Reds' Adam Duvall tops players for Monday, Sept. 26; Angels' Weaver tops AL players

Adam Duvall of the Reds 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 Sept. 26:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	24.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.4
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	died*	22.4
4	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	22.1
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	21.2
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	17.8
7	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	15.7
8	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym al	15.7
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	15.4
10	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	15.1

What are those numbers after players' names?
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.

Duvall hit two homers, including a three-run shot, in the 15-2 win over the Cardinals. Duvall went 4-for-6, scoring four times and driving in five runs.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver pitched five scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out three, in the 2-1 win over the Athletics. Weaver did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Athletics tied the game after he exited.

Weaver earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 127.8 for his career, rising to 35th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Monday, he passes Roy Oswalt (127.2) and A.J. Burnett (127.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 34th-ranked player Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Weaver has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, his lowest point total in his 11-year career.

American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit two homers and a double in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Astros. Cano went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

Cano earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, the highest point total of any of the 10 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. He ranks 20th among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall Player of the Day was NL batter Adam Duvall.

Kluber—Corey Kluber, ranked fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings, started in the Indians’ win Monday but failed to earn Player of the Game honors.

Kluber (4IP 5H 2R BB 3K ND in the 7-4 win over the Tigers) had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.0. Player of the Game was middle reliever Andrew Miller (1.2IP H 0R 0BB 4K W) who had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.2.

Kluber has 21.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, fifth among all players and first among AL players.

Streak—Justin Morneau of the White Sox has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Monday.

Morneau (HR 2-3 R 3BI in the 7-1 win over the Rays) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2004 with the Twins and has 74.3 career points, fourth among active AL first basemen. His best season was 2006 with the Twins, when he had 12.2 Box-Toppers points, seventh among AL batters. In 2015, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Rockies.

Scoring—Duvall earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Weaver earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cano earns 1.5 points for being AL 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.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/26	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	CIN 15, STL 2	Adam Duvall, LF	6	4	4	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	MIL 8, TEX 3	Jonathan Villar, 2B	4	2	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	6.0	`LAA 2, OAK 1	Jered Weaver	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	1	3
	5.0	ARI 14, WSH 4	Zack Godley (W,5-4)	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	0	3
	4.2	CLE 7, DET 4	Andrew Miller (W,10-1; H,24)	-	-	-	-		1.2	1	0	0	0	4
	4.0	CHC 12, PIT 2	Javier Baez, 2B-SS	5	1	2	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	SEA 4, HOU 3 (11)	Robinson Cano, 2B	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	MIA 7, NYM 3	Justin Bour, 1B	3	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	CHW 7, TB 1	Justin Morneau, DH	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	NYY 7, TOR 5	Adam Warren (W,7-4)	-	-	-	-		2.0	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.

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	+/-
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	7.0	13.5	42.5	74.4	0.5
Miller, Andrew 2436	pi cp mr	cle al	7.0	11.0	15.0	22.0	3.0
Duvall, Adam 3573	lf	cin nl	6.5	8.0	8.0	8.0	5.0
Weaver, Jered 2178	pi sp	ana al	4.7	12.4	67.0	127.8	-3.0
Villar, Jonathan 3233	ss 2b ph	mil nl	4.0	4.0	6.0	6.0	4.0
Warren, Adam 3169	pi mr	nyy al	3.0	6.7	10.7	10.7	-0.7
Bour, Justin 3433	1b ph	fla nl	2.5	11.0	12.5	12.5	-6.0
Baez, Javier 3395	2b ss	chi nl	2.0	2.0	4.5	4.5	2.0
Godley, Zack 3538	pi mr sp	ari nl	1.0	4.7	4.7	4.7	-2.7
Morneau, Justin 1900	dh 1b	chi al	1.0	3.0	19.7	74.3	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cardinals' Garcia tops players for Thursday, May 5; Orioles' Gausman tops AL players

Cardinals pitcher Jaime Garcia 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 May 5:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	6.0
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
3	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	5.0
4	Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	nym nl	5.0
5	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	5.0
6	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	4.7
7	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	4.7
8	Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	cf lf dh ph	nym nl	4.5
9	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	4.5
10	Suarez, Eugenio 3355	3b	cin nl	4.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Garcia pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Phillies.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out four, in the 10-inning, 1-0 win over the Yankees. Gausman did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game with the score tied, 0-0.

American League Batter of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays hit a three-run homer and doubled twice, going 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 12-2 win over the Rangers. This was the second straight day Encarnacion earned Player of the Game honors. He has 2.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.

National League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Rockies doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 17-7 win over the Giants.

Rankings—Robinson Cano of the Mariners rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Cano (2B 3-5 4BI in the 6-3 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. He ranks second among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (5.0).

Streak—Brandon Phillips of the Reds has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Phillips (HR 2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 9-5 win over the Brewers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Indians, but his 11-season streak began in 2006 with the Indians and Reds. He has 63.1 career Box-Toppers points, second among active NL second basemen, behind Chase Utley of the Dodgers (72.1). His best season was 2012 with the Reds, when he had 9.5 points, seventh among NL batters. He had 2.7 points in 2015 with the Reds.

Scoring—Garcia earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Encarnacion and Parra 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

5/5	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	Cardinals	Jaime Garcia (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	0	5
AL	9.0	`Orioles	Kevin Gausman	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	0	4
	8.1	Marlins	Adam Conley (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	2	0	0	1	6
BAT	7.0	Blue Jays	Edwin Encarnacion, DH	4	2	3	6	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Padres	Colin Rea (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	1	5
	6.0	Cubs	Kyle Hendricks (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	2	4
BAT	4.0	Rockies	Gerardo Parra, RF	5	3	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	`Red Sox	Robbie Ross	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	1	3
	3.0	Indians	Michael Brantley, LF	5	1	4	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Reds	Brandon Phillips, 2B	3	1	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano, 2B	5	0	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	4.5	11.0	40.0	71.9	-2.0
Garcia, Jaime 2508	pi sp	stl nl	3.0	12.4	30.1	38.8	-6.4
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	tor al	2.5	12.9	41.1	61.6	-7.9
Conley, Adam 3594	pi sp	fla nl	2.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-1.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	1.7	7.4	15.1	15.1	-4.0
Parra, Gerardo 2746	rf	col nl	1.5	8.0	19.0	20.0	-5.0
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	1.0	10.7	15.7	15.7	-8.7
Brantley, Michael 2785	lf	cle al	1.0	5.2	19.9	21.4	-3.2
Phillips, Brandon 1691	2b	cin nl	1.0	3.7	29.2	63.1	-1.7
Rea, Colin 3582	pi sp	sd nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Ross, Robbie 2999	pi cp	bos al	1.0	1.0	10.7	10.7	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Royals' Young tops players for Friday, April 22; Phillies' Nola tops NL players

Royals pitcher Chris Young is Friday’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 April 22:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
4	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	4.0
5	Latos, Mat 2644	pi sp	chi al	3.7
6	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	3.5
7	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	3.4
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	3.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
10	Morton, Charlie 2503	pi sp	phi nl	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Young struck out 10 over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 4-2 win over the Orioles.

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 5-2 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Curtis Granderson of the Mets hit two homers, including a grand slam, and went 3-for-5, in the 6-3 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—Mookie Betts of the Red Sox tripled, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 6-2 win over the Astros. Betts earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most of any of Friday’s Players of the Games. He ranks second among AL batters in season rankings, behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners (3.5). He ranks 11th among all players.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 36th place in Box-Toppers “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Lester (7IP 5H R 4K W in the 8-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 123.1 career points. Lester rises to 36th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began), passing Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (123.1), beating him on a tiebreaker. He trails 35th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1). Lester now has 2.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

Scoring—Young earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nola earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Granderson and Betts each earn 1.5 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

4/22	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	Royals	Chris Young (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	1	10
NL	6.0	Phillies	Aaron Nola (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	7
BAT	5.0	Mets	Curtis Granderson, RF	5	2	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	White Sox	Jose Quintana (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	4
	4.2	Giants	Jeff Samardzija (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	1	1	0	5
	4.1	Yankees	Ivan Nova (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.1	0	0	0	0	2
	4.0	Padres	Wil Myers, 1B	3	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	Indians	Josh Tomlin (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	1	1	1	4
BAT	3.0	Red Sox	Mookie Betts, RF	5	3	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Nationals	Jose Lobaton, C	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Nolan Arenado, 3B	3	3	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cubs	Jon Lester (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	4
	2.0	Pirates	Jordy Mercer, SS	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Athletics	Chris Coghlan, 3B	4	2	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Mariners	Joel Peralta (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1

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	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Betts, Mookie 3404	rf	bos al	3.0	6.0	8.0	8.0	0.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	2.5	11.0	12.5	12.5	-6.0
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	2.0	14.0	60.2	123.1	-10.0
Young, Chris R. 1933	pi sp	kc al	2.0	10.0	26.1	76.1	-6.0
Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	2.0	8.0	26.8	26.8	-4.0
Tomlin, Josh 2771	pi sp	cle al	2.0	6.7	19.4	21.4	-2.7
Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	1.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	-0.3
Granderson, Curtis 2051	rf	nym nl	1.5	5.5	30.4	62.8	-2.5
Samardzija, Jeff 2495	pi sp	sf nl	1.0	10.4	39.1	40.1	-8.4
Myers, Wil 3228	1b cf	sd nl	1.0	4.0	9.5	9.5	-2.0
Coghlan, Chris 2610	3b lf	oak al	1.0	2.0	8.5	15.0	0.0
Lobaton, Jose 3216	ca	dc nl	1.0	2.0	6.5	6.5	0.0
Nova, Ivan 2796	pi mr sp	nyy al	1.0	2.0	23.1	24.1	0.0
Mercer, Jordy 3206	ss	pit nl	1.0	1.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Peralta, Joel 2292	pi mr	sea al	1.0	1.0	10.0	11.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Jake Arrieta pitches no-hitter, tops players for Thursday, April 21, rises to 1st in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, pitching a no-hitter, is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to first place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of April 21:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
4	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	4.0
5	Latos, Mat 2644	pi sp	chi al	3.7
6	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	3.5
7	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	3.4
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	3.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	3.0
10	Morton, Charlie 2503	pi sp	phi nl	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Arrieta allowed no hits and four walks, striking out six, in the complete game, 16-0 win over the Reds, his second career no-hitter.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to first in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Arrieta led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.

While Arrieta’s no-hitter is the first of the season, his Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +11.0 ranks 10th among the highest game scores of the season so far.

American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers. Volquez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season and rising to second place in season player rankings.

American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit a 10th-inning, go-ahead three-run homer in the 10-7 win over the Indians. Cano also went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 3.5 for the season and rising to sixth in season player rankings. He leads AL batters in Box-Toppers points and is the only batter ranked among the top 10 players.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL Batter of the Day earned Player of the Game honors. Kris Bryant of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.0 in his team’s win over the Reds (2HR 4-6 4R 6BI), but did not earn Player of the Game honors because he was overshadowed by teammate Arrieta, who threw a no-hitter and had a game score of +11.0. So despite Bryant’s strong performance, he earns no Box-Toppers points.

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	179.0
6	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	174.3
7	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
8	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
9	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
10	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
11	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	163.3
12	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	162.7
13	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
14	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
15	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
16	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
17	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
18	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0
19	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	148.4
20	Javier Vazquez	pi sp	retired	148.3

List of top 100 players since 1995 (through the 2015 season)

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw rose to third in Box-Toppers season player rankings and 11th in “all-time” player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Kershaw (8IP 10H R 10K ND in the 2-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season and 163.3 for his career. He passes Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (162.7) to move into 11th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He is also now the fourth-ranked active player in Box-Toppers points, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0), CC Sabathia (179.0) and Albert Pujols (174.3). Kershaw trails 10th-place player on the list, Roger Clemens (164.8).

Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Tyler Wagner made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wagner (5IP 2H 0R K W in the 6-2 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut May 31, 2015, and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,618th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Volquez earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Canoearns 1.5 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

4/21	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Cubs	Jake Arrieta (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	0	0	0	4	6
	9.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	0	7
AL	6.0	Royals	Edinson Volquez (W,3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	5
	6.0	Athletics	Rich Hill (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	1	4	10
	5.1	Twins	Ricky Nolasco (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	1	1	1	7
	5.0	`Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	10	1	1	1	10
	5.0	Marlins	Tom Koehler (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	1	1	1	5
BAT	4.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano, 2B	5	2	3	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Dbacks	Tyler Wagner (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	0	0	0	1
	3.0	Rays	Logan Forsythe, 2B	4	3	3	1	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rangers	Ian Desmond, LF	4	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Angels	Mike Trout, CF	2	1	2	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Orioles	Darren O'Day (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	3
		`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	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0	34.1	61.8	64.8	-24.1
Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4	11.4	36.1	62.2	-2.6
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0	29.7	129.8	163.3	-21.7
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	3.5	10.0	39.0	70.9	-3.0
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	oak al	2.7	6.7	6.7	26.4	-1.3
Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	1.0	20.0	30.4	30.4	-18.0
Trout, Mike 2949	cf	ana al	1.0	13.0	37.5	37.5	-11.0
Koehler, Tom 3159	pi sp	fla nl	1.0	5.0	13.0	13.0	-3.0
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	min al	1.0	3.0	23.7	76.8	-1.0
O’Day, Darren 2577	pi mr cp	bal al	1.0	2.7	10.7	11.7	-0.7
Forsythe, Logan 3364	2b	tb al	1.0	2.5	4.0	4.0	-0.5
Desmond, Ian 2673	lf ss	tex al	1.0	2.0	17.7	24.2	0.0
Wagner, Tyler 3618	pi mr	ari nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Juan Nicasio tops players for Wednesday, April 6; Rays' Souza tops AL players

Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Nicasio struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Cardinals. Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and is in fourth 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 2016 season as of April 6:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	2.0
2	Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	pit nl	2.0
3	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	2.0
4	Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	pit nl	2.0
5	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	1.7
6	Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	1.7
7	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	1.7
8	Souza, Steven Jr. 3461	rf	tb al	1.7
9	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	1.5
10	Kinsler, Ian 2144	2b	det al	1.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Steven Souza of the Rays hit two home runs, including a three-run go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays. Souza also doubled and went 4-for-4.

National League Batter of the Day—Matt den Dekker of the Nationals hit a seventh-inning, pinch-hit, two-run, go-ahead double in the 3-1 win over the Braves.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the over AL Player of the Day is a batter, Steven Souza.

Streaks—Two players Wednesday extended their streak of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

• Robinson Cano of the Mariners has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons. Cano (2HR 2-4 2R 5BI) was Player of the Game in the 9-5 win over the Rangers and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Cano earned his first points in 2005 with the Yankees. He has 68.4 career points, most among active AL second basemen and fourth among all second basemen since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. His best year was 2013 with the Yankees when he had 12.5 points, fourth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 6.5 points with the Mariners, 22nd among all AL batters and third among AL second basemen.
• Yovani Gallardo of the Orioles has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. Gallardo (5IP 2H R 4K W) was Player of the Game in the 4-2 win over the Twins and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. Gallardo earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Brewers. He has 88.7 career points, ranking 98th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began and eighth among active AL pitchers. His best year was 2011 with the Brewers when he had 19.9 points, ranked fourth among NL pitchers. In 2015, he had 5.0 points with the Rangers.

Debut—Dodgers pitcher Kenta Maeda made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Maeda (6IP 5H 0R 4K W in the 7-0 win over the Padres) was making his Major League debut. He is the 3,609th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Maeda also hit a home run in the game.

Scoring—Nicasio earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Souza earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and den Dekker earns 1.5 points for being NL 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

4/6	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Pirates	Juan Nicasio (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	0	7
	7.0	`Reds	Brandon Finnegan	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	1	9
AL	6.0	Rays	Steven Souza, RF	4	2	4	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Yankees	Starlin Castro, SS	5	1	4	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano, 2B	4	2	2	5	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Dodgers	Kenta Maeda (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	0	4
	3.0	Indians	Carlos Santana, DH	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Tigers	Victor Martinez, PH-DH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Athletics	Sonny Gray (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	4	5
BAT	2.0	Nationals	Matt den Dekker, PH-LF	1	0	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Orioles	Yovani Gallardo (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	1	1	3	4
	2.0	Brewers	Jeremy Jeffress (S,1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Rockies	DJ LeMahieu, 2B	4	2	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mets' Noah Syndergaard tops players for Tuesday, April 5; Rays' Odorizzi tops AL players

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Syndergaard struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 2-0 win over the Royals.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out 10 over 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays. Odorizzi did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because when he exited, the Rays trailed 2-1.

American League Batter of the Day—Ian Kinsler of the Tigers hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-6, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-7 win over the Marlins.

Kinsler has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Rangers and has 57.6 career points, second among active AL second basemen (behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners who has 67.4). Kinsler’s best season was 2009 with the Rangers when he had 11.2 points, eighth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 6.5 points, fourth among AL second basemen.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks homered, tripled and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rockies. Goldschmidt ranked fourth among NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 10.2.

Notable—David Price (6IP 5H 2R 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Indians) earns his first Player of the Game honor pitching for the Red Sox. Price had 21.1 Box-Toppers points in 2015 pitching for the Tigers and Blue Jays, second among AL pitchers.

Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. Lester (7IP 4H R 4K W) was Player of the Game in the 6-1 win over the Angels. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox and has 122.1 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks fifth among active NL pitchers. His best year was 2010 with the Red Sox when he led AL pitchers with 23.4 Box-Toppers points. In 2015, he had 12.0 points with the Cubs, 13th among NL pitchers.

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kinsler and Goldschmidt each earn 1.5 points for being top batter in their league for 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

4/5	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Mets	Noah Syndergaard (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	1	9
	10.0	Dodgers	Scott Kazmir (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	0	0	0	5
AL	6.2	`Rays	Jake Odorizzi	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	2	1	2	10
	5.0	Cubs	Jon Lester (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	0	4
	5.0	Red Sox	David Price (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	2	2	10
BAT	3.0	Tigers	Ian Kinsler, 2B	6	2	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	4	1	2	4	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Mariners	Seth Smith, RF	3	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Giants	Johnny Cueto (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	4
	3.0	Pirates	Kyle Lobstein (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	1	3
	2.0	White Sox	David Robertson (S,2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Astros	Luke Gregerson (S,1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		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.

Mariners' Robinson Cano tops players in Sunday, March 27's spring training games

Robinson Cano of the Mariners is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day For Sunday.

Cano hit three home runs and went 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in seven runs, in the 12-9 win over the Cubs. Cano had 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Mariners, third among American League second basemen. His 13.0 Box-Toppers points over 2014-2015 ranks first among AL second basemen over that span. His 67.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks first among active AL second basemen, fourth among all second basemen since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began).

National League Player of the Day—Jabari Blash of the Padres hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 21-6 win over the Astros. Blash has yet to make his regular season Major League debut and so has no Box-Toppers points.

AL and NL Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Sunday because the overall Player of the Day was an AL batter, Robinson Cano, and the NL Player of the Day was a batter, Jabari Blash.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Cano would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Blash would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Note—Seventeen spring training games were scheduled for Sunday—16 are listed below. One game is not included because it ended in a tie (Nationals vs. Mets).

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

3/27	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano 2B	4	4	4	7	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Athletics	Kendall Graveman (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	6
	5.0	White Sox	Travis Ishikawa 1B	5	2	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Indians	Collin Cowgill PR RF	1	2	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	4.0	Padres	Jabari Blash LF	4	2	2	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Angels	Jeff Bandy C	2	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Astros	A.J. Reed DH	5	3	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Nationals	Ryan Zimmerman 1B	4	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rangers	Prince Fielder DH	4	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Twins	Danny Santana CF-RF	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rockies	Raimel Tapia LF CF	4	2	3	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Red Sox	Dustin Pedroia 2B	3	1	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Marlins	J.T. Realmuto C	3	1	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Reds	Scott Schebler LF	3	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Blue Jays	Tony Sánchez C	2	1	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Orioles	Nolan Reimold DH	3	1	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Twins' Duffey tops players for Sunday, Sept. 20; Pirates' Cole rises to 8th in player rankings

Twins pitcher Tyler Duffey is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Player of the Day—Duffey pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Angels.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 20.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	23.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	20.1
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
7	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	19.4
8	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	18.0
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	17.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Julio Teheran struck out eight over 8 1/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 2-1 win over the Phillies. Teheran was perfect through six innings. He earned no decision, not picking up the win, because he exited the game with the score tied 1-1.

National League Batter of the Day—Yunel Escobar of the Nationals doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 13-3 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Logan Forsythe of the Rays hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-3, scoring twice, in the 7-6 win over the Orioles.

Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Cole (7IP 6H 3R 9K W in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.0 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Notable—Two of Sunday's Players of the Game achieved notable milestones:

• Giants pitcher Tim Hudson rose to 13th place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Hudson (6IP 4H 0R 3K in the 5-1 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 157.0 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Clayton Kershaw (156.3) on the “all-time” list—Kershaw had caught and briefly passed Hudson on the “all-time” list only on Sept. 14. Hudson trails 12th-ranked player John Smoltz (160.9) and regains his spot as fifth among active players, third among active pitchers, behind CC Sabathia (179.0) and Felix Hernandez (162.7). Hudson has 4.0 Box-Toppers points so far in what is expected to be his final season.
• Justin Upton of the Padres rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers points among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Upton (2B 3-5 R 3BI in the 10-4 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season. He ranks 49th among all players.
• Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, ranked sixth in Box-Toppers player rankings (19.4 points) failed to earn Player of the Game honors in his start Sunday against the Rangers, despite earning the win. Hernandez (5.2IP 4H 2R 5K W in the 9-2 win) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2.8. Player of the Game was Robinson Cano (2-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0.

Scoring—Duffey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Teheran earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Escobar and Forsythe 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

9/20	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.0	Twins	Tyler Duffey (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	7
NL	8.1	`Braves	Julio Teheran	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.1	5	1	1	1	8
	8.0	Astros	Collin McHugh (W,17-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	2	8
	8.0	Royals	Danny Duffy (S,1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	2	0	0	0	6
BAT	7.0	Nationals	Yunel Escobar, 3B	4	3	4	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.2	Indians	Josh Tomlin (W,6-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	0	0	3	8
BAT	4.0	Rays	Logan Forsythe, 2B	3	2	2	3	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Red Sox	Rich Hill (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	3	3	0	10
	4.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W,17-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	3	3	0	9
	3.0	Brewers	Adam Lind, 1B	4	1	3	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano, 2B	4	1	2	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Yankees	Greg Bird, 1B	3	2	1	3	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	Cardinals	Trevor Rosenthal (S,46)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Padres	Justin Upton, LF	5	1	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Giants	Tim Hudson (W,8-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	3	3
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Saturday, July 18, rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th in season player rankings.

Also Saturday, Robinson Cano of the Mariners earned a Box-Toppers point in his 11th straight season and three players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points—Kershaw, Aramis Ramirez and Jon Lester—earned 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 July 18.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	15.0
2	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	14.4
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	13.4
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	13.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	13.1
6	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	12.0
7	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
8	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	11.7
9	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	hou al	11.1
10	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out 14 and allowing three hits, in the 4-2 win over the Nationals.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season and rises to 10th place in season Box-Toppers player rankings. Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5. He also led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011 and 2013.

Kershaw is the 15th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the seventh straight season Kershaw has had 10.0 or more points.

Kershaw has 144.6 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 20th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 19th-place player Jim Thome (146.7).

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing one hit, in the 3-0 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit two home runs, going 3-for-3 and driving in six runs, in the 12-2 win over the Mets.

American League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit a pair of two-run homers and went 3-for-4 in the 4-3 win over the Yankees.

Cano has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor for 2015. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Yankees. His best season was 2013 with the Yankees, when he had 12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among AL batters. In 2014, he had 6.5 Box-Toppers points with the Mariners.

Cano has 62.4 career Box-Toppers points and ranks sixth among all second baseman since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He ranks second in career points among active second basemen, behind Chase Utley of the Phillies (72.1).

Notables—In addition to Kershaw, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:

• Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (7.1IP 2H 0R 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 115.1 career Box-Toppers points. He rises to 42nd place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Saturday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Torii Hunter (114.4), Josh Beckett (114.9) and Tim Lincecum (115.0). He trails 41st-place player Todd Helton (116.4).
• Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers (HR 3-3 2R 2BI in the 8-5 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 103.3 career Box-Toppers points. He ranks 58th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 57th-place player John Lackey (103.8).

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Matt den Dekker of the Nationals (2-R HR in the 5-3 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut Aug. 29, 2013, and was playing in his 98th career game. He is the 3,534th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Royals pitcher Brandon Finnegan (2IP H 0R 2K W in the 7-6, 13-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 6, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,535th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tillman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Cano 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

7/18	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	19.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,7-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	0	14
AL	14.0	Orioles	Chris Tillman (W,7-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	1	0	0	1	8
	12.0	Angels	Garrett Richards (W,10-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	1	6
	11.1	Cubs	Jon Lester (W,5-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	2	0	0	1	7
BAT	8.0	Cardinals	Randal Grichuk, CF-LF-RF	3	2	3	6	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.1	Rangers	Colby Lewis (W,9-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	4	2	2	0	7
	5.1	`Athletics	Scott Kazmir	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.1	5	1	1	1	5
BAT	5.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano, 2B	4	2	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Giants	Buster Posey, 1B-C	4	1	3	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Brewers	Aramis Ramirez, 3B	3	2	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Padres	Craig Kimbrel (S,25)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Nationals	Matt den Dekker PH LF	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Royals	Brandon Finnegan (W,3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.2	`Rays	Erasmo Ramirez	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.2	4	1	1	0	4
	2.0	Indians	Carlos Santana, 1B	3	2	2	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Phillies	Chad Billingsley (W,2-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	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.