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Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the highest Box-Toppers game score of the season.
Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, achieving the highest Box-Toppers game score for any Player of the Game in 2017.
Meanwhile, Ray’s teammate J.D. Martinez became the 18th player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game but despite that, earns no Box-Toppers points. Since Ray had such a high Box-Toppers game score, he beat Martinez for Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Tanaka struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Rays. Tanaka retired the first 17 batters and had a perfect game in the sixth inning before giving up his first hit.
Read More
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Monday’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 | 16.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 |
| 7 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 8 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
Also Monday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Nola struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hit and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, five hits and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Blue Jays.
American League Batter of the Day—Max Kepler of the Twins homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 9-5 win over the Angels.
National League Batter of the Day—Yadier Molina of the Cardinals hit two doubles and went 3-for-3, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 14-6 win over the Marlins.
Molina earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, tied for his highest single-season Box-Toppers point total just barely halfway into the season. He previously had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in both 2010 and 2012 with the Cardinals. Molina has been earning Box-Toppers points since 2004. He currently ranks 12th among among NL batters this season and second among NL catchers, behind Buster Posey of the Giants (5.5).
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises from ninth to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Strasburg (7IP 2H 0R 3BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the eighth player this season to reach 10 or more Box-Toppers points and has now reached 10 points in five seasons, including four in a row currently. Strasburg ranks third among NL pitchers in season Box-Toppers points, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (18.1) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0).
Debut—Brewers pitcher Brent Suter made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Suter (6IP 4H R 0ER BB 8K W in the 8-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Aug. 19, 2016, and was playing in his 23rd career game. He is the 3,843rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Nola earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Kepler and Molina each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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.
| 7/3 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | PHI 4, PIT 0 | Aaron Nola (W, 6-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | MIL 8, BAL 1 | Brent Suter (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 8.0 | `WSH 3, NYM 2 | Stephen Strasburg | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | NYY 6, TOR 3 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 7-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 5.2 | KC 3, SEA 1 | Ian Kennedy (W, 3-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.1 | CHW 7, OAK 2 | Carlos Rodon (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 5.0 | BOS 7, TEX 5 (F/11) | Heath Hembree (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIN 9, LAA 5 | Max Kepler (RF) | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 14, MIA 6 | Yadier Molina (C) | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | COL 5, CIN 3 | Greg Holland (S, 27) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 | 25.5 | 84.6 | 93.3 | -4.7 |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 8.0 | 8.0 | 38.0 | 41.0 | 8.0 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.4 | 20.5 | 41.2 | 41.2 | -7.7 |
| Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 5.7 | 12.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | -1.0 |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | stl nl | 4.5 | 8.5 | 18.0 | 39.2 | 0.5 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 4.0 | 14.0 | 45.1 | 70.5 | -6.0 |
| Kepler, Max 3664 | rf | min al | 1.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -5.0 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 1.0 | 9.0 | 17.1 | 17.1 | -7.0 |
| Hembree, Heath 3620 | pi cp | bos al | 1.0 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | -0.7 |
| Suter, Brent 3843 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’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 | 13.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 10.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 7 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 |
| 8 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 8.2 |
| 9 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
Also Friday, Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Tanaka struck out nine over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Rangers. Tanaka did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Mark Leiter Jr. pitched six scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing three hits and one walk, in the 6-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
This was Leiter’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Leiter made his Major League debut April 28 and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,834th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Leiter is the son of pitcher Mark Leiter Sr. who had 23.4 career Box-Toppers points from 1995 to 1998. Leiter would likely have more Box-Toppers point if his entire career beginning in 1990 were tracked (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995).
American League Batter of the Day—Derek Norris of the Rays homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 15-5 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-4 win over the Giants.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rises from eighth to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Wood (6IP 3H R 2BB 7K W in the 6-1 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
With Wood earning a point Friday, it marks the first time this season that all of the Box-Toppers top 10 point leaders have different Box-Toppers point totals—there are for the first time in 2017 no ties among the top 10 players. However, 10th-ranked player, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke, has 7.7 Box-Toppers points and beats out three other players with the same Box-Toppers point total on tiebreakers—Red Sox pitcher Craig Kimbrel, Marlins pitcher Dan Straily and Astros pitcher Lance McCullers.
Debut—Brian Goodwin of the Nationals made his Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Goodwin (2HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-5, 10-inning win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Aug. 6, 2016, and was playing in his 54th career game. He is the 3,835th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Tanaka earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Leiter earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Norris and Cespedes 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.
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.
| 6/23 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | `NYY 2, TEX 1 (F/10) | Masahiro Tanaka | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| NL | 7.0 | PHI 6, ARI 1 | Mark Leiter Jr. (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | LAD 6, COL 1 | Alex Wood (W,8-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | TB 15, BAL 5 | Derek Norris, C | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | SD 1, DET 0 | Luis Perdomo (W,2-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | ATL 5, MIL 4 | Mike Foltynewicz (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 9, LAA 4 | Sandy Leon, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | OAK 3, CHW 0 | Jharel Cotton (W,5-7) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 13, HOU 3 | Danny Valencia, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | NYM 11, SF 4 | Yoenis Cespedes, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | WSH 6, CIN 5 (F/10) | Brian Goodwin, LF-CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `PIT 4, STL 3 | Jameson Taillon | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 5, CLE 0 | Adalberto Mejia (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | MIA 2, CHC 0 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | KC 5, TOR 4 | Salvador Perez, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 | 10.0 | 28.4 | 28.4 | 8.0 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 4.7 | 18.8 | 39.5 | 39.5 | -9.4 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 4.5 | 8.5 | 23.7 | 26.2 | 0.5 |
| Cotton, Jharel 3733 | pi sp | oak al | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Norris, Derek 3198 | ca | tb al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | 2.0 |
| Valencia, Danny 2772 | 1b 3b | sea al | 2.7 | 7.2 | 11.7 | 15.7 | -1.8 |
| Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf | nym nl | 2.5 | 10.5 | 42.4 | 42.4 | -5.5 |
| Leon, Sandy 3676 | ca | bos al | 2.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -0.5 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 2.0 | 8.5 | 32.7 | 41.2 | -4.5 |
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -3.0 |
| Perdomo, Luis D. 3715 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Mejia, Adalberto 3812 | pi sp | min al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Leiter, Mark Jr. 3834 | pi sp | phi nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -3.0 |
| Goodwin, Brian 3835 | lf cf | dc nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Diamondbacks pitcher Taijuan Walker is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Walker struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs on four hits, in the 6-2 win over the Padres.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 5.7 |
| 3 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 6 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 |
| 7 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 |
| 10 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 |
Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most among the 11 Thursday who earned Player of the Game honors. Walker rises to 17th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched a complete-game, three-hit, shutout in the 3-0 win over the Red Sox. Tanaka struck out three and walked none.
National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a two-run, ninth-inning homer to tie the game, in the 8-4, 11-inning win over the Blue Jays. Grichuk went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Yan Gomes of the Indians doubled and went 1-for-1, scoring a run, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.
Streaks—Two players extended their streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned Player of the Game honors Thursday:
Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Gomes 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.
| 4/27 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | ARI 6, SD 2 | Taijuan Walker (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | |
| AL | 9.0 | NYY 3, BOS 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | STL 8, TOR 4 (F/11) | Randal Grichuk, RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.2 | `SEA 2, DET 1 | Hisashi Iwakuma | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | WSH 16, COL 5 | Daniel Murphy, 2B | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 7, NYM 5 | Kurt Suzuki, C | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAD 5, SF 1 (F/10) | Kenley Jansen (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | `PHI 3, MIA 2 | Joaquin Benoit (H,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 6, TOR 4 | Trevor Rosenthal (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | LAA 2, OAK 1 | Ricky Nolasco (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | CLE 4, HOU 3 | Yan Gomes, C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 10.7 | 24.4 | 24.4 | -4.7 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 2.0 | 9.5 | 30.5 | 34.5 | -5.5 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 1.7 | 15.8 | 36.5 | 36.5 | -12.4 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf | stl nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | 0.5 |
| Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | cle al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 0.5 |
| Nolasco, Ricky 2125 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 12.4 | 29.1 | 88.2 | -10.4 |
| Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 7.0 | 55.2 | 55.2 | -5.0 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp mr | lad nl | 1.0 | 7.0 | 32.7 | 37.4 | -5.0 |
| Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | stl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 23.0 | 23.0 | -3.0 |
| Suzuki, Kurt 2344 | ca | atl nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 33.0 | -0.5 |
| Benoit, Joaquin 1663 | pi mr | phi nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 30.5 | 0.0 |
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day.
Box-Toppers is tracking several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time shagging ground balls and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.
Tanaka, along with two other Yankees pitchers, no-hit the Tigers, 3-0. Tananka struck out six over 4 1/3 innings, allowing no hits or runs.
In 2016, Tanaka had 14.1 Box-Toppers points, fifth among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Wilmer Flores of the Mets hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-2 and driving in six total runs, in the 16-2 win over the Cardinals. Flores had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2016.
American League Batter of the Day—Darrell Ceciliani of the Blue Jays hit a grand slam and tripled, going 2-for-4 and driving in five total runs, in the 7-5 win over the Phillies. Ceciliani has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut by earning Player of the Game honors during the regular season.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Wilmer Flores.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Tanaka would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Flores would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day and Ceciliani would earn 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Eighteen spring training games were scheduled for Friday—17 are listed below. One game is not listed (Nationals 5, Marlins 5) because it ended in a tie. World Baseball Classic games are also not included.
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
| 3/17 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.1 | NYY 3, DET 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| NL | 7.0 | NYM 16, STL 2 | Wilmer Flores 3B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | MIN 4, TB 2 | Phil Hughes (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 6.0 | HOU 6, BOS 2 | Francis Martes (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | CHC 7, CHW 3 | Kyle Schwarber RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | `SD 3, LAD 2 | Christian Friedrich | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | TOR 7, PHI 5 | Darrell Ceciliani RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SEA 8, ARI 5 | Ron Casteel 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TEX 6, LAA 5 | Ronald Guzman 1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CLE 3, TEX 2 | Danny Salazar (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 4.0 | SEA 5, LAD 2 | Max Povse (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | COL 5, SF 1 | Harrison Musgrave (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.0 | ARI 3, OAK 2 | Zack Godley (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | CIN 7, CLE 3 | Wandy Peralta (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | KC 8, MIL 5 | Christian Colón 2B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `HOU 5, ATL 4 | Dallas Keuchel | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | BAL 8, PIT 6 | Scott McGough (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 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 pitcher Taijuan Walker is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Also Tuesday, Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Walker pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out 11 and walking none, in the 8-0 win over the Angels.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard struck out 10 over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 4-3, 10-inning win over the Nationals. Syndergaard did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because after he exited, the Nationals tied the game 3-3 before the Mets took the lead for good in the top of the 10th inning.
Syndergaard earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 15.7 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers. His rise back into Box-Toppers top 10 displaces Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (14.1 Box-Toppers points) from the list, as he falls to 11th.
American League Batter of the Day—Jorge Polanco of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-1 win over the Tigers.
This was Polanco’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Polanco made his Major League debut June 26, 2014, and was playing in his 61st career game. He is the 3,739th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Cardinals homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 4-2 win over the Cubs.
Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia extends his lead in career Box-Toppers points among active players after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Sabathia (6.1IP 3H 0R BB 7K ND in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 184.0 career points. He leads second-place active player Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3) by 1.7 points.
Sabathia ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails fourth-place player Alex Rodriguez (187.0) on the “all-time” list. Sabathia has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. (See the homepage for the updated “all-time” top 20 Box-Toppers player rankings list.)
Also notable—White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana becomes the 39th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Quintana (8IP 5H R BB 6K W in the 8-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season, 36th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Matt Koch (4IP 2H 0R BB 4K Sv in the 11-4 win over the Rockies) made his Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Koch made his Major League debut Sept. 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,740th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Syndergaard earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Polanco and Moss 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.
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Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/13 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 17.0 | SEA 8, LAA 0 | Taijuan Walker (W,6-10) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| NL | 10.0 | `NYM 4, WSH 3 (10) | Noah Syndergaard | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| 9.1 | `NYY 3, LAD 0 | CC Sabathia | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 8.0 | CIN 6, MIL 4 | Dan Straily (W,12-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 8.0 | `PIT 5, PHI 3 | Ivan Nova | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | ||
| 6.0 | CHW 8, CLE 1 | Jose Quintana (W,12-10) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | MIN 8, DET 1 | Jorge Polanco, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | ARI 11, COL 4 | Matt Koch (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | `TEX 3, HOU 2 | A.J. Griffin | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | TB 6, TOR 2 | Steven Souza Jr., RF | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | MIA 7, ATL 5 | Justin Nicolino (W,3-6) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | STL 4, CHC 2 | Brandon Moss, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | BAL 6, BOS 3 | J.J. Hardy, SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 5, KC 4 | Yonder Alonso, PH-1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SD 6, SF 4 | Kevin Quackenbush (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 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. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.7 | 26.1 | 26.1 | 26.1 | 5.3 |
| Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 10.4 | 16.4 | 35.2 | 35.2 | 4.4 |
| Walker, Taijuan 3453 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 | 21.4 | 21.4 | 21.4 | -6.0 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 7.0 | 8.0 | 29.1 | 30.1 | 6.0 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | cin nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 6.0 |
| Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf | tb al | 5.7 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 11.2 | 0.2 |
| Griffin, A.J. 3074 | pi sp | tex al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 20.4 | 20.4 | 5.7 |
| Hardy, J.J. 2071 | ss | bal al | 5.2 | 5.2 | 26.6 | 53.8 | 5.2 |
| Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | nyy al | 5.0 | 10.7 | 45.5 | 184.0 | -0.7 |
| Moss, Brandon 2520 | rf lf 1b | stl nl | 4.0 | 9.0 | 25.0 | 27.0 | -1.0 |
| Quackenbush, Kevin 3462 | pi cp mr | sd nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Alonso, Yonder 2945 | 1b ph | oak al | 2.0 | 3.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 0.5 |
| Nicolino, Justin 3576 | pi sp mr | fla nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Polanco, Jorge 3739 | ss | min al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Koch, Matt 3740 | pi cp | ari nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 |
Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rises to 10th place in player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Hill pitched seven perfect innings, striking out nine, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins. Despite allowing no base runners for seven innings, he was pulled after 89 pitches to preserve his health—he had spent time recently on the disabled list. While three Dodgers relievers preserved the shutout, they did give up two hits.
Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10 over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.
Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
With the rise of Hill to ninth place and Tanaka to 10th place in season player rankings, two other players were displaced from Box-Toppers top 10 list for the season—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (14.0) and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (13.7).
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two homers and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Pence of the Giants homered and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in one run, in the 11-3 win over the Diamondbacks. It is the second straight day Pence has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 0R BB 8K ND in the 3-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.7 for the season. He leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (20.4) by 3.3 points.
Scherzer also now has 129.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 30th-ranked Jason Giambi (133.4).
Notable—Three other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season also earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Debut—Twins pitcher J.T. Chargois made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Chargois (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Indians) made his Major League debut June 11 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,736th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters and Pence each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/10 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | LAD 5, MIA 0 | Rich Hill (W,12-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 14.0 | SD 6, COL 3 | Christian Friedrich (W,5-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | ||
| AL | 10.1 | NYY 5, TB 1 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,13-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| 9.2 | `WSH 3, PHI 0 | Max Scherzer | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | BAL 11, DET 3 | Matt Wieters, C | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | SF 11, ARI 3 | Hunter Pence, RF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SEA 14, OAK 3 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | HOU 2, CHC 1 | Collin McHugh (W,10-10) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 5, MIL 1 | Adam Wainwright (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 8, PIT 7 | Joey Votto, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 8, LAA 5 | Carlos Gomez, LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | KC 6, CHW 5 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 3, BOS 2 | J.A. Happ (W,18-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 2, CLE 1 (12) | J.T. Chargois (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | ATL 4, NYM 3 (10) | Matt Kemp, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 | 44.7 | 109.3 | 129.7 | 2.7 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 38.1 | 10.4 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 | 22.1 | 34.8 | 34.8 | 6.1 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 13.7 | 26.8 | 42.2 | 50.2 | 0.6 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 10.5 | 15.5 | 32.2 | 64.2 | 5.5 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.2 | 13.2 | 61.3 | 112.0 | 7.2 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 9.5 | 10.5 | 28.5 | 34.2 | 8.5 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 8.5 | 17.5 | 31.0 | 31.0 | -0.5 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 | 17.4 | 29.2 | 29.2 | -2.0 |
| Kemp, Matt 2151 | rf lf | atl nl | 6.5 | 12.0 | 36.5 | 58.1 | 1.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | sea al | 5.5 | 7.5 | 33.2 | 52.7 | 3.5 |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | sf nl | 3.5 | 5.5 | 24.5 | 52.2 | 1.5 |
| Friedrich, Christian 3024 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 2.7 |
| Gomez, Carlos 2397 | cf lf | tex al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 18.5 | 29.5 | -4.0 |
| Chargois, J.T. 3736 | pi cp | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
Fernandez pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out nine and allowing six hits and two walks, in the 3-0 win over the Royals.
Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.4 for the season, rising from fourth to third place among all players and among all National League pitchers in 2016.
Fernandez is now 1.6 Box-Toppers points behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 points), meaning Fernandez could pass Kershaw for the season lead in his next start if he earns NL Player of the Day (worth 1.7 points) or overall Player of the Day (worth 2.0 points). Kershaw has led all players since May 7 and maintained his lead despite spending the past nearly two months on the disabled list.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing six hits and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Mariners.
Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, rising to 15th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered and went 4-for-6, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-8 win over the Nationals.
Machado earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5 points). Machado ranks 18th among all players.
National League Batter of the Day—Jake Lamb of the Diamondbacks homered, doubled and went 3-for-6, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-9, 11-inning win over the Braves. Lamb and teammate Paul Goldschmidt both had Box-Toppers game scores of +2.0 Wednesday with similar line scores (3-6 3R 2BI), but Lamb won Player of the Game honors over Goldschmidt because he had both a homer and a double, while Goldschmidt had just a home run.
Notable—Three other players became the 28th, 29th and 30th players to reach the 10.0-Box-Toppers point threshold for the 2016 season:
Cabrera also now has 142.9 career Box-Toppers points and rises to 23rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Cabrera passes David Ortiz of the Red Sox (142.9) on the “all-time” list, to become the seventh-ranked active player in career points, second among all active batters, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (181.3). While Cabrera and Ortiz both have the same 142.9 career Box-Toppers point total, Cabrera now ranks ahead because he has more points in 2016—10.0 vs. 5.0. Cabrera now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8).
Scoring—Fernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Machado and Lamb 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/24 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 8.0 | MIA 3, KC 0 | Jose Fernandez (W,13-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| AL | 5.0 | NYY 5, SEA 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,11-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 5.0 | LAA 8, TOR 2 | Matt Shoemaker (W,8-13) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | BAL 10, WSH 8 | Manny Machado, 3B | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | STL 8, NYM 1 | Carlos Martinez (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | MIL 7, COL 1 | Zach Davies (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | CHC 6, SD 3 | Kyle Hendricks (W,12-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 4.0 | LAD 1, SF 0 | Rich Hill (W,10-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | `TB 4, BOS 3 (11) | Alex Colome | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | DET 9, MIN 4 | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 5, PIT 4 | Ken Giles (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | ARI 10, ATL 9 (11) | Jake Lamb, 3B | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | PHI 5, CHW 3 | Aaron Altherr, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TEX 6, CIN 5 | Nomar Mazara, LF-RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | OAK 5, CLE 1 | Ryon Healy, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 | 23.1 | 49.1 | 49.1 | 13.7 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.4 | 20.4 | 33.1 | 33.1 | 4.4 |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 11.7 | 19.2 | 22.7 | 22.7 | 4.2 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 | 20.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 1.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.4 | 14.4 | 14.4 | 34.1 | 6.4 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 10.0 | 14.7 | 63.3 | 142.9 | 5.3 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.7 | 21.4 | 22.4 | 22.4 | -6.0 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 7.0 | 12.7 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 1.3 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 7.0 | 12.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 2.0 |
| Davies, Zach 3581 | pi sp | mil nl | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| Mazara, Nomar 3614 | rf lf | tex al | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
| Lamb, Jake 3517 | 3b | ari nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| Healy, Ryon 3685 | 3b | oak al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Altherr, Aaron 3563 | rf lf | phi nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi mr cp | hou nl | 2.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -1.0 |
Athletics pitcher Kendall Graveman is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 7 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | hou al | 12.5 |
Player of the Day—Graveman pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out five and walking none, in the 9-0 win over the White Sox.
National League Player of the Day—Ryan Schimpf of the Padres hit a walk-off, three-run homer in the 7-4, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks. Schimpf hit two homers in the game and also doubled twice, going 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
American League Batter of the Day—Teoscar Hernandez of the Astros homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 15-8 win over the Orioles.
This was Hernandez’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hernandez made his Major League debut Aug. 12 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,713rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day was batter Ryan Schimpf.
Rankings—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels rises from seventh to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Hamels (7.1IP 3H R 2BB 10K W in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Corey Kluber of the Indians (17.2).
Hamels also now has 141.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 26th since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 25th-ranked player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (141.8).
Notable—Two players became the 25th and 26th players this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after they earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
Debut—David Dahl of the Rockies made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Dahl (HR 2-4 2R BI in the 7-6, 11-inning win over the Cubs) made his Major League debut July 25 and was playing in his 24th career game. He is the 3,714th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Graveman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Schmipf earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Hernandez earns 1.5 points for being AL 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/19 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | OAK 9, CHW 0 | Kendall Graveman (W,9-8) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 11.2 | NYY 7, LAA 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,10-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 10.1 | TEX 6, TB 2 | Cole Hamels (W,13-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 10.0 | `CLE 3, TOR 2 | Trevor Bauer | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 13 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | SD 7, ARI 4 (10) | Ryan Schimpf, 2B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | BOS 10, DET 2 | Rick Porcello (W,17-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | HOU 15, BAL 8 | Teoscar Hernandez, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CIN 9, LAD 2 | Joey Votto, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 6, PIT 5 | J.T. Realmuto, C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SF 8, NYM 1 | Conor Gillaspie, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 7, ATL 6 | Clint Robinson, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | STL 4, PHI 3 (11) | Seung Hwan Oh (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | COL 7, CHC 6 (11) | David Dahl, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | SEA 7, MIL 6 | Adam Lind, PH-1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | KC 5, MIN 4 (11) | Chien-Ming Wang (W,6-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 15.1 | 30.5 | 82.1 | 141.3 | -0.3 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.7 | 18.7 | 31.4 | 31.4 | 2.7 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 | 19.8 | 28.5 | 28.5 | 1.0 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 8.5 | 13.5 | 30.2 | 62.2 | 3.5 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 7.0 | 11.0 | 32.7 | 41.7 | 3.0 |
| Realmuto, J.T. 3491 | ca | fla nl | 5.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 10.5 | 0.5 |
| Graveman, Kendall 3444 | pi sp | oak al | 5.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 0.3 |
| Schimpf, Ryan 3686 | 2b 3b | sd nl | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Oh, Seung Hwan 3693 | pi cp | stl nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Lind, Adam 2238 | 1b ph | sea al | 3.7 | 10.2 | 30.2 | 57.8 | -2.8 |
| Gillaspie, Conor 3218 | 3b ph | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 2.0 |
| Hernandez, Teoscar 3713 | cf | hou al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Robinson, Clint 3475 | 1b | dc nl | 1.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | -2.5 |
| Wang, Chien-Ming 2023 | pi cp | kc al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 28.1 | 1.0 |
| Dahl, David 3714 | cf | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Eflin pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out six and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 13.4 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 12.5 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 12.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.0 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher James Paxton struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Blue Jays.
Paxton had a Box-Toppers game score of +10.0, tied with Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea, who was Player of the Game in the 1-0, 13-inning win over the Blue Jays. But Paxton edged Manaea to earn AL Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game, while Manaea picked up a no decision (8IP 5H 0R 7K ND).
National League Batter of the Day—Dexter Fowler of the Cubs homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-2 win over the Brewers.
American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers hit two doubles and went 4-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 7-5 win over the White Sox.
Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 138.4 for his career, regaining the 26th place spot among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (138.3) on the “all-time” list. Hamels had passed Cabrera on July 17 when he earned Player of the Day. Cabrera now trails 25th-ranked player Andy Pettitte (138.5). Cabrera again ranks 10th among active players in career Box-Toppers points.
Cabrera has 5.5 points on the season, more than the 4.7 points he earned in 2015, which was his lowest total since his 2003 rookie season. Cabrera’s 5.5 points ranks 15th among AL batters this season.
Notable—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has the most season Box-Toppers points among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday.
Tanaka (6IP 4H 0R 2BB 4K ND in the 3-2 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season, 20th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Eflin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Paxton earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Fowler and Cabrera 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/22 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | PHI 4, PIT 0 | Zach Eflin (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| AL | 10.0 | SEA 2, TOR 1 | James Paxton (W,3-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 10.0 | `OAK 1, TB 0 (13) | Sean Manaea | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 9.0 | MIN 2, BOS 1 | Kyle Gibson (W,3-6) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | HOU 2, LAA 1 | Lance McCullers (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | ||
| 6.0 | COL 4, ATL 3 | Jon Gray (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4.2 | `STL 4, LAD 3 (16) | Tyler Lyons | - | - | - | - | 4.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | CHC 5, MIL 2 | Dexter Fowler, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SD 5, WSH 3 | Matt Kemp, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | `NYY 3, SF 2 | Masahiro Tanaka | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | BAL 5, CLE 1 | Dylan Bundy (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | DET 7, CHW 5 | Miguel Cabrera, 1B | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CIN 6, ARI 2 | Joey Votto, 1B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 5, MIA 3 | James Loney, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | KC 3, TEX 1 | Danny Duffy (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 8.7 | 16.7 | 29.4 | 29.4 | 0.7 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 6.7 | 10.7 | 25.7 | 25.7 | 2.7 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 5.5 | 10.5 | 27.2 | 59.2 | 0.5 |
| Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 5.5 | 10.2 | 58.8 | 138.4 | 0.8 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 4.4 | 11.1 | 11.1 | 11.1 | -2.3 |
| Kemp, Matt 2151 | rf | sd nl | 4.0 | 9.5 | 34.0 | 55.6 | -1.5 |
| Eflin, Zach 3679 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Gibson, Kyle 3312 | pi sp | min al | 3.0 | 11.0 | 17.0 | 17.0 | -5.0 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Loney, James 2206 | 1b ph | nym nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 34.4 | 2.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi mr sp | bal al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 1.7 | 2.7 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 0.7 |
| Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf | chi nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 18.0 | -1.0 |
| Lyons, Tyler 3178 | pi mr sp | stl nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -2.0 |
Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.4 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 10.8 |
| 6 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 10.5 |
| 9 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 |
| 10 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
Eflin pitched a complete game, allowing one run, six hits and no walks, striking out six, in the 5-1 win over the Braves.
This was Eflin’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Eflin made his Major League debut June 14 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,679th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits and one walk, striking out six, in the 9-0 win over the White Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Andrelton Simmons of the Angels tripled, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-5 win over the Rays.
Notable—Pirates pitcher Juan Nicasio has the most 2016 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Nicasio (2IP H 0R BB 2K W in the 5-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.0 for the season, 34th among all players, 16th among NL pitchers.
Scoring—Elfin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Stanton and Simmons 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 7/5 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 7.0 | PHI 5/ATL 1 | Zach Eflin (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| AL | 6.2 | NYY 9/CHW 0 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | MIA 5/NYM 2 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | TOR 8/KC 3 | R.A. Dickey (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | LAA 13/TB 5 | Andrelton Simmons, SS | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CIN 9/CHC 5 | Joey Votto, 1B | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | `BAL 4/LAD 1 | Brad Brach (H,14) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 12/DET 1 | Lonnie Chisenhall, RF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 5/DC 2 | Aaron Hill, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 7/SD 5 | Jean Segura, 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 7/BOS 2 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | COL 7/SF 3 | DJ LeMahieu, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 11/OAK 4 | Kennys Vargas, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 5/SEA 2 | Dallas Keuchel (W,6-9) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 5/STL 2 | Juan Nicasio (W,7-6) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 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. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi sp mr | pit nl | 7.0 | 8.0 | 23.4 | 23.4 | 6.0 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.7 | 14.7 | 27.4 | 27.4 | -1.3 |
| LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | col nl | 5.5 | 12.5 | 18.5 | 18.5 | -1.5 |
| Hill, Aaron 2056 | 2b | mil nl | 5.5 | 8.5 | 22.5 | 41.5 | 2.5 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 12.2 | 15.2 | 4.7 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 | 10.0 | 31.7 | 37.2 | -1.0 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 25.4 | 39.8 | 39.8 | -17.4 |
| Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | tor al | 4.0 | 9.0 | 53.2 | 74.9 | -1.0 |
| Chisenhall, Lonnie 2959 | rf | cle al | 3.5 | 3.5 | 13.5 | 13.5 | 3.5 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 3.0 | 8.0 | 24.7 | 56.7 | -2.0 |
| Segura, Jean 3173 | 2b | ari nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 0.0 |
| Eflin, Zach 3679 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Simmons, Andrelton 3165 | ss | ana al | 1.5 | 5.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | -2.5 |
| Brach, Brad 3374 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -2.0 |
| Vargas, Kennys 3511 | 1b | min al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 6 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 8.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 7.4 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 6.4 |
Player of the Day—Tanaka pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four, in the 4-1 win over the Rays.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Christian Friedrich pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 10-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Batter of the Day—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays hit two homers, doubled and went 4-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 7-5 win over the Red Sox.
National League Batter of the Day—Aaron Hill of the Brewers hit two homers and went 3-for-4, in the 9-5 win over the Reds.
Rankings—Manny Machado of the Orioles rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Machado (2B 4-5 2R BI in the 6-4 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.7 for the season. He extends his lead among AL batters.
Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 125.1 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Lester (6.1IP 6H 2R 7K W in the 6-2 win over the Phillies) ranks 35th in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 34th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).
Debut—Twins pitcher Pat Dean made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Dean (7IP 4H 2R 8K W in the 7-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut May 11 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,644th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Tanaka earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Friedrich earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Donaldson and Hill 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/27 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | NYY 4/TB 1 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 8.1 | LAA 7/HOU 2 | Matt Shoemaker (W,3-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | SD 10/ARI 3 | Christian Friedrich (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 7.0 | MIN 7/SEA 2 | Pat Dean (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 6.2 | DET 4/OAK 1 | Michael Fulmer (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | TOR 7/BOS 5 | Josh Donaldson, 3B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | `NYM 6/LAD 5 | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | COL 5/SF 2 | Tyler Chatwood (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | KC 7/CHW 5 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | MIL 9/CIN 5 | Aaron Hill, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.1 | CHC 6/PHI 2 | Jon Lester (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | BAL 6/CLE 4 | Manny Machado, SS | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 9/TEX 1 | Starling Marte, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | STL 6/DC 2 | Stephen Piscotty, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 4/MIA 2 | Arodys Vizcaino (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 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. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 | 16.2 | 19.7 | 19.7 | 1.2 |
| Hill, Aaron 2056 | 2b 3b | mil nl | 4.5 | 7.5 | 21.5 | 40.5 | 1.5 |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.0 | 16.0 | 62.2 | 125.1 | -8.0 |
| Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | tor al | 4.0 | 13.9 | 33.9 | 33.9 | -5.9 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 4.0 | 12.0 | 24.7 | 24.7 | -4.0 |
| Chatwood, Tyler 2856 | pi sp | col nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 4.0 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Marte, Starling 3122 | lf | pit nl | 2.5 | 7.5 | 12.0 | 12.0 | -2.5 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 | 24.4 | 37.4 | 37.4 | -20.4 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 2.0 | 11.0 | 24.5 | 24.5 | -7.0 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 7.7 | 20.4 | 20.4 | -3.7 |
| Piscotty, Stephen 3570 | rf | stl nl | 2.0 | 6.2 | 6.2 | 6.2 | -2.2 |
| Friedrich, Christian 3024 | pi sp | sd nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 1.7 |
| Vizcaino, Arodys 3533 | pi cp | atl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -3.0 |
| Dean, Pat 3644 | pi sp | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
The Houston Astros visit the New York Yankees Tuesday in the American League one-game Wild Card playoff game.
Starting pitchers are:
Astros—Dallas Keuchel, 21.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among AL pitchers, fourth overall.
Yankees—Masahiro Tanaka, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 28th among AL pitchers, 77th overall.
The Yankees hold home-field advantage because they have one more win on the season than the Astros (87-75 vs. 86-76). But the Astros players have accumulated more Box-Toppers points—118.4 vs. 99.8. The Astros rank eighth in team Box-Toppers rankings, third among AL teams, while the Yankees rank 13th, sixth among AL teams. The Yankees are Box-Toppers’ lowest-ranked playoff team and finished behind three teams that did not qualify for the postseason—the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Angels.
The winner of the AL Wild Card game will face the Kansas City Royals in the best-of-five AL Division Series beginning Thursday in Kansas City. The Royals have the AL’s best record and also have the most Box-Toppers points among AL teams, 127.5, ranked second overall, behind the Pittsburgh Pirates (129.6).
Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia will not be available for the postseason after it was announced Monday that he will enter alcohol rehabilitation. In 2015, Sabathia had 5.7 Box-Toppers points, his best season since 2012, when he had 15.1. Sabathia is Box-Toppers active leader among pitchers in career points with 179.0. He ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Sabathia, 35, had eight straight seasons with more than 13.0 Box-Toppers points per season from 2005 to 2012. In 2013, he had 4.7 points. In 2014, he had 1.0 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.
| Houston Astros | New York Yankees | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | 21.4 | Pineda, Michael 2841 | pi sp | 10.7 | |
| Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | 12.7 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | 8.0 | |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | 9.7 | Drew, Stephen 2210 | 2b | 8.0 | |
| Correa, Carlos 3506 | ss | 7.2 | Rodriguez, Alex | dh | 7.7 | |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | 7.0 | Teixeira, Mark 1738 | 1b | 7.5 | |
| Altuve, Jose 3007 | 2b | 7.0 | McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | 6.5 | |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | 6.7 | Sabathia, C.C. 1492 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Gomez, Carlos 2397 | cf | 6.0 | Young, Chris B. 2270 | rf cf lf | 4.5 | |
| Rasmus, Colby 2608 | lf rf cf | 6.0 | Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi cp mr | 4.0 | |
| Gregerson, Luke 2563 | pi cp | 6.0 | Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp | 4.0 | |
| Valbuena, Luis 2600 | 3b | 4.5 | Warren, Adam 3169 | pi sp mr | 3.7 | |
| Gattis, Evan 3179 | dh | 4.0 | Beltran, Carlos 1194 | rf ph | 3.5 | |
| Harris, Will 3093 | pi mr cp | 3.7 | Gardner, Brett 2486 | lf cf | 3.5 | |
| Qualls, Chad 1958 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | Ellsbury, Jacoby 2365 | cf | 3.0 | |
| Lowrie, Jed 2437 | ss dh | 2.5 | Bird, Greg 3562 | 1b | 3.0 | |
| Feldman, Scott 2632 | pi sp cp | 2.0 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | 3.0 | |
| Marisnick, Jake 3428 | cf | 2.0 | Gregorius, Didi 3184 | ss | 2.5 | |
| Tucker, Preston 3525 | rf lf | 2.0 | Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | 2.0 | |
| Carter, Chris 2828 | dh | 1.0 | Headley, Chase 2552 | 3b | 2.0 | |
| Springer, George 3337 | rf | 1.0 | Shreve, Chasen 3482 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Fields, Josh 3247 | pi mr | 1.0 | Ackley, Dustin 2921 | lf ph | 1.0 | |
| Conger, Hank 2843 | ca | 1.0 | Wilson, Justin 3140 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Oberholtzer, Brett 3244 | pi sp | 1.0 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Petit, Gregorio 2562 | 2b | 1.0 | ||||
| Moreno, Diego 3540 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 118.4 | Totals | 99.8 | |||
Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to the top of Box-Toppers player rankings.
Hernandez struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 3-1 win over the Rangers. Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season, passing previous points leader, Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir, who has 3.7.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 |
| 2 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
| 4 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 3.0 |
| 5 | Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 3.0 |
| 6 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 2.7 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.7 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.7 |
| 9 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b dh | tor al | 2.5 |
| 10 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 2.5 |
Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score of +12, tied with Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who was Player of the Game in the 9-0 win over the Rays. However, Hernandez won Player of the Day honors on a tie-breaker—he had more strikeouts than Tanaka Saturday (12 vs. 8).
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 5-4 win over the Marlins. deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 for the season. He rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
American League Batter of the Day—Adam LaRoche of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 3-for-5 with two runs and four RBIs in the 12-3 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Odubel Herrera of the Phillies went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI, in the 5-3 win over the Nationals. This was Herrera’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 6 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,449th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Notables—Josh Donaldson of the Blue Jays rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Donaldson (HR 3-4 2R BI in the 6-5 win over the Braves) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.5 for the season.
Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers earned just his third Player of the Game honor Saturday in his third season in baseball. While Puig is considered one of the game’s rising stars and an All-Star, he has so far only rarely earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors and now has 3.5 Box-Toppers points since his Box-Toppers debut on June 4, 2013. On Saturday, Puig went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI in the 6-3 win over the Rockies. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and has that 1.0 point for the season. That equals his 2014 total of 1.0 Box-Toppers point—he was Player of the Game once in 2014, on May 12.
Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and deGrom earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. LaRoche and Herrera each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/18 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | |
| 13.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| NL | 9.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | Pirates | Jeff Locke (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | `Cubs | Kyle Hendricks | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5.2 | Giants | Chris Heston (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 4.2 | Athletics | Jesse Chavez (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | White Sox | Adam LaRoche 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martinez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Zach Britton (S, 4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Phillies | Odubel Herrera CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Josh Donaldson DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Dodgers | Yasiel Puig RF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers’ leading rookies easily won each league’s Rookie of the Year Award Monday.
First baseman Jose Abreu of the White Sox won the American League award unanimously and Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom won the National League award with 26 out of 30 first place votes.
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Three of the four leaders in Box-Toppers player categories added to their point totals during the past week.
The only one who didn’t (Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies) had a good reason—he underwent surgery and is out for the season.
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.8 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 21.1 |
| 3 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 18.9 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.4 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 17.4 |
| 6 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 16.1 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.8 |
| 8 | Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | ana al | 15.7 |
| 9 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.0 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.7 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 21.1 |
| 2 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.4 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.8 |
| 5 | Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | ana al | 15.7 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.7 |
| 7 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 14.1 |
| 8 | Hughes, Phil 2272 | pi sp | min al | 13.1 |
| 9 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.7 |
| 10 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 12.4 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | chi al | 14.5 |
| 2 | Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 9.5 |
| 3 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 9.0 |
| 4 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 8.5 |
| 5 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh lf | tor al | 8.0 |
| 6 | Carter, Chris 2828 | dh | hou al | 8.0 |
| 7 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf | bos al | 8.0 |
| 8 | Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 7.5 |
| 9 | Murphy, David 2348 | rf | cle al | 6.5 |
| 10 | Colabello, Chris 3235 | 1b dh rf | min al | 6.2 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 23.8 |
| 2 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 18.9 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 17.4 |
| 4 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.0 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.8 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 12.7 |
| 7 | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 12.4 |
| 8 | Fister, Doug 2688 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.4 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | atl nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.0 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | col nl | 11.6 |
| 2 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.7 |
| 3 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 4 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 6.7 |
| 5 | Lucroy, Jonathan 2744 | ca | mil nl | 6.7 |
| 6 | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 6.5 |
| 7 | Morse, Michael 2020 | lf 1b | sf nl | 6.5 |
| 8 | Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf | fla nl | 6.5 |
| 9 | Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | atl nl | 6.2 |
| 10 | Howard, Ryan 2040 | 1b | phi nl | 6.2 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw added 1.7 Box-Toppers points during the past week and now has 23.8 to lead all players and all National League pitchers.
Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer added 1.0 Box-Toppers point during the past week and now has 21.1 to lead all American League pitchers.
Jose Abreu of the White Sox added 1.5 Box-Toppers points during the past week and now has 14.5 to lead all AL batters.
Tulowitzki, on the disabled list and out for the season, was unable to add to point total—he leads NL batters with 11.6 Box-Toppers points.
These four players have led these categories since the July 3 player rankings report. In that week, Kershaw (then with 14.4 Box-Toppers points) passed Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwight, who had 14.0 Box-Toppers points. Wainwright now has 15.0 points and ranks ninth among all players and fourth among NL pitchers. Scherzer (then with 14.4 Box-Toppers points) passed Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, who had 12.7 Box-Toppers points. Tanaka, who went on the disabled list in early July, still has 12.7 points and ranks ninth among AL pitchers.
Notable: Angels pitcher Garrett Richards, ranked eighth overall with 15.7 Box-Toppers points, tore his knee tendon this week and is out for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers and has the most Box-Toppers points among all Angels players.
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.
Reds pitcher Alfredo Simon is Wednesday’s Player of the Day, while Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his Box-Toppers points lead among American League pitchers.
Simon struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 4-1 win over the Cubs.
Scherzer, American League Player of the Day, added to his lead among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points and maintained his second-place spot in overall player rankings. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Scherzer struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 4-1 win over the Dodgers. He earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 16.1 for the season. He widens his lead over second-place AL pitcher Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees (12.7 Box-Toppers points). He ties Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw with 16.1 Box-Toppers points, but Kershaw maintains the overall player rankings lead on a tie-breaker—he has more points since the start of the 2013 season—37.8 vs. 34.2.
Scherzer is only 2.0 Box-Toppers points away from his 2013 total of 18.1, his best season, a year in which he led all AL players.
Robbie Grossman of the Astros is AL Batter of the Day. Grossman went 4-for-5, scored twice and drove in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Rangers.
Jayson Werth of the Nationals is National League Batter of the Day. Werth homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-2 win over the Orioles.
Notables: Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Tulowitzki homered twice in the 6-3 win over the Padres, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.6 for the season. He rejoins the overall top 10 after being bumped July 6 and is again the only batter on the list.
Tulowitzki also surpassed his highest Box-Toppers points total for a season with 11.6. His previous high was 11.5 during the 2011 season.
Chris Colabello of the Twins, who early in the season led all players in Box-Toppers points before slumping and being sent to the minors, earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday for the first time since his return to the Majors. Colabello (2-4 R 2BI in the 8-1 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.2 for the season. He ranks sixth among all AL batters. He last earned Player of the Game honors April 17.
Simon receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Scherzer receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Grossman and Werth each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Wednesday, click here.
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 709 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 6.2 | Reds | Alfredo Simon (W, 12-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| AL | 6.0 | Tigers | Max Scherzer (W, 11-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| 4.0 | Phillies | Roberto Hernandez (W, 4-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Yankees | Chase Whitley (W, 4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Red Sox | Koji Uehara (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Astros | Robbie Grossman RF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Nationals | Jayson Werth RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `Ddbacks | Josh Collmenter | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Joe Smith (S, 12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Greg Holland (S, 24) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Giants | Sergio Romo (H, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Rockies | Troy Tulowitzki SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Matt Holliday LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Mets | Dillon Gee (W, 4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | Twins | Chris Colabello 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Last year’s Box-Toppers points leaders in both leagues gained the top spots in this year’s player rankings this week, through the games of Thursday, July 3.
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 14.4 |
| 3 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 14.0 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 12.7 |
| 5 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.7 |
| 6 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.5 |
| 7 | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 10.8 |
| 9 | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | col nl | 10.6 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.1 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 14.4 |
| 2 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 12.7 |
| 3 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 10.8 |
| 4 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 9.7 |
| 5 | Richards, Garrett 3042 | pi sp | ana al | 9.7 |
| 6 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 9.4 |
| 7 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tb al | 9.4 |
| 8 | Hutchison, Drew 3038 | pi sp | tor al | 9.0 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 8.7 |
| 10 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 8.4 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Abreu, Jose 3308 | 1b | chi al | 9.5 |
| 2 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh lf | tor al | 8.0 |
| 3 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 7.5 |
| 4 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 6.5 |
| 5 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf | oak al | 6.5 |
| 6 | Aybar, Erick 2416 | ss | ana al | 6.0 |
| 7 | Hunter, Torii 1190 | rf | det al | 5.5 |
| 8 | Ramirez, Alexei 2537 | ss | chi al | 5.5 |
| 9 | Colabello, Chris 3235 | 1b dh rf | min al | 5.2 |
| 10 | Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 5.0 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 14.0 |
| 3 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 12.7 |
| 4 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.5 |
| 5 | Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 11.4 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.1 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.0 |
| 8 | Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 9 | Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 10 | Lohse, Kyle 1487 | pi sp | mil nl | 8.4 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | col nl | 10.6 |
| 2 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.7 |
| 3 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | chi nl | 5.5 |
| 4 | Morse, Michael 2020 | lf | sf nl | 5.5 |
| 5 | McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 6 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.7 |
| 7 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | nym nl | 4.5 |
| 8 | Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | rf | mil nl | 4.5 |
| 9 | Howard, Ryan 2040 | 1b | phi nl | 4.2 |
| 10 | Smith, Seth 2489 | lf rf | sd nl | 4.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw took the overall points lead (and National League lead) with 14.4, passing previous overall leader, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (14.0), who falls to third overall. Kershaw was last year’s overall leader with 21.7 points. (On Friday, Kershaw was NL Player of the Day and now has 16.1 Box-Toppers points.)
Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer rises to become the top American League player with 14.4 Box-Toppers points. He ranks second overall and passed last week’s AL leader, Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka (12.7), who now ranks fifth overall. Scherzer was last year’s AL points leader with 18.1.
Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies remains the leader among NL batters with 10.6 Box-Toppers points. Jose Abreu of the White Sox still leads among AL batters with 9.5 Box-Toppers points.
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.
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.