Indians' Corey Kluber (8.1IP 1R 10K) tops players for Sunday, July 6, Angels' Richards rises to 10th in Box-Toppers rankings

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Player of the Day. Kluber struck out 10 over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 4-1 win over the Royals.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season and rising to 12th in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Diamondbacks pitcher Wade Miley is National League Player of the Day. Miley struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 3-1 win over the Braves.

Jacoby Ellsbury of the Yankees is American League Batter of the Day. Ellsbury homered and went 2-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 9-7 win over the Twins.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis of the Mets is NL Batter of the Day. Nieuwenhuis homered and scored three times in the 8-4 win over the Rangers.

Notable: Angels pitcher Garrett Richards rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Richards (7.1IP 1R 11K W in the 6-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks fifth in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers. His move up to 10th place bumps the only batter, Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (10.6 Box-Toppers points), off the top 10 list.

There are now 14 players with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points—Richards and Kluber both joined that group Sunday.

Also, pitcher Jeff Samardzija, traded this weekend from the Cubs, earned Player of the Game honors in his debut with his new team, the Athletics. Samardzija (7IP 1R 5K W in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.

Kluber receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Miley receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Ellsbury and Nieuwenhuis each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Sunday, click here.

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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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

706	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.1	Indians	Corey Kluber (W, 8-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.1	4	1	1	1	10
	9.1	Angels	Garrett Richards (W, 10-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	6	1	1	1	11
NL	6.2	Dbacks	Wade Miley (W, 4-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	1	8
	5.0	Pirates	Jeff Locke (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	2	1	1	4
	5.0	Athletics	Jeff Samardzija (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	5
	5.0	Orioles	Brad Brach (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	1	4
	4.2	White Sox	Hector Noesi (W, 3-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	0	0	2	5
	3.1	Giants	Tim Lincecum (W, 8-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	1	1	4	6
BAT	3.0	Yankees	Jacoby Ellsbury CF	5	2	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Mets	Kirk Nieuwenhuis LF	2	3	1	1	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`Nationals	Jordan Zimmermann	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	7	0	0	1	5
	2.0	Dodgers	Matt Kemp LF	5	1	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rays	Ben Zobrist SS	5	2	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Reds	Jay Bruce RF	4	2	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Marlins	Henderson Alvarez (W, 6-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	3

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Trade lifts Athletics to top of Box-Toppers team rankings, pushes Cubs to bottom

The trade Friday sending Jason Hammel and Jeff Samardzija from the Chicago Cubs to the Oakland Athletics sends the Athletics to the top of Box-Toppers team rankings and the Cubs to the bottom. 

These players were traded from the Cubs to the Athletics:

• Pitcher Jason Hammel, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, previously ranked ninth among National League pitchers, now ranked 10th among American League pitchers. (Hammel had been the Cubs leader in Box-Toppers points.)

• Pitcher Jeff Samardzija, 3.0 Box-Toppers points. 

These players were reported to have been traded from the Athletics to the Cubs:

• Shortstop prospect Addison Russell, who has yet to make his Major League debut.

• Outfield prospect Billy McKinney, who has yet to make his Major League debut.

• Pitcher Dan Straily, who has 1.0 Box-Toppers point this season.

In the short term, the Athletics have a net gain of 10.7 Box-Toppers points—picking up the 11.7 points from the Cubs and losing Straily’s 1.0 point.

For Box-Toppers rankings, each team inherits the total points of players acquired and loses the points of players traded away. This provides the Athletics a huge boost. At the July 3 team rankings report, the Athletics were the second-ranked team with 59.9 Box-Toppers points, just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (61.6). The trade would boost that total to 70.6, giving them a 9.0-point lead over the Dodgers.

Conversely, the trade puts the Cubs at the bottom of Box-Toppers rankings. As of July 3, the Cubs rank 20th among all teams with 45.9 Box-Toppers points. Their net loss of 10.7 points (nearly a quarter of their season total) gives them 35.2 for the season, below the current lowest-ranked team, the Arizona Diamondbacks (41.1 Box-Toppers points).

But of course, the Cubs are playing for the long term, hoping the prospects pan out to be stars, racking up huge Box-Toppers points in the coming seasons.

Pair of shutout pitchers, Jeff Samardzija and Aaron Harang, top players for Monday, May 27

Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija is Monday's Player of the Day. Samardzija pitched a complete game shutout, giving up only two hits and striking out eight in the 7-0 win over the White Sox.

Mariners pitcher Aaron Harang is American League Player of the Day. Harang also pitched a complete game shutout, giving up only four hits and striking out eight in the 9-0 win over the Padres.

Kelly Johnson of the Rays is AL Batter of the Day. Johnson hit two three-run home runs and went 4-for-5 in the 10-6 win over the Marlins.​

Yadier Molina of the Cardinals is National League Batter of the Day. Molina homered, drove in four runs and went 2-for-2 in the 6-3 win over the Royals.​

Samardzija receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Harang receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Johnson and Molina each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Monday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

527	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	13.0	Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jeff Samardzija (W, 3-6)	9.0	2	0	0	2	8
AL	11.0	Mariners	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Aaron Harang (W, 2-5)	9.0	4	0	0	2	8
	9.0	Diamondbacks	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tyler Skaggs (W, 1-0)	6.0	3	0	0	3	9
BAT	7.0	Rays	Kelly Johnson LF	5	2	4	6	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	6.1	`Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Mike Leake	7.1	5	2	1	0	7
BAT	6.0	Cardinals	Yadier Molina C	2	2	2	4	2	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Dodgers	Adrian Gonzalez 1B	4	4	4	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	5.0	Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Justin Verlander (W, 6-4)	7.0	7	3	3	2	13
	4.0	Orioles	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jason Hammel (W, 7-2)	8.0	8	2	2	0	8
	4.0	`Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Sean Doolittle (H, 9)	2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Blue Jays	Edwin Encarnacion DH	5	1	2	5	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Diamondbacks	Didi Gregorius SS	4	2	2	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Red Sox	Stephen Drew SS	3	2	2	2	2	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Twins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Glen Perkins (S, 10)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Astros	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Paul Clemens (W, 2-2)	1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Mets	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Bobby Parnell (S, 8)	1.0	0	0	0	1	2

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.