Giants' Madison Bumgarner tops players in NL Wild Card Game win over Mets

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card game.

Bumgarner pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out six and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the Mets.

Bumgarner had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0. Third baseman Conor Gillaspie who hit the ninth-inning, three-run homer that put the Giants ahead, had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (HR 2-4 R 3BI).

Bumgarner had 13.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 19th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers. Over the past two seasons, Bumgarner has 30.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked seventh among NL pitchers. Gillaspie had 2.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season.

The Giants, 10th-ranked in Box-Toppers team rankings (112.7), beat the Mets, ranked sixth (119.1). The Giants are the lowest-ranked team to qualify for the postseason but among the 10 teams in the playoffs, they were hottest down the stretch—in the season’s final 10 games, they picked up 8.7 Box-Toppers points.

The Giants will face the Cubs in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in Chicago. The Cubs have baseball’s best record and highest accumulated Box-Toppers point total of 139.5.

Top player from NL Wild Card Game

BTG	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
9.0	SF 3, NYM 0	Madison Bumgarner (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	0	0	2	6
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Coming Thursday: The American League begins both division playoff series:

AL Division Series, Game 1: Blue Jays at Rangers

The Blue Jays rank 10th in Box-Toppers team rankings (114.0 Box-Toppers points) while the Rangers rank fifth (122.5). In the final 10 days of the season, the Rangers picked up 7.5 Box-Toppers points while the Blue Jays picked up 6.0.

The pitching matchup Thursday:

Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.

Rangers—Cole Hamels, 17.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth among all players, second among AL pitchers.

The Blue Jays have three players who are among the top 10 in their Box-Toppers category:

• J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, ranks third among AL pitchers.
• Catcher Russell Martin, 10.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks sixth among AL batters.
• Third baseman Josh Donaldson, 9.7 Box-Toppers poitns, ranks seventh among AL batters.

The Rangers also have three players who are among the top 10 in their Box-Toppers category:

• Hamels, 17.8 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers, sixth among all players.
• Third baseman Adrian Beltre, 9.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL batters.
• Shortstop Elvis Andrus, 9.2 Box-Toppers points, 10th among AL batters.

Blue Jays vs. Rangers

Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

Toronto Blue Jays				Texas Rangers
Player	Pos	BTP		Player	Pos	BTP
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	14.7		Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	17.8
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	11.0		Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	10.4
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	10.7		Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	9.5
Martin, Russell 2202	ca	10.5		Andrus, Elvis 2582	ss	9.2
Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	9.7		Lewis, Colby 1567	pi sp	7.7
Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	8.0		Mazara, Nomar 3614	rf lf	7.0
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh 1b	8.0		Odor, Rougned 3336	2b	6.5
Dickey, R.A. 1734	pi sp	7.0		Beltran, Carlos 1194	dh rf	6.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	6.7		Lucroy, Jonathan 2744	ca	5.7
Saunders, Michael 2768	lf	5.2		Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	5.7
Smoak, Justin 2731	1b	3.5		Gomez, Carlos 2397	lf	4.5
Osuna, Roberto 3512	pi cp	3.0		Holland, Derek 2634	pi sp	4.0
Upton, Melvin 1922	lf cf	2.5		Desmond, Ian 2673	cf lf	4.0
Pillar, Kevin 3486	cf	2.0		Moreland, Mitch 2799	1b	3.5
Biagini, Joe 3646	pi mr	2.0		Harrell, Lucas 2988	pi sp	3.0
Goins, Ryan 3478	2b	1.5		Rua, Ryan 3631	1b lf	3.0
Bautista, Jose 2169	rf	1.0		DeShields, Delino 3557	cf lf	2.0
Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	ss	1.0		Perez, Martin 3213	pi sp	2.0
Bolsinger, Mike 3318	pi sp	1.0		Barnette, Tony 3670	pi mr	2.0
Grilli, Jason 2209	pi mr cp	1.0		Bush, Matt 3673	pi mr cp	2.0
Travis, Devon 3436	2b	1.0		Tolleson, Shawn 3077	pi cp	1.0
Benoit, Joaquin 1663	pi mr	1.0		Choo, Shin-Soo 2267	rf	1.0
Cecil, Brett 2566	pi mr	1.0		Claudio, Alex 3459	pi mr	1.0
Navarro, Dioner 2087	dh ca	1.0		Jeffress, Jeremy 3473	pi cp	1.0
				Diekman, Jake 3266	pi mr	1.0
				Alvarez, Dario 3663	pi mr	1.0
				Profar, Jurickson 3665	ph	1.0
Totals		114.0		Totals		122.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

AL Division Series, Game 1: Red Sox at Indians

The Red Sox rank second in Box-Toppers team rankings (128.3 Box-Toppers points) while the Indians rank fourth (123.7). In the final 10 days of the season, the Indians picked up 6.0 Box-Toppers points while the Red Sox picked up 5.0.

The pitching matchup Thursday:

Red Sox—Rick Porcello, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, 91st among all players, 31st among AL pitchers. (Despite leading all pitchers with 22 wins, Porcello did not rank highly in Box-Toppers player rankings in 2016.) 

Indians—Trevor Bauer, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players, 12th among AL pitchers. (Bauer ranks higher than Porcello in Box-Toppers player rankings but has 10 fewer wins—he was 12-8 in 2016.)

The Red Sox are the AL’s top-ranked team in Box-Toppers points, but have only one player ranked in the top 10 in a Box-Toppers category—David Price, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks ninth among AL pitchers.

The Indians have three pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 pitchers list, none of whom is starting Game 1:

• Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, ranks first among AL pitchers and fifth among all players.
• Danny Salazar, 12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranks eighth among AL pitchers.
• Carlos Carrasco, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranks 10th among AL pitchers.

Red Sox vs. Indians

Here are players for both teams in the AL Divisional Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2016. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

Boston Red Sox				Cleveland Indians
Player	Pos	BTP		Player	Pos	BTP
Price, David 2593	pi sp	12.4		Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	21.2
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	12.4		Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	12.5
Wright, Steven 3224	pi sp	8.4		Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	12.4
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	8.0		Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	11.4
Ortiz, David	dh	8.0		Miller, Andrew 2436	pi cp mr	8.0
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	8.0		Allen, Cody 3265	pi cp mr	7.0
Shaw, Travis 3544	1b 3b	7.0		Lindor, Francisco 3586	ss	7.0
Ramirez, Hanley 2119	1b	7.0		Napoli, Mike 2161	1b	6.5
Betts, Mookie 3404	rf	6.2		Tomlin, Josh 2771	pi sp	5.0
Bradley, Jackie Jr. 3293	cf	5.5		Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959	rf	3.5
Hill, Aaron 2056	2b	5.5		Crisp, Coco 1876	lf	3.0
Buchholz, Clay 2363	pi sp	5.0		Otero, Dan 3365	pi mr	3.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	5.0		Shaw, Bryan 2995	pi mr	3.0
Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480	pi sp	4.7		Clevinger, Mike 3707	pi mr sp	3.0
Uehara, Koji 2802	pi cp	4.0		Byrd, Marlon 1751	rf	2.5
Ross, Robbie Jr. 2999	pi cp mr sp	3.0		Santana, Carlos 2757	dh 1b	2.5
Leon, Sandy 3676	ca	3.0		Almonte, Abraham 3554	rf ph	2.0
Holt, Brock 3340	3b lf	2.5		Naquin, Tyler 3662	cf ph	2.0
Ziegler, Brad 2504	pi cp	2.0		Anderson, Cody 3509	pi sp	1.7
Abad, Fernando 3653	pi mr	2.0		Ramirez, Jose 3436	3b	1.5
Hembree, Heath 3620	pi cp	1.7		Brantley, Michael 2785	lf	1.0
Swihart, Blake 3565	lf ca	1.0		McAllister, Zach 3088	pi mr sp	1.0
Kelly, Joe 3066	pi sp	1.0		Gomes, Yan 3177	ca	1.0
Bogaerts, Xander 3383	ss	1.0		Guyer, Brandon 3363	lf	1.0
Hanigan, Ryan 2708	ca	1.0		Gimenez, Chris 2870	ca	1.0
Tazawa, Junichi 3151	pi mr	1.0
Vazquez, Christian 3380	ca	1.0
Brentz, Bryce 3680	lf	1.0
Totals		128.3		Totals		123.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

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.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Dodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Saturday, Sept. 10, rises to 9th; Nationals' Scherzer bolsters lead in Box-Toppers rankings

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 10:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	20.4
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	18.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	18.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1
8	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
9	Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	14.4
10	Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	14.1

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rises to 10th place in player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Hill pitched seven perfect innings, striking out nine, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins. Despite allowing no base runners for seven innings, he was pulled after 89 pitches to preserve his health—he had spent time recently on the disabled list. While three Dodgers relievers preserved the shutout, they did give up two hits.

Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10 over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.

Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

With the rise of Hill to ninth place and Tanaka to 10th place in season player rankings, two other players were displaced from Box-Toppers top 10 list for the season—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (14.0) and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (13.7).

American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two homers and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Pence of the Giants homered and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in one run, in the 11-3 win over the Diamondbacks. It is the second straight day Pence has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 0R BB 8K ND in the 3-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.7 for the season. He leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (20.4) by 3.3 points.

Scherzer also now has 129.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 30th-ranked Jason Giambi (133.4).

Notable—Three other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season also earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

• Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 4H 2R BB 5K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season, 13th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers.
• Joey Votto of the Reds (HR 2B 4-5 2R BI in the 8-7 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season, 33rd among all players and second among NL batters, behind Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5). (Bryant holds the higher rank because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—8.5 vs. 5.)
• Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (8IP 6H R 4BB 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.2 for the season, 36th among all players and 17th among NL pitchers. Wainwright now has 112.0 career Box-Toppers points, 52nd-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (111.3) in “all-time” rankings and now trails 51st-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8).

Debut—Twins pitcher J.T. Chargois made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Chargois (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Indians) made his Major League debut June 11 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,736th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters and Pence each earn 1.5 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

9/10	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	16.0	LAD 5, MIA 0	Rich Hill (W,12-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	0	0	0	0	9
	14.0	SD 6, COL 3	Christian Friedrich (W,5-10)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	10
AL	10.1	NYY 5, TB 1	Masahiro Tanaka (W,13-4)	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	1	1	0	10
	9.2	`WSH 3, PHI 0	Max Scherzer	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	0	0	1	8
BAT	6.0	BAL 11, DET 3	Matt Wieters, C	4	3	2	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	SF 11, ARI 3	Hunter Pence, RF	3	4	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	SEA 14, OAK 3	Nelson Cruz, DH	4	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	HOU 2, CHC 1	Collin McHugh (W,10-10)	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	1	1	3	6
	3.0	STL 5, MIL 1	Adam Wainwright (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-		8.0	6	1	1	4	7
	2.0	CIN 8, PIT 7	Joey Votto, 1B	5	2	4	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	TEX 8, LAA 5	Carlos Gomez, LF	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	KC 6, CHW 5	Eric Hosmer, 1B	3	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	TOR 3, BOS 2	J.A. Happ (W,18-4)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	1	5
	2.0	MIN 2, CLE 1 (12)	J.T. Chargois (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	ATL 4, NYM 3 (10)	Matt Kemp, LF	3	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7	44.7	109.3	129.7	2.7
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	14.4	18.4	18.4	38.1	10.4
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	14.1	22.1	34.8	34.8	6.1
Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	13.7	26.8	42.2	50.2	0.6
Votto, Joey 2366	1b	cin nl	10.5	15.5	32.2	64.2	5.5
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	10.2	13.2	61.3	112.0	7.2
Wieters, Matt 2643	ca	bal al	9.5	10.5	28.5	34.2	8.5
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	8.5	17.5	31.0	31.0	-0.5
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	7.7	17.4	29.2	29.2	-2.0
Kemp, Matt 2151	rf lf	atl nl	6.5	12.0	36.5	58.1	1.0
Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224	dh	sea al	5.5	7.5	33.2	52.7	3.5
Pence, Hunter 2287	rf	sf nl	3.5	5.5	24.5	52.2	1.5
Friedrich, Christian 3024	pi sp	sd nl	2.7	2.7	6.4	6.4	2.7
Gomez, Carlos 2397	cf lf	tex al	2.0	8.0	18.5	29.5	-4.0
Chargois, J.T. 3736	pi cp	min al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rockies' Chad Bettis tops players for Monday, Sept. 5; Orioles' Jimenez tops AL players

Rockies pitcher Chad Bettis is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Bettis pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 5:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	18.2
5	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	17.1
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez pitched a complete game, allowing three runs, two hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 7-3 win over the Rays.

American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-5 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Chris Coghlan of the Cubs hit the go-ahead, seventh-inning pinch-hit single and went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 7-2 win over the Brewers.

Notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Verlander (7IP 8H 2R BB 11K ND in the 5-3, 11-inning win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 27th among all players and 10th among AL pitchers.

Verander also now has 135.6 career Box-Toppers points, 29th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 28th-ranked player, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (138.2).

Also notable—For the sixth time this season, a pitcher has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for batting and Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals, who did it Monday, has now done it twice in 2016.

Wainwright (2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 12-6 win over the Pirates) was also Player of the Game for batting May 2. It is the fourth time in his career Wainwright has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it July 24, 2012 and Sept. 18, 2013.

Wainwright also picked up the win in the game (5IP 7H 4R BB 5K W). His Box-Toppers game score for pitching was −6.0. His Box-Toppers game score for batting was +3.0, best of all Cardinals players Monday.

Wainwright earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 111.0 career points. He rises to 53rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list and now trails 52nd-ranked player Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (111.3). Wainwright has 9.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, 20th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Trea Turner of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Turner (HR 2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 6-4 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut Aug. 21, 2015, and was playing in his 75th career game. He is the 3,730th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bettis earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Jimenez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer and Coghlan each earn 1.5 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

9/5	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	COL 6, SF 0	Chad Bettis (W,12-7)	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	0	7
	12.0	SD 2, BOS 1	Edwin Jackson (W,4-5)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	11
	8.1	LAD 10, ARI 2	Kenta Maeda (W,14-8)	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	1	1	1	8
AL	6.0	BAL 7, TB 3	Ubaldo Jimenez (W,6-11)	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	3	3	1	6
BAT	5.0	KC 11, MIN 5	Eric Hosmer, 1B	3	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`DET 5, CHW 3 (11)	Justin Verlander	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	2	2	1	11
	4.0	SEA 14, TEX 6	Franklin Gutierrez, RF	4	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	CHC 7, MIL 2	Chris Coghlan, PH-RF	2	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	NYY 5, TOR 3	Jacoby Ellsbury, CF	4	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	WSH 6, ATL 4	Trea Turner, 2B	4	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	NYM 5, CIN 0	Matt Reynolds, SS	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	STL 12, PIT 6	Adam Wainwright, P	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAA 10, OAK 7	Andrew Bailey (S,2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	PHI 6, MIA 2	Peter Bourjos, RF	4	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	HOU 6, CLE 2	Alex Bregman, 3B	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Verlander, Justin 2112	pi sp	det al	11.0	17.4	80.6	135.6	4.6
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	9.2	12.2	60.3	111.0	6.2
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	8.0
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	7.5	16.5	30.0	30.0	-1.5
Bettis, Chad 3481	pi sp	col nl	5.7	11.1	11.1	11.1	0.3
Gutierrez, Franklin 2242	rf	sea al	3.5	4.5	8.5	23.5	2.5
Jackson, Edwin 1812	pi sp	sd nl	3.0	3.0	22.0	43.8	3.0
Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349	pi sp	bal al	2.7	11.4	39.6	77.5	-6.0
Coghlan, Chris 2610	3b rf ph	chi nl	2.5	3.5	10.0	16.5	1.5
Bregman, Alex 3721	3b	hou al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Reynolds, Matt 3650	ss ph	nym nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Ellsbury, Jacoby 2365	cf	nyy al	1.0	4.0	23.0	30.0	-2.0
Bourjos, Peter 2790	rf	phi nl	1.0	2.0	12.5	13.5	0.0
Bailey, Andrew 2549	pi cp	ana al	1.0	1.0	5.0	18.0	1.0
Turner, Trea 3730	2b	dc nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 30, extending his season Box-Toppers points lead

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and extends his lead in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 30:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	18.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	17.2
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	16.8
6	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	15.4
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
8	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	14.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	13.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Phillies.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 22.7 for the season. Scherzer took the Box-Toppers points lead in his last start Aug. 25, passing previous leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points).

Scherzer’s 22.7 points is now his single-season career high, passing his 2014 point total of 22.1 he earned with the Tigers.

Scherzer also now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 32nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Roy Oswalt (127.2), A.J. Burnett (127.8) and Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Scherzer now trails 31st-ranked player Trevor Hoffman (129.4).

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Collin McHugh pitched six scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Curtis Granderson of the Mets hit two homers and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Mariners.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 111.3 career points, rising to 52nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list and now trails 51st-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8).

Beltre has 9.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, fifth among AL batters.

Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 110.0 career Box-Toppers points—54th-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Wainwright (7IP 3H R 0BB 7K ND in the 3-1, 10-inning win over the Brewers) passes Jeff Kent (109.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails 53rd-ranked player Tom Glavine (110.6).

Wainwright has 8.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, 21st among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks has 11.7 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Hendricks (7IP 3H 0R BB 4K W in the 3-0 win over the Pirates) ranks 18th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Rays pitcher Enny Romero made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Romero (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 22, 2013, and was playing in his 68th career game. He is the 3,726th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McHugh earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Granderson and Beltre each earn 1.5 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

8/30	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	WSH 3, PHI 2	Max Scherzer (W,15-7)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	2	2	1	11
	9.0	`STL 2, MIL 1 (10)	Adam Wainwright	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	0	7
	7.0	CHC 3, PIT 0	Kyle Hendricks (W,13-7)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	4
AL	6.0	HOU 3, OAK 1	Collin McHugh (W,9-10)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	1	5
	5.2	CLE 5, MIN 4	Dan Otero (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-		2.2	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	NYM 7, MIA 4	Curtis Granderson, PH-RF	2	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	ATL 7, SD 3	Julio Teheran (W,4-9)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	2	2	0	8
BAT	4.0	TEX 8, SEA 7	Adrian Beltre, 3B	5	3	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	NYY 5, KC 4 (10)	Dellin Betances (W,3-4; BS,4)	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	LAA 4, CIN 2	C.J. Cron, 1B	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	DET 8, CHW 4	J.D. Martinez, RF	3	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TB 4, BOS 3	Enny Romero (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	BAL 5, TOR 3	Brad Brach (W,8-2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	2
	0.0	ARI 4, SF 3	Welington Castillo, C	4	0	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	22.7	43.7	108.3	128.7	1.7
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	11.7	21.4	26.4	26.4	2.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	9.5	22.0	47.9	111.3	-3.0
Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	8.2	11.2	59.3	110.0	5.2
Teheran, Julio 3176	pi sp	atl nl	7.0	14.7	42.8	42.8	-0.7
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	6.7	16.4	28.2	28.2	-3.0
Castillo, Wellington 3251	ca	ari nl	5.0	8.5	11.5	11.5	1.5
Martinez, J.D. 2922	rf	det al	4.5	6.2	16.2	16.2	2.8
Cron, C.J. 3338	1b dh	ana al	3.7	9.7	10.7	10.7	-2.3
Betances, Dellin 3333	pi mr cp	nyy al	3.0	7.0	11.7	11.7	-1.0
Granderson, Curtis 2051	rf ph	nym nl	3.0	7.0	31.9	64.3	-1.0
Brach, Brad 3374	pi mr	bal al	3.0	6.0	7.0	7.0	0.0
Otero, Dan 3365	pi mr	cle al	3.0	4.7	5.7	5.7	1.3
Romero, Enny 3726	pi mr	tb al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Yankees' Chad Green tops players for Monday, Aug. 15; Mariners' Hernandez rises to 10th on career Box-Toppers points list

Yankees pitcher Chad Green is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 15:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors. Hernandez passes Johan Santana who had been among Box-Toppers “all-time” top 10 players for more than six years.

Player of the Day—Green pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing two hits and no walks, in the 1-0 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher David Phelps struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a grand slam, going 1-for-2, in the 5-2 win over the Athletics.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 109.8 for his career, rising to 53rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, Beltre passes three players on the “all-time” list—Billy Wagner (108.7), Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (109.0) and Jeff Kent (109.7). Beltre now trails 52nd-ranked player Tom Glavine (110.6).

Beltre also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, rising to seventh place among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Wellington Castillo of the Diamondbacks hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 10-6 win over the Mets.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	182.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	181.3
7	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	179.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	166.7
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

Hernandez—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Hernandez (6.2IP 4H 2R 4BB 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 166.7 for his career. He passes Johan Santana (166.6) on the “all-time” list. Santana has been in the top 10 since July 23, 2010, when he reached 151.9 career Box-Toppers points, passing Greg Maddux (151.7). Hernandez now trails ninth-place player Manny Ramirez (167.2).

Hernandez has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 15.4 points below his 2015 total of 19.4, when he ranked eighth among all players.

Notable—Red Sox pitcher Drew Pomeranz has the highest Box-Toppers season point total of the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Pomeranz (7.2IP 5H 2R 2BB 6K W in the 3-2 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising to 15th place among all players and fourth among AL pitchers. It is the first point he has earned since being traded from the Padres to the Red Sox July 15.

Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer had the chance to take the season Box-Toppers points lead Monday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s 5-4 win over the Rockies.

Scherzer (4IP 7H 4R 2BB 3K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of −10, uncharacteristically low for him. Player of the Game was Jayson Werth (HR 2-4 R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0.

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has led Box-Toppers season player rankings since May 7 and continues to lead even after being on the disabled list for six weeks. Kershaw has 20.0 Box-Toppers points, Scherzer has 18.7. Had Scherzer won overall Player of the Day or NL Player of the Day honors, he would have passed Kershaw for the lead. Kershaw could return to pitch as soon as late August.

Scoring—Green earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Phelps earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Beltre and Castillo each earn 1.5 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

8/15	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	15.0	NYY 1, TOR 0	Chad Green (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	0	11
	6.0	TB 8, SD 2	Drew Smyly (W,5-11)	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	1	1	2	4
NL	4.1	MIA 6, CIN 3	David Phelps (W,6-6)	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	2	2	1	8
BAT	4.0	TEX 5, OAK 2	Adrian Beltre, 3B	2	1	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	KC 3, DET 1	Ian Kennedy (W,7-9)	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	1	1	1	5
BAT	3.0	ARI 10, NYM 6	Welington Castillo, C	5	2	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	PIT 8, SF 5	Gregory Polanco, RF	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	BOS 3, CLE 2	Drew Pomeranz (W,9-9)	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	2	2	2	6
	2.2	SEA 3, LAA 2	Felix Hernandez (W,7-4)	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	2	2	4	8
	1.0	WSH 5, COL 4	Jayson Werth, LF	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Pomeranz, Drew 3061	pi sp	bos al	11.4	14.4	22.4	22.4	8.4
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	8.0	20.5	46.4	109.8	-4.5
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	8.0	14.7	58.5	64.5	1.3
Smyly, Drew 3009	pi sp	tb al	7.4	13.4	35.5	35.5	1.4
Phelps, David 2994	pi mr sp	fla nl	5.7	9.1	22.5	22.5	2.3
Polanco, Gregory 3361	rf	pit nl	5.5	8.5	12.5	12.5	2.5
Werth, Jayson 1664	lf	dc nl	4.5	7.5	21.5	48.7	1.5
Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0	23.4	89.4	166.7	-15.4
Castillo, Wellington 3251	ca	ari nl	3.0	6.5	9.5	9.5	-0.5
Green, Chad 3675	pi sp	nyy al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dbacks' Braden Shipley tops players for Thursday, Aug. 11; Astros' Altuve rises to 10th in Box-Toppers rankings

Diamondbacks pitcher Braden Shipley is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 11:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Thursday, Jose Altuve of the Astros became the first batter in nearly two months to land a spot among Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Altuve, the Box-Toppers points leader among American League batters, rises to 10th place among all players.

Player of the Day—Shipley pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and one walk, in the 9-0 win over the Mets.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Chris Devenski pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out five, in the 10-2 win over the Twins.

This was Devenski’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Devenski made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 32nd career game. He is the 3,702nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Mike Napoli of the Indians hit a three-run homer and two doubles, going 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 14-4 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Hernan Perez of the Brewers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 11-3 win over the Braves.

Rankings—Jose Altuve of the Astros rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Altuve (2B 4-5 3R 3BI in the 15-7 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.5 for the season. He extends his Box-Toppers points lead among AL batters (second place Manny Machado of the Orioles has 10.2 points).

Altuve is the first batter in the overall top 10 in Box-Toppers points since June 14, when Machado was among the top 10 with 8.7 points. Altuve’s 12.5 points for the season also matches the 12.5 points Adrian Beltre of the Rangers had in 2015 to lead AL batters at the end of the season.

Debut—Yankees pitcher Luis Cessa made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Cessa (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-2 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,703rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Shipley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Devenski earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Napoli and Perez each earn 1.5 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

8/11	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	ARI 9, NYM 0	Braden Shipley (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	7
AL	8.0	HOU 10, MIN 2	Chris Devenski (W,1-4)	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	0	0	0	5
BAT	7.0	CLE 14, LAA 4	Mike Napoli, 1B	4	3	4	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	PIT 4, SD 0	Jameson Taillon (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	2	4
	6.0	KC 2, CHW 1	Danny Duffy (W,9-1)	-	-	-	-		9.0	7	1	1	0	6
	5.0	HOU 15, MIN 7	Jose Altuve, 2B	5	3	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	BAL 9, OAK 6	Mark Trumbo, RF	4	2	2	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	NYY 4, BOS 2	Luis Cessa (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	4.0	COL 12, TEX 9	Adam Ottavino (S,1)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	3.0	MIL 11, ATL 3	Hernan Perez, 3B	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	CHC 4, STL 3 (11)	Mike Montgomery (W,4-5)	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	2	4

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5	19.5	29.0	29.0	5.5
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	9.7	13.7	28.7	28.7	5.7
Trumbo, Mark 2851	rf	bal al	8.2	10.7	33.9	33.9	5.7
Napoli, Mike 2161	1b	cle al	5.0	9.5	37.2	56.2	0.5
Taillon, Jameson 3658	pi sp	pit nl	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0
Montgomery, Mike 3513	pi cp mr sp	chi nl	4.0	8.0	8.0	8.0	0.0
Perez, Hernan 3577	3b ss ph	mil nl	3.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	2.5
Shipley, Braden 3695	pi sp	ari nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Devenski, Chris 3702	pi sp	hou nl	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7
Ottavino, Adam 3054	pi cp	col nl	1.0	3.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Cessa, Luis 3703	pi mr	nyy al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' John Lackey rises to 9th in player rankings Tuesday; Astros' Altuve retakes Box-Toppers points lead among AL batters

Cubs pitcher John Lackey is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 9:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	12.4
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	11.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Jose Altuve of the Astros retakes the Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Lackey allowed one run over eight innings, giving up three hits and one walk, striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Angels.

Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season. Cubs pitchers now occupy the eighth, ninth and 10th place spots in Box-Toppers season player rankings:

• 8. Jon Lester, 13.4 Box-Toppers points
• 9. Lackey, 12.4
• 10. Jake Arrieta, 11.7

Lackey rises to seventh place among National League pitchers in Box-Toppers points.

Lackey also rises to 40th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, Lackey now has 120.2 Box-Toppers points, passing Cliff Lee (119.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 39th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

Lackey had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, the same as Marlins pitcher Tom Koehler, Player of the Game in the 2-0 win over the Giants (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 6K W). But Lackey held the tiebreaker, winning overall Player of the Day, because he pitched more innings—eight vs. seven.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits, walking two and striking out four, in the 3-1 win over the Nationals.

Nationals’ starting pitcher in the game, Max Scherzer (18.7 Box-Toppers points), had a chance to pass season player rankings leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0). While Scherzer’s Box-Toppers game score of +10 (7IP 3H 2R ER BB 10K) was high enough to earn him Player of the Day honors Tuesday, he did not earn Player of the Game honors because the Nationals did not win and Scherzer himself picked up the loss, his seventh of the season (12-7).

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Altuve of the Astros went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 7-5 win over the Twins.

Altuve earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.5 for the season, rising to 11th place in season player rankings and first among AL batters, passing previous leader Manny Machado of the Orioles (10.2). Machado had just retaken the AL batting lead from Altuve on Sunday.

National League Batter of the Day—Howie Kendrick of the Dodgers homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 9-3 win over the Phillies.

Notable—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rises to 56th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Beltre (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Rockies) now has 108.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Lance Berkman (108.1) and Kevin Millwood (108.3). He trails 55th-ranked player Billy Wagner (108.7).

Beltre has 6.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 14th among AL batters.

Debut—Athletics pitcher Zach Neal made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Neal (5.1IP 2H R 0BB K W in the 2-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut May 11 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,700th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Bauer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Altuve and Kendrick each earn 1.5 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

8/9	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	CHC 5, LAA 1	John Lackey (W, 9-7)	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	1	6
	8.0	MIA 2, SF 0	Tom Koehler (W, 9-8)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	3	6
AL	4.1	CLE 3, WSH 1	Trevor Bauer (W, 8-5)	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	0	0	2	4
	4.0	TB 9, TOR 2	Erasmo Ramirez (S, 1)	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	0	1
BAT	3.0	HOU 7, MIN 5	Jose Altuve (2B)	4	2	4	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	OAK 2, BAL 1	Zach Neal (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-		5.1	2	1	1	0	1
	2.0	BOS 5, NYY 3	Dustin Pedroia (2B)	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	LAD 9, PHI 3	Howie Kendrick (LF)	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	CIN 7, STL 4	Billy Hamilton (CF)	3	3	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ATL 2, MIL 1	Mauricio Cabrera (S, 3)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.1	CHW 7, KC 5 (10)	Dan Jennings (S, 1)	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	SEA 6, DET 5 (15)	Kyle Seager (3B)	7	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	PIT 6, SD 4	David Freese (3B)	5	3	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	TEX 7, COL 5	Adrian Beltre (3B)	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	ARI 5, NYM 3	Paul Goldschmidt (1B)	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	12.4	22.1	41.8	120.2	2.7
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	11.5	18.5	28.0	28.0	4.5
Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	9.4	18.8	27.5	27.5	0.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	6.5	19.0	44.9	108.3	-6.0
Seager, Kyle 3031	3b	sea al	6.0	11.0	25.0	25.0	1.0
Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	5.0	9.0	17.0	17.0	1.0
Ramirez, Erasmo 1786	pi sp mr cp	tb al	3.7	10.7	12.7	14.7	-3.3
Kendrick, Howie 2191	2b lf	lad nl	3.0	7.0	19.0	33.0	-1.0
Cabrera, Mauricio 3689	pi cp mr	atl nl	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	2.5	12.7	37.9	37.9	-7.7
Hamilton, Billy 3287	cf	cin nl	2.0	4.0	8.5	8.5	0.0
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	2.0	2.0	22.4	34.5	2.0
Freese, David 2710	1b 3b	pit nl	2.0	2.0	22.2	24.2	2.0
Jennings, Dan 3591	pi cp	chi al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Neal, Zach 3700	pi sp	oak al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Blue Jays' Sanchez tops players for Monday, July 25; Angels' Pujols regains 6th place, passing Kershaw, on Box-Toppers' ‘all-time' list

Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of July 25:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	12.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	11.4
8	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Monday, Albert Pujols regains sixth place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who had passed him on the career chart on June 11.

Player of the Day—Sanchez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and two walks, in the 4-2 win over the Padres.

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, striking out one, in the 4-0 win over the Marlins. Hellickson did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied, 0-0.

Hellickson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 9.1 for the season, the most of any of the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Hellickson ranks 21st among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
4	Alex Rodriguez	dh	nyy al	187.0
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	182.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	180.3
7	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	179.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
10	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
11	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	164.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	156.1
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (as of July 15, 2016's All-Star break)

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit two homers, including a walk-off, two-run shot, in the 7-6 win over the Athletics. Beltre went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 107.3 for his career, rising to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Beltre passes Frank Thomas (106.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 57th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1). Beltre has 5.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 14th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Jay Bruce of the Reds hit two home runs, going 2-for-4 and driving in four runs, in the 7-5 win over the Giants.

Notable—Albert Pujols of the Angels regains the sixth-place ranking in “all-time” career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

Pujols (3-5 R 4BI in the 6-2 win over the Royals) now has 180.3 career Box-Toppers points, passing Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (179.3). Kershaw had passed Pujols on the “all-time” list on June 11 with 176.3 points. Pujols again trails fifth-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0) in most points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Pujols has 6.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 13th among AL batters.

Scoring—Sanchez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hellickson earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Beltre and Pujols each earn 1.5 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

7/25	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	TOR 4, SD 2	Aaron Sanchez (W,11-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	7
	6.0	NYY 2, HOU 1	Michael Pineda (W,5-9)	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	2	8
BAT	5.0	TEX 7, OAK 6	Adrian Beltre, 3B	5	3	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	5.0	`PHI 4, MIA 0	Jeremy Hellickson	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	0	0	1	1
BAT	4.0	CIN 7, SF 5	Jay Bruce, RF	4	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAA 6, KC 2	Albert Pujols, DH	5	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	MIL 7, ARI 2	Martin Maldonado, C	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	DET 4, BOS 2	Francisco Rodriguez (S,28)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.2	`CHW 5, CHC 4	Miguel Gonzalez	-	-	-	-		6.2	7	2	2	2	8
	1.2	`BAL 3, COL 2 (10)	Yovani Gallardo	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	2	2	2	6
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	phi nl	9.1	14.1	37.8	40.8	4.1
Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	tor al	8.7	10.7	12.7	12.7	6.7
Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	cin nl	6.5	9.7	29.7	56.8	3.3
Pujols, Albert 1438	dh 1b	ana al	6.0	13.0	43.0	180.3	-1.0
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	5.5	18.0	43.9	107.3	-7.0
Pineda, Michael 2841	pi sp	nyy al	5.0	15.7	33.1	33.1	-5.7
Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	chi al	4.7	11.4	33.5	33.5	-2.0
Gallardo, Yovani 2333	pi sp	bal al	2.0	7.0	58.3	89.7	-3.0
Rodriguez, Francisco 1707	pi cp	det al	2.0	3.0	16.0	62.4	1.0
Maldonado, Martin 3082	ca	mil nl	1.0	2.5	7.5	7.5	-0.5

What are those numbers after players' names?