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Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 38th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Also Saturday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale secured Box-Toppers 2017 Player of the Year honors after the only two players who had the chance to pass him both failed to earn Player of the Game honors—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer and Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.
Read MoreMariners pitcher Erasmo Ramirez is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995, when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to 18th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995.
Hamels struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 4-2 win over the Mariners.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, the Cleveland Indians regain the topsy-turvy race for Box-Toppers team rankings lead, passing the Los Angeles Dodgers, after Kluber’s Player of the Day honor.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 27th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and the 23rd player since 1995 to reach 150.0 career points.
Also Tuesday, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, 2017 Box-Toppers points leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (23.1), failed to add to his lead in his start Tuesday, in the win over the Giants.
Read MoreTigers pitcher Justin Verlander is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Verlander is one of three with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points to earn Player of the Game honors. Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 19th place in career points since 1995 (with 152.2) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreBraves pitcher Mike Foltynewicz is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels became the 22nd player since 1995 to reach 150 career Box-Toppers points after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Zack Godley is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked second in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earns Player of the Game honors. He becomes the second player this season with 20 Box-Toppers points, his fourth straight season with 20 points. Also, he rises to 19th place onBox-Toppers’ “all-time” career points list.
Read MoreIndians pitcher Danny Salazar is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 18th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
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Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot in second place in season player rankings and rising to 20th in career points on Box-Toppers “all-time” list.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 |
| 5 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 9 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 10 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rises to fourth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Jay Bruce of the Mets retakes the lead among National League batters in Box-Toppers points after he earns Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and four walks, in the 10-7 win over the Reds.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.0 for the season. He remains in second place in Box-Toppers points, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (21.1), who also leads all NL pitchers.
Scherzer now has 150.7 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 20th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Chipper Jones (149.0) and Cubs pitcher Jon Lester (149.2). He now trails 19th-ranked player, Twins pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2). Scherzer is the 20th player to reach 150 career Box-Toppers points.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 204.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 190.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 184.3 |
| 8 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 171.4 |
| 9 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 10 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 167.5 |
| 11 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | min al | 151.2 |
| 20 | Max Scherzer | pi sp | dc nl | 150.7 |
Passing Lester, Scherzer is now seventh among active players in career Box-Toppers points, sixth among active pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Royals. Hamels picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 148.7 career points, rising to 23rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Saturday, he passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails 22nd-ranked player Chipper Jones (149.0).
Hamels has 4.7 Box-Toppers points on the season, 25th among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Chapman of the Athletics hit two home runs and doubled in the 5-3 win over the Indians. Chapman went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs.
This was Chapman’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Chapman made his Major League debut June 15 and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,849th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Lane Adams of the Braves hit a pinch-hit, sixth-inning, three-run double in the 8-5 win over the Diamondbacks.
This was Adam’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Adams made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 39th career game. He is the 3,850th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Wood (6IP 3H 0R BB 4K W in the 7-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Kershaw (21.1) and Scherzer (19.0).
Notable—Jay Bruce of the Mets regains the season Box-Toppers points lead among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Bruce (HR 1-4 2R 3BI in the 9-3 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He passes previous leader Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers (7.7). Bruce ranks 19th among all players in Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Debut—Jabari Blash of the Padres also made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Blash (HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Giants) made his Major League debut April, 4, 2016, and was playing in his 54th career game. He is the 3,851st 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 Hamels earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Chapman and Adams 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.
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.
| 7/15 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | WSH 10, CIN 7 | Max Scherzer (W, 11-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | |
| AL | 7.2 | `TEX 1, KC 0 | Cole Hamels | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 6.2 | `MIL 3, PHI 2 | Jimmy Nelson | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 6.0 | DET 11, TOR 1 | Michael Fulmer (W, 10-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 6.0 | LAD 7, MIA 1 | Alex Wood (W, 11-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | OAK 5, CLE 3 | Matt Chapman (3B) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `NYY 4, BOS 1 (F/16) | Luis Severino | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 8, ARI 5 | Lane Adams (PH) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CHC 10, BAL 3 | Jason Heyward (RF) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.1 | `MIN 4, HOU 2 | Taylor Rogers (H, 22) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | SD 5, SF 3 | Jabari Blash (RF) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 9, COL 3 | Jay Bruce (RF) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `SEA 4, CHW 3 | Nick Vincent (H, 13) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.1 | STL 4, PIT 0 | Lance Lynn (W, 8-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 0.2 | TB 6, LAA 3 | Alex Cobb (W, 8-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 19.0 | 44.7 | 122.9 | 150.7 | -6.7 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.0 | 14.0 | 32.4 | 32.4 | 12.0 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 9.0 | 12.0 | 22.4 | 22.4 | 6.0 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 8.0 | 16.5 | 33.7 | 66.8 | -0.5 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 7.7 | 9.7 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 5.7 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 6.7 | 6.7 | 62.6 | 62.6 | 6.7 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 5.7 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | -7.0 |
| Cobb, Alex 2916 | pi sp | tb al | 5.4 | 5.4 | 35.8 | 36.8 | 5.4 |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 4.7 | 22.5 | 73.7 | 148.7 | -13.1 |
| Adams, Lane 3850 | ph | atl nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Chapman, Matt 3849 | 3b | oak al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Heyward, Jason 2695 | rf | chi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 12.5 | 19.5 | 0.0 |
| Vincent, Nick 3203 | pi mr | sea al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Rogers, Taylor 3648 | pi mr | min al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Blash, Jabari 3851 | rf | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers maintain top-ranking for second week & are week's hottest team. Astros maintain status as top AL team for 7th straight week.
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Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 12.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 8 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
| 9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.7 |
Also Thursday, Box-Toppers season points leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers extended his lead after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Kluber struck out 12 over eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Rangers.
Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to 13th among all players, fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck of 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 6-2 win over the Angels.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 18.1 for the season, extending his season player rankings lead over second-place player, Max Scherzer of the Nationals (14.0 Box-Toppers points). With his lead of 4.1 points, Scherzer would now need at least three starts to catch or pass Scherzer.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 201.8 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 190.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 184.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 169.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 164.8 |
| 13 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | dfa by braves | 151.2 |
| 20 | Jon Lester | pi sp | chi nl | 149.2 |
With the season at the halfway point, Kershaw is now on pace to earn 36.2 Box-Toppers points this season, which would break the single-season record of 33.7 set by Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson, who did it twice, in 2000 and 2002 (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995). However, at this time last year, Kershaw led all players with 20.0 Box-Toppers points and was on pace to earn 40.0 points, but spent more than two months on the disabled list beginning in late June, and had only 4.4 points in the second half of the season, finishing with 24.4, in second place behind Scherzer’s 25.7.
The most Box-Toppers points Kershaw has earned in a single season is 31.5 in 2014, when he led all players. It is tied for the fourth-highest single-season Box-Toppers points by a player since tracking began in 1995.
Also, Kershaw now has 201.8 career Box-Toppers points, third-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw ranks first among all active players in career Box-Toppers points.
National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a go-ahead, three-run, seventh-inning homer in the 10-4 win over the Diamondbacks. Grichuk also doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, driving in four runs, in the 6-1 win over the Athletics.
Notable—Two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Thursday:
Rankings—Jay Bruce of the Mets rises to lead NL batters in season Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Bruce (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, passing previous NL batting leader Matt Adams of the Braves (6.5). Bruce ranks 21st among all players.
Debut—Willy Garcia of the White Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Garcia (2B 2-3 0R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut April 14 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,841st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Correa 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.
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.
| 6/29 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | CLE 5, TEX 1 | Corey Kluber (W, 7-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| 13.0 | BAL 2, TOR 0 | Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| NL | 13.0 | LAD 6, LAA 2 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 12-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12 | |
| 10.0 | MIL 11, CIN 3 | Jimmy Nelson (W, 6-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 10.0 | SD 6, ATL 0 | Dinelson Lamet (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | STL 10, ARI 4 | Randal Grichuk (CF-LF) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | HOU 6, OAK 1 | Carlos Correa (SS) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `CHC 5, WSH 4 | Jon Lester | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 3.2 | DET 7, KC 3 | Michael Fulmer (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 6, MIA 3 | Jay Bruce (RF) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 6, MIN 3 | David Price (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 1.1 | PIT 4, TB 0 | Jameson Taillon (W, 4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | CHW 4, NYY 3 | Willy Garcia (RF) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.1 | 42.5 | 142.2 | 201.8 | -6.3 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 8.0 | 29.2 | 73.4 | 73.4 | -13.2 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 7.0 | 15.5 | 32.7 | 65.8 | -1.5 |
| Nelson, Jimmy 3299 | pi sp | mil nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 4.0 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 6.0 | 28.1 | 73.6 | 149.2 | -16.1 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 4.7 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 | -8.0 |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | hou al | 4.0 | 11.7 | 18.9 | 18.9 | -3.7 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf cf lf | stl nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 3.0 |
| Lamet, Dinelson 3808 | pi sp | sd nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -2.0 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 | 15.1 | 77.1 | 108.9 | -9.7 |
| Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | bal al | 2.0 | 6.7 | 38.6 | 81.5 | -2.7 |
| Garcia Willy 3841 | rf | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 |
| 4 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 6 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 8.2 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 9 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 10 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.5 |
Also Tuesday, Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Lester struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 14-3 win over the Mets.
Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 147.2 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—David Ortiz (145.9), Jim Thome (146.7) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9). Lester now trails 21st-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3).
Lester also rises to seventh among active players in career Box-Toppers points, passing Cabrera. He trails sixth-ranked active player Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2). Lester has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
American League Player of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins hit three home runs and went 4-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 20-7 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers hit two home runs, including a three-run homer, in the 7-5 win over the Indians. Bellinger also doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Eddie Rosario.
Rankings—Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Vargas (7IP 5H R BB 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers, behind Ervin Santana of the Twins (11.4) and Chris Sale of the Red Sox (8.4).
Debut—Franchy Cordero of the Padres made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Cordero (2HR 3-5 3R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut May 27 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,821st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rosario earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Bellinger earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.
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.
| 6/13 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | CHC 14, NYM 3 | Jon Lester (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| AL | 7.0 | MIN 20, SEA 7 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | STL 6, MIL 0 | Lance Lynn (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 5.1 | TB 8, TOR 1 | Jacob Faria (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | LAD 7, CLE 5 | Cody Bellinger, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | WSH 10, ATL 5 | Ryan Zimmerman, 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | KC 8, SF 1 | Jason Vargas (W,9-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | TEX 4, HOU 2 | Rougned Odor, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | MIL 8, STL 5 | Keon Broxton, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | MIA 8, OAK 1 | Jose Urena (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 7, DET 6 | Brandon Drury, 2B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 6, CIN 2 | Franchy Cordero, CF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 5, COL 2 | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 6, BAL 1 | Matt Davidson, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | `LAA 3, NYY 2 (F/11) | JC Ramirez | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 0.0 | BOS 4, PHI 3 (F/12) | Andrew Benintendi, LF | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 | 9.0 | 34.4 | 55.2 | 7.0 |
| Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.7 | 4.7 | 60.6 | 60.6 | 4.7 |
| Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 1b | dc nl | 4.5 | 6.0 | 25.7 | 60.8 | 3.0 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.0 | 26.1 | 71.6 | 147.2 | -18.1 |
| Ramirez, JC 3778 | pi sp | ana al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 3.7 | 6.7 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 0.7 |
| Bellinger, Cody 3781 | 1b lf | lad nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Broxton, Keon 3785 | cf | mil nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 3.0 | 10.0 | 41.5 | 56.9 | -4.0 |
| Benintendi, Andrew 3815 | lf | bos al | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Urena, Jose 3492 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | -0.7 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | 2b lf | ari nl | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| Faria, Jacob 3816 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Odor, Rougned 3336 | 2b | tex al | 1.0 | 7.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -5.5 |
| Davidson, Matt 3292 | 3b | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Cordero, Franchy 3821 | cf | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his top spot in season player rankings and rising to third place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 6 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 6.0 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 8 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 10 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 6.0 |
Also Tuesday, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors: Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rose to second place and Astros pitcher Lance McCullers rose to sixth place.
Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over nine innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Cardinals. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 1-1 when he exited after nine innings.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He is the first player to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017, the ninth straight season he’s earned 10 or more points in a season. Kershaw was also the first player to 10 points in 2016, reaching the milestone a week earlier than this year (May 17).
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 194.4 |
| 4 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 188.0 |
| 6 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 169.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 162.8 |
| 14 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 15 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | atl nl | 151.2 |
| 20 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
Kershaw maintains his top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (9.4 Box-Toppers points), who was American League Player of the Day Tuesday.
Kershaw also rises to third place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Kershaw now has 194.4 career Box-Toppers points and passes Curt Schilling (194.1) on the “all-time” list. It should be noted that Schilling began his career in 1988, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, and so would likely have more total career points. Rough Box-Toppers projected estimates put Schilling’s actual career total at 232. (A look at projected Box-Toppers point totals for pitchers who began their careers before 1995.)
Kershaw has risen steadily up Box-Toppers career points rankings in recent years but his rise will now become more difficult. Kershaw now trails second-place player Pedro Martinez on the “all-time” list, who has 244.8 career Box-Toppers points since 1995. The 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw is the largest between any two players in “all-time” Box-Toppers rankings. In essence, Kershaw has whizzed by the close-together “inner planets” of players with fewer than 200 Box-Toppers points and now has to travel much greater distances to reach the “gas giants” of players with more than 200 career Box-Toppers points since 1995—Martinez and Randy Johnson (the overall leader with 278.8 points).
However, given Kershaw’s pace, perhaps the 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw is not so great and insurmountable. Kershaw has earned 50.8 points since July 23, 2015, less than two complete seasons (which included time on the disabled list). If Kershaw were able to maintain that pace, he might catch Martinez by the end of the 2018 season.
American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana pitched a two-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out six and walking two, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.
Santana earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 9.4 for the season, rising from third to second place in season player rankings, first among AL pitchers, passing previous AL pitching leader, Chris Sale of the Red Sox (8.4 points). Santana trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.7 points).
Santana also now has 106.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes six players on the “all-time” list: Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7), Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Carlos Beltran of the Astros (105.9), Frank Thomas (106.2) and Red Sox pitcher David Price (106.2). Santana now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).
National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals homered twice and doubled in the 10-1 win over the Mariners. Rendon went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rangers.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. Rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
McCullers (5IP H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 145.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday (CG 4H R 0BB 10K W in the 4-1 win over the Giants). Lester had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, but lost out on earning Player of the Game honors to Kershaw, who had a game score of +14.0. So Lester only earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game.
That point boosts him to 24th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (144.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9). Lester now ranks seventh among active players in career points, trailing Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2).
Debut—Blue Jays pitcher Danny Barnes made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Barnes (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut Aug. 2, 2016, and was playing in his 26th career game. He is the 3,807th 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 Santana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Bogaerts 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.
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.
| 5/23 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | `LAD 2, STL 1 (F/13) | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| 13.0 | CHC 4, SF 1 | Jon Lester (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| AL | 11.0 | MIN 2, BAL 0 | Ervin Santana (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | WSH 10, SEA 1 | Anthony Rendon, 3B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | HOU 6, DET 2 | Lance McCullers Jr. (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.1 | LAA 4, TB 0 | Matt Shoemaker (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | MIA 11, OAK 9 | Justin Bour, 1B | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | BOS 11, TEX 6 | Xander Bogaerts, SS | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | NYM 9, SD 3 | Michael Conforto, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.2 | TOR 4, MIL 3 | Danny Barnes (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | COL 8, PHI 2 | Charlie Blackmon, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CLE 8, CIN 7 | Edwin Encarnacion, 1B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 6, PIT 5 | Matt Adams, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | KC 6, NYY 2 | Danny Duffy (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 1.0 | ARI 5, CHW 4 | Fernando Rodney (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 | 35.1 | 134.8 | 194.4 | -13.7 |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 | 13.4 | 46.2 | 106.7 | 5.4 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 6.0 | 12.1 | 18.8 | 18.8 | -0.1 |
| Conforto, Michael 3622 | cf lf | nym nl | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -1.0 |
| Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | dc nl | 3.5 | 9.0 | 15.5 | 15.5 | -2.0 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 | 13.7 | 31.7 | 32.7 | -7.7 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 3.0 | 10.0 | 28.4 | 28.4 | -4.0 |
| Blackmon, Charlie 2891 | cf | col nl | 2.7 | 6.7 | 13.2 | 14.7 | -1.3 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 24.1 | 69.6 | 145.2 | -20.1 |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | cle al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 45.1 | 69.1 | -6.0 |
| Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp | ari nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 25.0 | 37.0 | -3.0 |
| Bour, Justin 3433 | 1b | fla nl | 2.0 | 4.5 | 14.5 | 14.5 | -0.5 |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b ph | atl nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 1.0 |
| Bogaerts, Xander 3383 | ss | bos al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.5 |
| Barnes, Danny 3807 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Cubs pitcher John Lackey is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 6.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 6 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 7 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 8 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 9 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
| 10 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 5.0 |
Also Tuesday, Carlos Beltran of the Astros has now earned Box-Toppers points for 19 straight seasons, tying the “all-time” record set by Jason Giambi, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Plus, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Lackey struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 8-1 win over the Rockies.
Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 123.2 career points, ranked 39th among all player since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 38th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Blue Jays.
Streak |
Player |
Pos |
Duration |
Career BTP |
|
| 1 | 19 | Jason Giambi | 1b | 1995-2013 | 133.4 |
| 1 | 19 | Carlos Beltran* | rf | 1999-2017 | 105.9 |
| 3 | 18 | Jim Thome | 1b dh | 1995-2012 | 146.7 |
| 3 | 18 | Chipper Jones | 3b | 1995-2012 | 149.0 |
| 3 | 18 | Johnny Damon | lf | 1995-2012 | 63.0 |
| 3 | 18 | Alex Rodriguez | 3b | 1996-2013 | 187.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Mariano Rivera | pi cp | 1995-2011 | 126.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Derek Jeter | ss | 1996-2012 | 76.4 |
| 7 | 17 | Paul Konerko | 1b | 1998-2014 | 100.7 |
| 7 | 17 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | 1999-2015 | 157.0 |
| 7 | 17 | Torii Hunter | cf | 1999-2015 | 115.9 |
| 7 | 17 | David Ortiz | dh | 2000-2016 | 145.9 |
| 7 | 17 | CC Sabathia* | pi sp | 2001-2017 | 187.0 |
| 14 | 16 | Manny Ramirez | lf | 1995-2010 | 167.2 |
| 14 | 16 | Andy Pettitte | pi sp | 1995-2010 | 138.5 |
| 14 | 16 | Jamie Moyer | pi sp | 1995-2010 | 104.0 |
| 14 | 16 | Scott Rolen | 3b | 1996-2011 | 97.6 |
| 14 | 16 | Kevin Millwood | pi sp | 1997-2012 | 108.3 |
| 14 | 16 | Derek Lowe | pi sp | 1998-2013 | 91.5 |
| 14 | 16 | Aramis Ramirez | 3b | 2000-2015 | 105.8 |
| 14 | 16 | Mark Buehrle | pi sp | 2000-2015 | 116.7 |
| 14 | 16 | Albert Pujols* | dh 1b | 2001-2016 | 182.3 |
| 14 | 16 | Ichiro Suzuki* | rf | 2001-2016 | 53.7 |
| 24 | 15 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | 1995-2009 | 278.8 |
| 24 | 15 | Garret Anderson | lf | 1995-2009 | 86.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Ivan Rodriguez | ca | 1995-2009 | 79.0 |
| 24 | 15 | Tony Clark | 1b | 1995-2009 | 63.8 |
| 24 | 15 | Gary Sheffield | lf | 1995-2009 | 124.1 |
| 24 | 15 | Jason Kendall | ca | 1996-2010 | 40.9 |
| 24 | 15 | Vladimir Guerrero | rf | 1997-2011 | 128.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Bobby Abreu | rf | 1997-2011 | 95.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Mike Cameron | cf | 1997-2011 | 70.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Miguel Tejada | ss | 1997-2011 | 102.3 |
| 24 | 15 | Jorge Posada | ca | 1997-2011 | 79.5 |
| 24 | 15 | Livan Hernandez | pi sp | 1997-2011 | 76.7 |
| 24 | 15 | Kyle Lohse | pi sp | 2001-2015 | 89.0 |
| 24 | 15 | Jake Peavy | pi sp | 2002-2016 | 141.8 |
Carrasco earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to fifth place in season player rankings and third among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (6.7) and Ervin Santana of the Twins (6.7).
National League Batter of the Day—Keon Broxton of the Brewers homered, tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-7 win over the Red Sox.
American League Batter of the Day—Ben Gamel of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 10-9 win over the Phillies. Gamel went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs.
Streak—Carlos Beltran of the Astros tied Box-Toppers’ record for the longest consecutive season streak in which a player has earned Player of the Game honors.
Beltran was Player of the Game Tuesday in the 8-3 win over the Braves (HR 2-4 2R BI), marking the 19th straight season in which he has earned Box-Toppers points (1999 to 2017). That ties the record of Jason Giambi, who earned Box-Toppers points for 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, the same year Giambi began his Major League career. Giambi earned points in each season he played except for his last season in 2014.)
Beltran earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1999 with the Royals and has 105.9 career points, rising to 61st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Beltran earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Tuesday, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7) and Aramis Ramirez (105.8). Beltran now trails 60th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2).
Beltran’s 105.9 career Box-Toppers points also ranks fourth among active AL batters.
Beltran’s best season was 2003 with the Royals when he had 13.9 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters, behind Carlos Delgado of the Blue Jays (17.7). In 2016, Beltran had 6.0 points with the Yankees and Rangers, eighth among AL designated hitters.
Beltran barely kept the streak alive earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers points in two different seasons—in 2010 with the Mets and in 2014 with the Yankees.
Besides Beltran, there are only three other Major League players who earned Box-Toppers points in 1999 or earlier who are still listed as active players today:
Scoring—Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Carrasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Broxton and Gamel 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.
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.
| 5/9 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | CHC 8, COL 1 | John Lackey (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| AL | 11.0 | CLE 6, TOR 0 | Carlos Carrasco (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 8.0 | TEX 11, SD 0 | A.J. Griffin (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | MIL 11, BOS 7 | Keon Broxton, CF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.1 | `LAD 4, PIT 3 (F/10) | Julio Urias | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | SEA 10, PHI 9 | Ben Gamel, RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | COL 10, CHC 4 | Mark Reynolds, 1B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 7, TB 6 (F/12) | Salvador Perez, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | STL 6, MIA 5 | Matt Adams, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 6, SF 1 | Zack Wheeler (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | BAL 5, WSH 4 (F/12) | Logan Verrett (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | LAA 7, OAK 3 | Yunel Escobar, 3B | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIN 7, CHW 2 | Byron Buxton, CF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | HOU 8, ATL 3 | Carlos Beltran, DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | CIN 5, NYY 3 | Joey Votto, 1B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | DET 7, ARI 3 | Nicholas Castellanos, 3B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 | 17.8 | 46.5 | 51.9 | -7.0 |
| Reynolds, Mark 2297 | 1b | col nl | 3.5 | 7.5 | 22.2 | 54.9 | -0.5 |
| Griffin, A.J. 3074 | pi sp | tex al | 3.0 | 8.7 | 23.4 | 23.4 | -2.7 |
| Gamel, Ben 3784 | rf | sea al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 2.5 | 13.0 | 27.7 | 66.7 | -8.0 |
| Broxton, Keon 3785 | cf | mil nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 2.0 | 15.4 | 41.8 | 123.2 | -11.4 |
| Castellanos, Nick 3349 | 3b | det al | 2.0 | 7.5 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -3.5 |
| Verrett, Logan 3518 | pi cp | bal al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| Beltran, Carlos 1194 | dh rf | hou al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 19.2 | 105.9 | -5.0 |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -4.7 |
| Buxton, Byron 3604 | cf | min al | 1.0 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -3.7 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 20.2 | 22.7 | -3.0 |
| Escobar, Yunel 2331 | 3b | ana al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 17.5 | 42.0 | 0.0 |
| Adams, Matt 3220 | 1b ph | stl nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.0 |
| Wheeler, Zack 3204 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 1.0 |
Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kennedy struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks, in the 1-0 win over the Angels. Kennedy picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win or save because when he exited, the game was in a scoreless tie.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 3 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 5 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Marte, Starling 3122 | lf cf | pit nl | 3.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 3.0 |
| 9 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 2.7 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 2.7 |
National League Player of the Day—Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon allowed one hit and one run in seven innings, striking out six, in the 9-2 win over the Padres.
Colon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 151.2 for his career. He ranks 19th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, trailing 18th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7). (It should be noted that Maddux made his debut in 1986 and had seven 15-plus win seasons before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 and so, based on very rough extrapolations, would likely have about 250 career Box-Toppers points if his entire career were tracked.)
National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two home runs, including a game-winning, walk-off, three-run homer, in the 6-4 win over the Phillies. Harper also hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-5, driving in five total runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Greg Bird of the Yankees homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Cardinals.
Rankings—Rockies closing pitcher Greg Holland rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Holland (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv in the 4-3 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Kennedy earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Colon earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Harper and Bird each earn 1.5 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.
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.
| 4/16 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | `KC 1, LAA 0 | Ian Kennedy | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| NL | 9.0 | ATL 9, SD 2 | Bartolo Colon (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 6.0 | BAL 11, TOR 4 | Dylan Bundy (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.1 | `MIA 4, NYM 2 | Dan Straily | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | WSH 6, PHI 4 | Bryce Harper, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | ARI 3, LAD 1 | Taijuan Walker (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | NYY 9, STL 3 | Greg Bird, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PIT 6, CHC 1 | Adam Frazier, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 8, TEX 7 | Mitch Haniger, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 4, CLE 1 | Alex Avila, C | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 4, CIN 2 | Neftali Feliz (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 7, TB 5 | Craig Kimbrel (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 3, MIN 1 (F/10) | Nate Jones (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | COL 4, SF 3 | Greg Holland (S,7) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 33.0 | 36.0 | 3.0 |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | atl nl | 2.7 | 11.1 | 52.0 | 151.2 | -5.7 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 2.0 | 12.0 | 43.1 | 68.5 | -8.0 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 54.7 | 60.7 | -6.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -4.0 |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 1.5 | 4.5 | 28.9 | 28.9 | -1.5 |
| Bird, Greg 3562 | 1b | nyy al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 8.7 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -6.7 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | fla nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 18.7 | 18.7 | -6.0 |
| Jones, Nate 3125 | pi mr | chi al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -3.0 |
| Feliz, Neftali 2651 | pi cp mr | mil nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 19.7 | 0.0 |
| Avila, Alex 2642 | ca | det al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.5 | 18.0 | 0.0 |
| Frazier, Adam 3771 | lf | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Haniger, MItch 3772 | rf | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Reds pitcher Brandon Finnegan is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon rose to 19th place among all players in Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors.
| 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 | 186.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 185.7 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 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 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | atl nl | 149.5 |
| 20 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
Player of the Day—Finnegan struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Phillies.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0, 12-inning win over the Pirates. Sale did not pick up the win because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
American League Batter of the Day—Francisco Lindor of the Indians hit two homers, including a grand slam, in the 9-6 win over the Rangers. Lindor went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
National League Batter of the Day—Jeremy Hazelbaker of the Diamondbacks hit a pinch-hit double, going 1-for-1, scoring a run and driving in a run, in the 8-6 win over the Giants.
This was Hazelbaker’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 3, 2016, and was playing in his 117th career game. He is the 3,759th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Notable—Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 19th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 (when player tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Colon (6IP 2H R BB 6K ND in the 3-1, 12-inning win against the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 149.5 for his career. He passes Chipper Jones (149.0) on the “all-time” list and now trails 18th-ranked player Greg Maddux (151.7).
Scoring—Finnegan earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Lindor and Hazelbaker each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/5 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | CIN 2, PHI 0 | Brandon Finnegan (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| AL | 10.0 | `BOS 3, PIT 0 (F/12) | Chris Sale | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 10.0 | `HOU 5, SEA 3 (F/13) | Chris Devenski | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 9.0 | BAL 3, TOR 1 | Dylan Bundy (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | CLE 9, TEX 6 | Francisco Lindor, SS | 4 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | `ATL 3, NYM 1 (F/12) | Bartolo Colon | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6.0 | MIL 6, COL 1 | Wily Peralta (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.2 | `LAA 5, OAK 0 | Garrett Richards | - | - | - | - | 4.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | MIN 9, KC 1 | Eduardo Escobar, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 6, MIA 4 | Tanner Roark (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 3, SD 1 | Rich Hill (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 2.2 | TB 4, NYY 1 | Alex Cobb (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | ARI 8, SF 6 | Jeremy Hazelbaker, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| `Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | cin nl | 2.0 | 9.0 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -5.0 |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 1.7 | 15.1 | 83.1 | 88.1 | -11.7 |
| Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | cle al | 1.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | -5.5 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 15.4 | 19.4 | 39.1 | -13.4 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 1.0 | 13.7 | 29.7 | 29.7 | -11.7 |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 9.4 | 50.3 | 149.5 | -7.4 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -5.0 |
| Devenski, Chris 3702 | pi mr | hou al | 1.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | -2.7 |
| Peralta, Wily 3123 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 |
| Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 34.4 | 34.4 | 1.0 |
| Escobar, Eduardo 3135 | ss | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.7 | 12.7 | 1.0 |
| Cobb, Alex 2916 | pi sp | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 31.4 | 32.4 | 1.0 |
| Hazelbaker, Jeremy 3759 | ph | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Los Angeles Dodgers edge out Washington Nationals as Box-Toppers' top preseason team. Champion Cubs slip to 5th after key player losses. Indians rank 1st among AL teams.
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Giants pitcher Ty Blach is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 |
| 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 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.4 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer secured Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors for 2016 after Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers points in his team’s loss Saturday against the Giants. Scherzer, who starts Sunday, has 25.7 Box-Toppers points. Kershaw finishes second with 24.4.
In addition Saturday, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Blach pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers.
This was Blach’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Blach made his Major League debut Sept. 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,754th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Rangers.
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Wendle of the Athletics doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-8, 10-inning win over the Mariners.
This was Wendle’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wendle made his Major League debut Aug. 31 and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,756th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cubs.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw had a chance to take the Box-Toppers season points lead on the next-to-last day of the season Saturday if he earned NL Player of the Day or overall Player of the Day. But Kershaw did not earn points as the Dodgers lost to the Giants, 3-0.
Kershaw (7IP 6H 3R BB 4K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.0. Player of the Game was overall Player of the Day, Giants pitcher Ty Blach.
Kershaw finishes the season with 24.4 Box-Toppers points, the second year in a row he finishes second. In 2015, he had 25.7 points, behind leader Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Previously, Kershaw led NL pitchers for four straight seasons (2011-2014) and led all players in three seasons (2011, 2013 and 2014).
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who took the season lead from Kershaw on Aug. 25, will end the season atop Box-Toppers season player rankings for the first time in his career. He has 25.7 Box-Toppers points and has a chance to earn up to 2.0 more Sunday in his start against the Marlins.
This will be the second time Scherzer has ended the season as a Box-Toppers category leader. In 2013, Scherzer, then with the Tigers, led AL pitchers in points with 18.1. (He finished fifth in 2013 in overall points when Kershaw led with 21.7.)
| 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 | 185.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 183.7 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 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 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | nym nl | 148.5 |
Notable—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since tracking began in 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Colon (5IP 5H 2R 0BB 6K W in the 5-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 148.5 for his career. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails Chipper Jones (149.0).
Colon now has 8.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 27th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Two players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Debut—Braves pitcher Aaron Blair also made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Blair (6IP 4H 2R BB 10K W in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut April 24 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,755th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Blach 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. Wendle and Suarez 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.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/1 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | SF 3, LAD 0 | Ty Blach (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| AL | 9.0 | TB 4, TEX 1 | Jake Odorizzi (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.2 | HOU 3, LAA 0 | Collin McHugh (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | ARI 9, SD 5 | Archie Bradley (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 7.0 | ATL 5, DET 3 | Aaron Blair (W,2-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 6.1 | MIN 6, CHW 0 | Hector Santiago (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | `MIL 4, COL 3 (10) | Wily Peralta | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | `STL 4, PIT 3 | Trevor Rosenthal | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | OAK 9, SEA 8 (10) | Joey Wendle, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | CIN 7, CHC 4 | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `CLE 6, KC 3 | Andrew Miller (H,25) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | WSH 2, MIA 1 | Mark Melancon (S,46) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 4, BOS 3 | Kevin Pillar, CF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 7, BAL 3 | Chase Headley, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 5, PHI 3 | Bartolo Colon (W,15-8) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 | 19.4 | 31.8 | 31.8 | 3.4 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 10.7 | 20.4 | 32.2 | 32.2 | 1.0 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 8.5 | 11.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 5.5 |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | nym nl | 8.4 | 15.1 | 57.0 | 148.5 | 1.7 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp mr | cle al | 8.0 | 12.0 | 16.0 | 23.0 | 4.0 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 6.4 | 15.1 | 26.1 | 26.1 | -2.3 |
| Headley, Chase 2552 | 3b | nyy al | 4.5 | 6.5 | 18.0 | 28.5 | 2.5 |
| Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | stl nl | 4.0 | 10.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | -2.0 |
| Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | dc nl | 3.0 | 10.0 | 23.0 | 24.0 | -4.0 |
| Bradley, Archie 3438 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -1.5 |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Wendle, Joey 3756 | 2b | oak al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Peralta, Wily 3123 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | -1.0 |
| Blair, Aaron 3755 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Astros pitcher Collin McHugh is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Also Friday, two pitchers with more than 20.0 Box-Toppers points this season started and both earned the win, but neither earned Player of the Game honors—Max Scherzer of the Nationals (23.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked first) and Corey Kluber of the Indians (20.2 points, ranked fourth).
Player of the Day—McHugh pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out six, in the 6-0 win over the Mariners.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, two walks and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Twins.
Colon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 147.5 for his career. He rises to 21st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jim Thome (146.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails 20th-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3).
Colon now has 7.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 31st among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Trea Turner of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 7-2 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Napoli of the Indians homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 11-4 win over the Tigers.
Notable—The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Max Scherzer, and the overall AL Box-Toppers points leader, Corey Kluber, both started games Friday and both earned the win, but neither earned Player of the Game honors and did not increase their season Box-Toppers point totals:
Also notable—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday.
Sale (CG 8H 4R BB 10K W in the 7-4 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks 14th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
And finally—Phillies pitcher Frank Herrmann earned his first Player of the Game honor in nearly five years Friday.
Herrmann (2IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K W in the 4-3, 13-inning win over the Marlins) last earned Player of the Game honors on Sept. 24, 2011, with the Indians. He had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2011 and now has 4.0 career points.
Scoring—McHugh earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Colon earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Turner and Napoli 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.
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Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/16 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | HOU 6, SEA 0 | Collin McHugh (W,11-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| NL | 8.0 | NYM 3, MIN 0 | Bartolo Colon (W,14-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | WSH 7, ATL 2 | Trea Turner, CF | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | CLE 11, DET 4 | Mike Napoli, 1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | SF 8, STL 2 | Buster Posey, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | PIT 9, CIN 7 (10) | Jung Ho Kang, 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CHC 5, MIL 4 (10) | Aroldis Chapman (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 7, KC 4 | Chris Sale (W,16-8) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 3, ARI 2 | Kenta Maeda (W,15-9) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2.2 | BOS 7, NYY 4 | Craig Kimbrel (S,26) | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | COL 8, SD 7 | DJ LeMahieu, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 5, LAA 0 | R.A. Dickey (W,10-14) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 4, MIA 3 (13) | Frank Herrmann (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | BAL 5, TB 4 | J.J. Hardy, SS | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TEX 7, OAK 6 | Nomar Mazara, RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 13.4 | 32.2 | 84.4 | 86.4 | -5.4 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 9.7 | 19.4 | 31.2 | 31.2 | 0.0 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | col nl | 8.0 | 15.0 | 21.0 | 21.0 | 1.0 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | chi nl | 7.4 | 15.4 | 45.4 | 46.4 | -0.6 |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | nym nl | 7.4 | 14.1 | 56.0 | 147.5 | 0.7 |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | tor al | 7.0 | 12.0 | 56.2 | 77.9 | 2.0 |
| Napoli, Mike 2161 | 1b | cle al | 6.5 | 11.0 | 38.7 | 57.7 | 2.0 |
| Hardy, J.J. 2071 | ss | bal al | 6.2 | 6.2 | 27.6 | 54.8 | 6.2 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 6.0 | 12.0 | 55.7 | 56.7 | 0.0 |
| Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf lf | tex al | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 3.5 | 7.5 | 28.5 | 33.0 | -0.5 |
| Kang, Jung-Ho 3464 | 3b ss | pit nl | 3.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 0.5 |
| Turner, Trea 3730 | 2b cf | dc nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Herrmann, Frank 2902 | pi cp | phi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.