt Barnes (2IP 0R K W in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 9, 2014, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,466th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lewis earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Teixeira and Van Slyke each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/11 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | `Braves | Shelby Miller | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| 5.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | Rangers | Colby Lewis (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Yankees | Mark Teixeira 1B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Dodgers | Scott Van Slyke LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Orioles | Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 2.0 | Brewers | Carlos Gomez CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Kris Bryant 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Matt Barnes (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Pirates | Starling Marte LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Yankees' Pineda tops players for Sunday, May 10; Mariners' Hernandez extends lead among players, rises to 15th in 'all-time' rankings
Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda is Sunday’s Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez extended his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and moved into 15th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings, passing Greg Maddux.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 10.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 8.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Rodriguez, Alex | dh | nyy al | 4.5 |
Player of the Day—Pineda struck out 16 batters over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.
Pineda had a Box-Toppers game score of 15, the highest recorded so far this season. However, another player also had a Box-Toppers game score of 15 Sunday—Indians pitcher Danny Salazar, Player of the Game in the 8-2 win over the Twins (7IP H R 11K). However, Pineda won the tiebreaker to earn overall Player of the Day because he had more strikeouts than Salazar—16 vs. 11. And though Salazar had one of the two highest Box-Toppers game scores of the season, he earns only 1.0 Box-Toppers point as Player of the Game, while Pineda earns 2.0 for being Player of the Day.
National League Player of the Day—Brewers pitcher Matt Garza struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Cubs. After Garza exited the game, the Cubs tied the score 2-2 in the top of the eighth inning, so Garza did not earn the win, but picked up a no-decision.
National League Batter of the Day—Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers hit two doubles and drove in four runs in the 9-5 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Napoli of the Red Sox hit a three-run home run in the 6-3 win over the Blue Jays.
Napoli has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Angels. His best year was 2011 with the Rangers when he had 9.0, ninth among AL batters. In 2014, he had 5.5 Box-Toppers points with the Red Sox.
Napoli has 48.2 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 23rd among active batters currently in the AL.
Rankings—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez extended his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Hernandez (7IP 2R 6K W in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He is 2.7 Box-Toppers points ahead of the second place player, Gerrit Cole of the Pirates (6.0).
With the Box-Toppers point earned Sunday, Hernandez now has 152.0 for his career, which moves him up to 15th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He passes Greg Maddux (151.7) on the list. It should be noted that Maddux pitched nine seasons, many of them stellar, before Box-Toppers record keeping began, so his actual Box-Toppers career total would likely be much higher. Hernandez now trails Tim Hudson of the Giants (153.0) and Barry Bonds (153.2).
Streak—Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons.
Zimmerman was Player of the Game in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Braves (2B 2-4 2R 2BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Zimmerman earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2006 with the Nationals. His best year was 2013 with the Nationals when he had 9.2, sixth among NL batters. In 2014, he had 3.5 Box-Toppers points with the Nationals.
Zimmerman has 52.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 13th among active batters currently in the NL.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Johnny Monell of the Mets (pinch hitter: 2B 2BI in the 7-4 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 5, 2013, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,463rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Jung-Ho Kang of the Pirates (HR 2-4 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,464th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Pineda earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Garza earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gonzalez and Napoli each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/10 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | Yankees | Michael Pineda (W, 5-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 | |
| 15.0 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 9.2 | Angels | Garrett Richards (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | `Brewers | Matt Garza | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | |
| 7.0 | `Rangers | Wandy Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | `Giants | Ryan Vogelsong | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | `Royals | Chris Young | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | `Dbacks | Daniel Hudson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Dodgers | Adrian Gonzalez 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Red Sox | Mike Napoli 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W, 6-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Ryan Zimmerman 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Johnny Monell PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Pirates | Jung-Ho Kang 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | White Sox | Tyler Flowers C | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Brewers' Parra (HR 2-4 4RBI), Orioles' Chen (7IP 7K) top players for Saturday, May 9
Gerardo Parra of the Brewers is Saturday’s Player of the Day.
Parra homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-4 win over the Cubs.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 6-2 win over the Yankees.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 9.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Rodriguez, Alex | dh | nyy al | 4.5 |
American League Batter of the Day—Steven Souza Jr. of the Rays hit a three-run home run in the 7-2 win over the Rangers.
This was Souza’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Souza made his Major League debut April 13, 2014, and was playing in his 51st career game. He is the 3,461st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday since the overall Player of the Day was an NL batter (Gerardo Parra of the Brewers).
Notable—Torii Hunter of the Twins earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day (and for the third time in eight days) and also rose to 47th place in “all-time” Box-Toppers player rankings.
Hunter (HR 3-5 3R in the 7-4 win over the Indians) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 3.5 for the season (fifth among AL batters this season) and 111.4 for his career.
His 111.4 career points puts him at 47th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his point Saturday, he passes Tom Glavine (110.6) and Jon Lester (111.1) on that list. He ranks 15th among all batters since 1995 and fifth among all active batters currently in the AL.
Debut—Padres pitcher Kevin Quackenbush made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Quackenbush (2IP H 0R 3K W in the 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 25, 2014, and was playing in his 64th career game. He is the 3,462nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Parra earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chen earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Souza earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/9 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | Brewers | Gerardo Parra CF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 6.0 | Orioles | Wei-Yin Chen (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 5.0 | Mets | Jon Niese (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Mariners | J.A. Happ (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | `Blue Jays | Liam Hendriks | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rays | Steven Souza Jr. RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Padres | Kevin Quackenbush (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | Alexei Ramirez SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Torii Hunter RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Jose Lobaton C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Colby Rasmus RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Donovan Solano 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Rob Scahill (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Reds | Skip Schumaker DH | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Angels' Weaver tops players for Friday, May 8; Nationals' Harper rises to lead NL batters in Box-Toppers points
Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is Friday’s Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Bryce Harper of the Nationals takes the Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters, rising to fourth place in overall player rankings and four players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earn Player of the Game honors Friday.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 8.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Rodriguez, Alex | dh | nyy al | 4.5 |
Player of the Day—Weaver pitched a complete game, six-hit shutout, striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Astros.
Earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Weaver has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Angels. His best year was 2011 with the Angels, when he had 22.8 Box-Toppers points, second among American League pitchers (Justin Verlander of the Tigers had 24.4).
Weaver now has 117.4 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, he passes Barry Zito (117.4) and Todd Helton (116.4) on that list. Weaver’s 117.4 points ranks 25th among all pitchers since 1995 and fifth among active pitchers currently in the AL.
National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum pitched six scoreless innings, striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Marlins.
Lincecum earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 113.0 for his career, which puts him at 45th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Lincecum passes Kevin Brown (112.8) on that list. Lincecum’s 113.0 points ranks 31st among all pitchers since 1995 and ninth among all active pitchers currently in the NL.
American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins homered and hit two doubles, going 4-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs, in the 9-3 win over the Indians.
Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 110.4 career Box-Toppers points, putting him in 49th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Hunter passes Dan Haren (110.2) and Jeff Kent (109.7) on that list. Hunter’s 110.4 points ranks 15th among all batters since 1995 and fifth among active batters currently in the AL.
National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 9-2 win over the Braves.
Harper earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season. He now leads all NL batters—passing Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (4.5)—and rises to fourth place among all players this season.
Notable—Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels now has 113.8 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday (7IP R 8K W in the 3-1 win over the Mets).
Hamels now ranks 42nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With the 1.0 Box-Toppers point he earned Friday, Hamels passes Chris Carpenter (113.3) and Sammy Sosa (113.2) on that list. Hamels’ 113.8 points ranks 29th among all pitchers since 1995 and eighth among active pitchers currently in the NL.
Debut—Mariners pitcher Carson Smith made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Smith (2IP 0R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,460th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Weaver earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lincecum earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Hunter and Harper each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/8 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Angels | Jered Weaver (W, 1-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| NL | 8.0 | Giants | Tim Lincecum (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 7.0 | Phillies | Cole Hamels (W, 2-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Twins | Torii Hunter RF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | Nationals | Bryce Harper RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Rays | Nathan Karns (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 5.0 | Mariners | Carson Smith (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Cubs | Jason Hammel (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 3.0 | Blue Jays | Aaron Sanchez (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | ||
| 2.1 | Yankees | Dellin Betances (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Kolten Wong 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Will Venable CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Ian Kinsler 2B | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Dodgers | Adrian Gonzalez 1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Mariners' Felix Hernandez leads Box-Toppers player rankings for 3rd straight week
While King Felix leads all player, Cole leads NL pitchers, Cabrera leads AL batters & Stanton leads NL batters.
Read MoreSt. Louis Cardinals, hottest team of the week, rise to top Box-Toppers team rankings
Cardinals rise to 1st from 3rd. Astros take AL lead. Tigers fall from 1st to 5th. Twins rise into top 10.
Read MoreDodgers' Grandal (2 3R HRs) tops players for Thursday, May 7; A-Rod hits 661st HR, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers is Thursday’s Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees earned Player of the Game honors as he hit his 661st career home run, passing Willie Mays’ mark of 660. Rodriguez also moved up to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 7.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 8 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 9 | Rodriguez, Alex | dh | nyy al | 4.5 |
| 10 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
Player of the Day—Grandal hit two three-run homers and drove in eight runs, going 4-for-4 and scoring three times, in the 14-4 win over the Brewers.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Joakim Soria struck out four over the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs or hits and earning the save, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 with two runs in the 7-4 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday since the overall Player of the Day (Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers) was a batter from the NL.
Rankings—Alex Rodriguez rises to ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game in the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Orioles (HR 2-3 R 2BI). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. Rodriguez already has more Box-Toppers points this season than he did in 2013 (3.0) and as many as he had in all of 2012 (4.5). In 2011, he had 4.7 points and in 2010, he had 13.7, the last time he had 10.0 or more in a season.
In the game, Rodriguez moved to fourth place on the all-time home run list with his 661st home run, passing Willie Mays (660). Rodriguez now has 183.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players since record keeping began in 1995 and first among all batters during that time.
Notables—Two players had notable Box-Toppers achievements Thursday:
- Dan Haren of the Marlins became the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Haren (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Giants) also pitched seven innings and picked up the win. It is the third time in his career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting—he last did it June 14, 2014. Haren earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season and 110.2 for his career. With the point, he rises to 49th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, passing Jeff Kent (109.7) on that list.
- Cardinals pitcher John Lackey becomes the 66th player to earn 100 or more Box-Toppers points after he earned Player of the Game honors Thursday (7.2IP R 10K W in the 5-1 win over the Cubs). Lackey earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.8 for his career. He moves to 62nd place among all players (since record keeping began in 1995) and passes four players on that list—Aramis Ramirez (100.8), Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Lackey’s career 100.8 Box-Toppers points ranks 13th among active pitchers currently in the NL.
Debut—Rangers pitcher Alex Claudio made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Claudio (1.1IP 0R 0H 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,459th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Grandal earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Soria earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/7 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Dodgers | Yasmani Grandal C | 4 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 9.2 | Cardinals | John Lackey (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 9.0 | Dbacks | Rubby De La Rosa (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | 5.1 | Tigers | Joakim Soria (S, 11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4.1 | `Astros | Collin McHugh | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 3.1 | Rangers | Alex Claudio (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Marlins | Dan Haren P | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | Twins | Glen Perkins (S, 10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Andrew McCutchen CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Alex Rodriguez DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Nationals' Bryce Harper hits three homers, tops players for Wednesday, May 6
Bryce Harper of the Nationals is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.
Harper hit three home runs and drove in five runs in the 7-5 win over the Marlins.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 6.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 8 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 |
Harper had a Box-Toppers game score of +7, the same as Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, who was Player of the Game in the 5-1 win over the Mets. But Harper earned overall Player of the Day honors because in cases of Box-Toppers game score ties, batters beat pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Eduardo Escobar of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 13-0 win over the Athletics.
Escobar had a Box-Toppers game score of +5, tied with Carlos Peguero of the Rangers, who was Player of the Game in the 11-3 win over the Astros. Escobar won the tie-breaker to earn AL Player of the Day because he had more runs batted in—five vs. three.
American League and National League Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day since the top players in both leagues Wednesday were batters. It is the only time this season that batters have had the top overall player in both leagues. Wednesday was also unusual because 12 of the 15 Players of the Game were batters—only three were pitchers.
Streak—Adam Lind of the Brewers has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 10 straight seasons. Lind was Player of the Game in Wednesday’s 6-3 win over the Dodgers (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Lind earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Blue Jays. His best season was 2009 with the Blue Jays, when he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters (behind Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers with 16.5). In 2014, he had 2.5 Box-Toppers points with the Blue Jays.
Lind has 48.6 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 19th among active batters currently in the NL.
Debut—Carlos Peguero of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Peguero (2HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 11-3 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut April 19, 2011, and was playing in his 89th career game. He is the 3,458th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Harper earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Escobar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/6 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | Nationals | Bryce Harper RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | Twins | Eduardo Escobar LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Rangers | Carlos Peguero LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Dbacks | Aaron Hill 2B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Rays | Evan Longoria 3B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Reds | Mike Leake (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.0 | Padres | Ian Kennedy (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Blue Jays | Chris Colabello LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Braves | Andrelton Simmons SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | Melky Cabrera LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Indians | Brandon Moss RF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Anthony Rizzo 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Brewers | Adam Lind 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Angels | Mike Trout CF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Braves' Miller tops players for Tuesday, May 5; Pujols earns Box-Toppers points for 15th straight season
Braves pitcher Shelby Miller is Tuesday’s Player of the Day.
Miller pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout, striking out eight, in the 9-0 win over the Phillies.
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Wandy Rodriguez struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run on three hits, in the 7-1 win over the Astros.
American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer, a triple and drove in four runs, in the 5-3 win over the Indians.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 5.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 8 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 |
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals hit a game-tying three-run homer and drove in four total runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cubs.
Streak—Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 15 straight seasons. He was Player of the Game Tuesday in the 5-4 win over the Mariners (HR 2-3 2R 2BI) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Pujols earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Cardinals. He led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points in five different seasons, the most times a batter has led his league in Box-Toppers points (since record keeping began in 1995). Here are the seasons he led NL batters, all with the Cardinals:
- 2003—16.5 Box-Toppers points
- 2004—15.9
- 2008—15.2
- 2009—16.7 (his best overall season)
- 2010—15.4
In 2014, Pujols had 7.5 Box-Toppers points with the Angels, fourth among AL designated hitters.
Pujols has 168.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He trails Roy Halladay (170.7) for sixth place. Pujols ranks second among all batters on that list (behind only Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees with 182.8).
Notables—Two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
- Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon now has 136.4 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st among all players since 1995 (trailing Andy Pettitte with 138.5). Colon ranks 15th among pitchers on that list and second among active pitchers currently in the NL (behind Tim Hudson of the Giants with 153.0).
Colon was Player of the Game Tuesday in the Mets 3-2 win over the Orioles (7.2IP R 9K W) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.
- Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke now has 129.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995. With Tuesday’s point, he passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on that list. Greinke ranks 18th among pitchers on that list and is fifth among active pitchers currently in the NL.
Greinke was Player of the Game Tuesday in the Dodgers 8-2 win over the Brewers (7.2IP 2H R 7K W) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season, putting him in 11th place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.
Scoring—Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer and Carpenter each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/5 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Braves | Shelby Miller (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| AL | 10.0 | Rangers | Wandy Rodriguez (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 9.2 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W, 5-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 8.2 | Mets | Bartolo Colon (W, 5-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 8.1 | Athletics | Jesse Chavez (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 8.0 | Yankees | Michael Pineda (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | Giants | Ryan Vogelsong (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | Red Sox | Rick Porcello (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3.1 | Marlins | Mat Latos (W, 1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Angels | Albert Pujols 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Cardinals | Matt Carpenter 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Reds | Marlon Byrd LF | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Jeff Samardzija (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Monday, May 4; Mariners' Hernandez extends player rankings lead
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Monday’s Player of the Day, while Mariners’ pitcher Felix Hernandez extends his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Bumgarner pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Padres. Bumgarner rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 4.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 8 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 |
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 3-2 win over the Angels. Hernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, extending his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Hernandez also becomes the 16th player to reach 150 career Box-Toppers points since record keeping began in 1995. He has 151.0 career Box-Toppers points, just behind Greg Maddux (151.7). Hernandez ranks 16th among all players since 1995, 12th among all pitchers and third among all active pitchers currently in the AL—behind CC Sabathia (173.3) and Johan Santana (166.6).
Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of 6.0, the same as Rangers pitcher Ross Detwiler, who was Player of the Game in the 2-1 win over the Astros. But Hernandez won the tiebreaker to earn AL Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game while Detwiler picked up a no-decision.
National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Cardinals hit a grand slam and went 2-for-3 with two runs in the 10-9 win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—Jordan Schafer of the Twins doubled and went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs in the 8-7 win over the Athletics.
Debut—Brewers pitcher Michael Blazek made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Blazek (2IP 0R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut June 22, 2013, and was playing in his 28th career game. He is the 3,457th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Schafer each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/4 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.1 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| AL | 6.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W, 5-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 6.0 | `Rangers | Ross Detwiler | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Cardinals | Mark Reynolds 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Twins | Jordan Schafer CF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Rays | Jake Odorizzi (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Yunel Escobar 3B | 5 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Michael Blazek (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Jeff Francoeur RF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Brett Cecil (S, 2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Giants' Tim Lincecum (8IP 0R) tops players for Sunday, May 3
Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is Sunday’s Player of the Day.
Lincecum pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 3.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 8 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
| 10 | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | sd nl | 4.0 |
Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season. He now has 111.3 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 46th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Sunday, he passed three players on that list—Jon Lester (111.1), Tom Glavine (110.6) and Jeff Kent (109.7). He ranks 32nd among all pitchers since 1995 and ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits, in the 7-1 win over the Rangers. Gray rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings—he earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season.
American League Batter of the Day—Evan Gattis of the Astros hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 7-6 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Justin Upton of the Padres homered and hit two doubles, scoring twice and driving in three, in the 8-6 win over the Rockies. Upton rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season. He ranks second among NL batters, behind Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (4.5 Box-Toppers points).
Rankings—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday (HR 3-4 R 2BI in the 6-4 win over the Royals). Cabrera earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season. He leads all AL batters.
With Sunday’s point, Cabrera now has 132.9 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 25th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He is just behind two players with 133.4 Box-Toppers points—David Ortiz and Jason Giambi.
Streak—Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers achieved two Box-Toppers milestones Sunday—he became the 65th player with 100 or more Box-Toppers points and also has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 16 straight seasons.
Ramirez was Player of the Game in Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Cubs (HR 2-3 R 3BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Ramirez earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2000 with the Pirates. His best season was 2005 with the Cubs when he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters. In 2014, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points with the Brewers, most among NL third basemen.
Ramirez has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 62nd among all players (since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With Sunday’s point, he passes three players on that list—Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Ramirez ranks 21st among all batters since 1995 and sixth among active batters currently in the NL.
Debut—Cardinals pitcher Miguel Socolovich made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Socolovich (1IP 0R K W in the 3-2, 14-inning win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 14, 2012, and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,456th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gattis and Upton each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/3 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | Giants | Tim Lincecum (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| AL | 7.2 | Athletics | Sonny Gray (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 10 | |
| 7.0 | Braves | Julio Teheran (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | Twins | Ryan Pressly (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Astros | Evan Gattis DH | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `Dodgers | Brett Anderson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | Nationals | Doug Fister (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Indians | Jason Kipnis 2B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Padres | Justin Upton LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Brewers | Aramis Ramirez 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S, 5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Jacoby Ellsbury CF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Miguel Cabrera 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Miguel Socolovich (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Phillies | Ryan Howard 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Brewers' Fiers tops players for Saturday, May 2; Twins' Hunter extends to 17 consecutive season streak with Box-Toppers points
Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers is Saturday’s Player of the Day.
Fiers struck out 12 over six innings, allowing one run, in the 6-1 win over the Cubs.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out six, in the 4-0 win over the Rays.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 2.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 6 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
| 8 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 3.7 |
| 9 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 10 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 3.7 |
American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Blanks of the Rangers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three, in the 8-7, 10-inning win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Zack Cozart of the Reds homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Braves.
Rankings—Tigers pitcher David Price rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday (CG 5H R 3K W in the 2-1 win over the Royals). Price earns 1.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 3.7 for the season.
Streak—Two players extended their lengthy streaks of consecutive seasons scoring at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
- Torii Hunter of the Twins has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 17 straight seasons, which is now the longest currently active streak. The record for most consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point is 19, held by Jason Giambi (1995-2013). (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.) Two other active players had Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons as of 2014 and also have a chance to extend that to 17 straight seasons in 2015—Tim Hudson of the Giants and Carlos Beltran of the Yankees. Neither has earned Box-Toppers points this season.
Hunter was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the White Sox (HR 3-4 2R 2BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Hunter earned his first Box-Toppers point in 1999 with the Twins. His best season was 2008 with the Angels when he had 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among AL batters.. In 2014, he had 5.5 Box-Toppers points with the Tigers.
Hunter has 108.9 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 51st among all players (since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). With Saturday’s point, he passed three players on that list—Billy Wagner (108.7), Kevin Millwood (108.3) and Lance Berkman (108.1). Hunter ranks 16th among all batters since 1995 and ranks fifth among active batters currently in the AL.
- Marlins pitcher Dan Haren has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 13 straight seasons. Haren was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 7-6 win over the Phillies (6IP 0R 4K W) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Haren earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2003 with the Cardinals. His best season was 2011 with the Angels, when he had 16.8 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL pitchers. In 2014, he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points with the Dodgers.
Haren has 109.2 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 50th among all players (since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). With Saturday’s point, he also passed Billy Wagner (108.7) and Kevin Millwood (108.3) on that list. Haren ranks 35th among all pitchers since 1995 and ranks 11th among active pitchers currently in the NL, just behind Tim Lincecum of the Giants (109.3).
Scoring—Fiers earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Blanks and Cozart each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/2 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Brewers | Mike Fiers (W, 1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | |
| AL | 8.2 | Orioles | Miguel Gonzalez (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 8.0 | Nationals | Gio Gonzalez (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | Marlins | Dan Haren (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5.1 | Yankees | Dellin Betances (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | Tigers | David Price (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | Dodgers | Juan Nicasio (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rangers | Kyle Blanks 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Twins | Torii Hunter DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Padres | Craig Kimbrel (S, 7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Reds | Zack Cozart SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Astros | Colby Rasmus LF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Jose Bautista DH | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Casey McGehee 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Cardinals | Pete Kozma 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Royals' Young tops players for Friday, May 1, A-Rod earns Player of the Game honor with 660th homer
Royals pitcher Chris Young is Friday’s Player of the Day.
Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees was top player in the game in which he tied Willie Mays’ career home run mark and Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 1.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 6 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 4.4 |
| 8 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 9 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 3.7 |
| 10 | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.7 |
Young allowed no hits and no runs over five innings, striking out nine, in the 4-1 win over the Tigers.
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn struck out 10 over seven innings and allowed one run in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Pirates. Lynn exited the game with the score tied at 1-1 and so did not earn the win, but picked up a no-decision.
National League Batter of the Day—Justin Upton of the Padres went 3-for-4, scored three times and drove in two runs, in the 14-3 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Brett Hayes of the Indians hit a three-run home run in the 9-4 win over the Blue Jays.
Rankings—Matt Harvey rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday (7IP 0R W in the 4-0 win over the Nationals). Harvey earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season.
Notable—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees tied Willie Mays’ career home run mark of 660 Friday and also earned Player of the Game honors (pinch-hit homer in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.5 for the season and moves into 11th place in player rankings, second among AL batters (Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers leads with 3.7). Rodriguez has already eclipsed his 2013 Box-Toppers point total of 3.0.
Rodriguez now has 182.8 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began) and first among all batters.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Mark Canha of the Athletics (HR 2-4 R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 18th career game. He is the 3,454th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Mike Foltynewicz of the Braves is the first pitcher in 2015 to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. In 2014, seven different pitchers earned Player of the Game honors for batting—Madison Bumgarner of the Giants did it twice. Foltynewicz (2B 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Aug. 2, 2014, and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,455th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Young earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lynn earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Upton and Hayes each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/1 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Royals | Chris Young (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | |
| NL | 10.0 | `Cardinals | Lance Lynn | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 8.0 | Rays | Alex Colome (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | Twins | Kyle Gibson (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | Cubs | Jon Lester (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | Astros | Josh Fields (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Padres | Justin Upton LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Mets | Matt Harvey (W, 5-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | Dodgers | Carlos Frias (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | `Giants | Chris Heston | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Marcell Ozuna CF | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Indians | Brett Hayes C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Yankees | Alex Rodriguez PH, DH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Athletics | Mark Canha LF, 1B, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Braves | Mike Foltynewicz P | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Mariners' Felix Hernandez leads Box-Toppers player rankings for 2nd week
King Felix maintains overall crown. Gerrit Cole of Pirates leads NL pitchers, Stanton leads NL batters, Cabrera leads AL batters.
Read MoreTigers remain Box-Toppers top-ranked team, while Astros make giant leap to 2nd
Detroit in third week atop Box-Toppers team rankings. St. Louis Cardinals rise to lead among NL teams.
Read More