Giants' Madison Bumgarner shuts out Pirates in NL Wild Card Game, tops players for Wednesday, Oct. 1

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who pitched a complete game shutout in the National League Wild Card Game win over the Pirates, is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.

Bumgarner allowed four hits and one walk and struck out 10 in the 8-0 win. He had the Giants’ high Box-Toppers game score of +14. Brandon Belt, who went 2-for-3 with a run and three RBIs, had the second-highest Box-Toppers game score among Giants players of +3.

During the regular season, Bumgarner earned 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranking third among all players and second among NL pitchers.

The Giants now advance to face the Nationals in the best-of-five NL Division Series beginning Friday in Washington.

The Giants are ranked eighth in regular season Box-Toppers team rankings with 110.8 Box-Toppers points. They eliminate the Pirates, the 11th-ranked team with 99.9 Box-Toppers points. The team the Giants will face, the Nationals, rank fourth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 115.5 Box-Toppers points.

Coming Thursday:

American League Division Series Game 1, Tigers at Orioles

The Orioles have a slight edge in Box-Toppers team rankings. They have 113.4 Box-Toppers points, ranking sixth among all teams. The Tigers have 112.9 points, ranking seventh. During the final 10 days of the regular season, Orioles players earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points and Tigers players earned 6.0.

The pitching matchup Thursday:

Tigers: Max Scherzer, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among all players, second among AL pitchers.

Orioles: Chris Tillman, 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 152nd among all players, 53rd among AL pitchers.

American League Division Series Game 1, Royals at Angels

The Angels are Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team with 124.2 Box-Toppers points. The Royals rank 10th with 101.1 points. However, in the final 10 days of the regular season, the Angels had the fewest Box-Toppers points of any AL team (3.0), while the Royals had 6.5.

The pitching matchup Thursday:

Royals: Jason Vargas, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 107th among all players, 38th among AL pitchers.

Angels: Jered Weaver, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 126th among all players, 47th among AL pitchers.

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 in NL Wild Card Game

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner was Player of the Game (POG) in the 8-0 win over the Pirates

1001	Score	Team	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	14.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	0	0	1	10

Brewers' Kyle Lohse (8IP 8K) tops players for Wednesday, May 21

Brewers pitcher Kyle Lohse is Wednesday’s Player of the Day. Lohse struck out eight over eight innings, allowing just one run, in the 6-1 win over the Braves.

Lohse earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season. He rises to 25th place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season and ranks 10th among National League pitchers.

Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is American League Player of the Day. Weaver pitched a complete game, two-hit shutout in the 2-1 win over the Astros.

Marcell Ozuna of the Marlins is NL Batter of the Day. Ozuna hit a grand slam, went 2-for-4 and drove in five runs in the 14-5 win over the Phillies.

Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays is AL Batter of the Day. Encarnacion hit two home runs and drove in three in the 6-4 win over the Red Sox.

Lohse receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Weaver receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Ozuna and Encarnacion each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

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

521	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	Brewers	Kyle Lohse (W, 6-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	0	8
AL	9.0	Angels	Jered Weaver (W, 5-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	1	1	1	5
	7.0	Twins	Phil Hughes (W, 5-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	0	0	0	7
	6.0	`Giants	Matt Cain	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	Marlins	Marcell Ozuna CF	4	2	2	5	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Reds	Alfredo Simon (W, 6-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	6
	5.0	`Cardinals	Michael Wacha	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	3	4
	4.2	`Yankees	Dellin Betances	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	3
	4.1	`Pirates	Vin Mazzaro	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.1	0	0	0	2	3
	4.0	Indians	Josh Tomlin (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	1	1	1	6
	3.0	Royals	Wade Davis (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Blue Jays	Edwin Encarnacion 1B	5	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rangers	Shin-Soo Choo DH	3	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Athletics	Sean Doolittle (S, 4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	1.0	Dodgers	Hanley Ramirez SS	3	1	1	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

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

Tigers' Miguel Cabrera, a top player Sunday, Aug. 25, leads AL players in Box-Toppers points

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Sunday, Aug. 25:

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers becomes the top American League player in Box-Toppers points for the season (and the fourth-ranked overall) after earning AL Batter of the Day honors Sunday.

Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for the honor, giving him 16.9 for the season. He passes previous AL leader, Indians pitcher Justin Masterson (16.4 points) and moves from sixth to fourth place overall.

In addition, 16.9 points is already a career high for Cabrera. His previous career high was 16.5 scored in 2009 with the Tigers. In 2007, he scored 15.0 with the Marlins. Last year, in which he led the AL in home runs, runs batted in and batting average, he scored 11.7.

Cabrera is the only batter who has consistently been ranked among the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points this season. He led all players several times during the season, as late as June 29. 

Cabrera has 115.7 caeer Box-Toppers points, which puts him at 32nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record-keeping began.

Cabrera homered and went 3-for-4 in the 11-3 win over the Mets Sunday to earn AL Batter of the Day.

In other developments: 

Brewers pitcher Marco Estrada is Sunday's Player of the Day. Estrada pitched seven shutout innings, gave up only one hit and struck out nine in the 3-1 win over the Reds.

Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is AL Player of the Day. Weaver struck out eight over eight innings in the 7-1 win over the Mariners. 

John Mayberry of the Phillies is National League Batter of the Day. Mayberry hit a two-run homer in the 9-5 win over the Diamondbacks.

Estrada receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Weaver receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Mayberry 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

825	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	13.0	Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Marco Estrada (W, 6-4)	7.0	1	0	0	2	9
AL	11.0	Angels	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jered Weaver (W, 8-7)	8.0	3	1	1	0	8
	11.0	`Padres	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Andrew Cashner	7.0	2	0	0	1	7
	10.0	Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Ryan Vogelsong (W, 3-4)	8.0	2	0	0	1	5
	8.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jake Peavy (W, 10-5)	9.0	3	1	1	1	5
	4.0	Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Mark Buehrle (W, 10-7)	8.0	7	1	1	2	7
	4.0	`Indians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Scott Kazmir	6.0	7	1	1	1	8
BAT	3.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera 3B	4	2	3	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Orioles	J.J. Hardy SS	4	3	3	1	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Royals	Salvador Perez C	4	1	2	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	2.0	Phillies	John Mayberry RF	3	2	1	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	White Sox	Josh Phegley C	2	2	1	1	1	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.1	Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Craig Kimbrel (S, 41)	1.1	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Yankees	Robinson Cano 2B	5	1	3	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Rockies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Rex Brothers (S, 13)	1.0	0	0	0	2	2

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

Angels’ Jered Weaver, Indians’ Scott Kazmir top players for Wednesday, July 24

Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Wednesday, July 24:

Angels pitcher Jered Weaver is Wednesday’s Player of the Day. Weaver threw eight shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out nine in the 1-0 win over the Twins.

Indians pitcher Scott Kazmir is American League Player of the Day. Kazmir gave up one hit and one run and struck out seven over eight innings in the 10-1 win over the Mariners.

Nate Schierholtz of the Cubs is National League Batter of the Day. Schierholtz homered and drove in five runs in the 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks.

Eric Hosmer of the Royals is AL Batter of the Day. Hosmer hit two home runs and drove in three in the 4-3 win over the Orioles.

Weaver receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Kazmir receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Schierholtz and Hosmer each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

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

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

724	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	14.0	Angels	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jered Weaver (W, 5-5)	8.0	2	0	0	1	9
AL	11.0	Indians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Scott Kazmir (W, 6-4)	8.0	1	1	0	2	7
	10.2	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Francisco Liriano (W, 10-4)	7.2	2	0	0	3	8
	6.1	Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Matt Garza (W, 1-0)	7.1	5	1	0	0	5
	6.0	Rays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			David Price (W, 5-5)	9.0	5	1	1	0	4
	6.0	Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Kyle Lohse (W, 7-7)	7.0	5	1	1	0	6
	5.2	Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tim Hudson (W, 8-7)	7.2	4	2	2	3	9
	5.0	Rockies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jorge De La Rosa (W, 10-5)	6.0	5	0	0	1	5
	4.0	Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Anibal Sanchez (W, 8-7)	6.0	6	0	0	1	5
BAT	3.0	Cubs	Nate Schierholtz RF	6	1	3	5	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	3.0	Royals	Eric Hosmer 1B	4	2	2	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Brandon League (W, 5-3)	2.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.1	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			A.J. Griffin (W, 9-7)	6.1	6	3	3	0	8
	2.0	Cardinals	Matt Adams 1B	4	1	2	3	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Reds	Joey Votto 1B	4	2	2	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0