Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Saturday, July 15, rises to 20th in ‘all-time’ career Box-Toppers points

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.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 15:  

	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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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.

All-time leaders

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	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

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

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

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rangers' Cole Hamels tops players for Friday, July 7; Dbacks' Greinke rises to 10th in career Box-Toppers points

Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 7:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.1
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1
4	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	12.4
5	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	12.0
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	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Plus, three players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors:

• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintained his spot in second place.
• Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rose from seventh to sixth place.
• Greinke rose from ninth to seventh place.

Player of the Day—Hamels pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 10-0 win over the Angels.

Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 147.0 for his career, rising to 24th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, 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). Hamels now trails 23rd-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3).

Passing Cabrera, Hamels now ranks eighth among active players in career points, trailing the seventh-ranked player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (148.7).

All-time leaders

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	203.8
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	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	Jon Lester	pi sp	chi nl	149.2

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

Hamels has 3.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 6-3 win over the Reds.

Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising from ninth to seventh place in season player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers.

Greinke also rises to 10th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when player tracking began. He now has 167.5 career Box-Toppers points and with his points Friday, passes two players on the “all-time” list—Johan Santana (166.6) and Manny Ramirez (167.2). Greinke now trails ninth-place player, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (169.7).

American League Batter of the Day—George Springer of the Astros hit two homers, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring four times and driving in five runs, in the 12-2 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Jesus Aguilar of the Brewers hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 9-4 win over the Yankees. Aguilar also went 3-for-4 and drove in seven runs.

Rankings—In addition to Greinke, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (7.2IP 6H 4R BB 10K ND in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.0 for the season, maintaining his second-place spot in season player rankings, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.1). Scherzer now has 148.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 22nd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails 21st-ranked player Chipper Jones (149.0).
• Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (7IP 9H 2R BB 11K W in the 11-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season, rising from seventh to sixth in season player rankings, third among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (13.1) and Ervin Santana of the Twins (12.4).

Debut—Twins pitcher Trevor Hildenberger made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Hildenberger (2.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 9-6 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut June 23 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,846th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Greinke earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Springer and Aguilar 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

7/7	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.2	TEX 10, LAA 0	Cole Hamels (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-		7.2	3	0	0	1	6
BAT	9.0	HOU 12, TOR 2	George Springer (CF)	4	4	4	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	9.0	ARI 6, CIN 3	Zack Greinke (W, 11-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	7
BAT	8.0	MIL 9, NYY 4	Jesus Aguilar (1B)	4	2	3	7		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	SEA 7, OAK 2	James Paxton (W, 7-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	2	2	3	9
	6.0	CHC 6, PIT 1	Kris Bryant (3B)	5	3	4	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.1	MIA 6, SF 1	Dan Straily (W, 7-4)	-	-	-	-		8.1	4	1	1	0	3
	5.0	COL 12, CHW 4	Nolan Arenado (3B)	5	2	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	SD 4, PHI 3	Austin Hedges (C)	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	CLE 11, DET 2	Carlos Carrasco (W, 10-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	9	2	2	1	11
	3.1	MIN 9, BAL 6	Trevor Hildenberger (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-		2.1	2	0	0	0	3
	2.2	`WSH 5, ATL 4 (F/10)	Max Scherzer	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	4	4	1	10
	2.0	NYM 6, STL 5	Jose Reyes (SS)	3	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	LAD 4, KC 1	Kenta Maeda (W, 7-4)	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	2	5
	1.0	BOS 8, TB 3	Dustin Pedroia (2B)	5	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0	42.7	120.9	148.7	-8.7
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	11.4	23.8	52.5	57.9	-1.0
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	11.4	21.1	90.4	167.5	1.7
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	fla nl	8.7	15.7	26.4	26.4	1.7
Maeda, Kenta 3609	pi sp	lad nl	7.0	17.0	17.0	17.0	-3.0
Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	7.0	11.4	18.1	18.1	2.6
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	5.5	16.2	26.2	26.2	-5.2
Springer, George 3337	rf dh cf	hou al	5.0	11.5	15.5	15.5	-1.5
Hedges, Austin 3790	ca	sd nl	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	3.0	20.8	72.0	147.0	-14.8
Bryant, Kris 3465	3b lf	chi nl	2.5	13.0	21.5	21.5	-8.0
Reyes, Jose 1759	ss 3b	nym nl	2.5	4.5	13.5	32.5	0.5
Aguilar, Jesus 3787	1b	mil nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Pedroia, Dustin 2320	2b	bos al	1.0	6.0	19.0	38.5	-4.0
Hildenberger, Trevor 3846	pi mr	min al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Angels' Nolasco tops players for Saturday, July 1; Red Sox' Sale rises to lead AL pitchers in '17 Box-Toppers points

Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 1:  

	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	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1
4	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	12.4
5	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4
6	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
7	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	10.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	9.4
10	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings—first among American League pitchers—after earning Player of the Game honors. Two others who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday also rise in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco and Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke.

Player of the Game—Nolasco pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 4-0 win over the Mariners.

Nolasco had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +13.0, tied with two others who earned Player of the Game Saturday—Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill and Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale. But Nolasco beat them both on a tiebreaker since he had more innings pitched (9 vs. 7 vs. 7).

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 8-0 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins went 5-for-5, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 10-5 win over the Royals.

National League Batter of the Day—Orlando Arcia of the Brewers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 8-4 win over the Marlins.

Rankings—Three players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings:

• Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (7IP 4H 0R BB 11K W in the 7-1 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He rises from fourth to third place in season player rankings, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (18.1) and Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (14.0). Sale also rises to first place among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Ervin Santana of the Twins (12.4).
• Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (7IP 4H R BB 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.4 for the season. He rises from eighth to fifth place in season player rankings and third among AL pitchers. He is the seventh player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the fourth straight season Carrasco has earned 10 or more points.
• Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke (7IP 3H 2R 0BB 8K in the 6-2 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He rises to eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings, fifth among NL pitchers. He also now has 165.8 career Box-Toppers points, 12th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 11th-place player Johan Santana (166.6).

Streaks—Two players extended streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned their first Player of the Game honors Saturday:

• Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (6.2IP 2H 2R 0BB 6K W in the 10–4 win over the White Sox) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Phillies and has 145.0 career points, 27th-most among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 26th-ranked player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (145.7). Hamels’ best season was 2016 with the Rangers when he had 17.8 Box-Toppers points, second among AL pitchers.
• Asdrubal Cabrera of the Mets (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Phillies) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2007 with the Indians and has 43.7 career points, 21st among active NL batters. His best season was 2011 with the Indians, when he had 14.7 points, first among AL batters. Interestingly, his second-best season is not within 10 Box-Toppers points of that—he had 4.5 points in both 2008 and 2009 with the Indians. He had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 with the Mets.

Scoring—Nolasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hill earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Rosario and Arcia 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

7/1	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	LAA 4, SEA 0	Ricky Nolasco (W, 4-9)	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	7
NL	13.0	LAD 8, SD 0	Rich Hill (W, 5-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	11
	13.0	BOS 7, TOR 1	Chris Sale (W, 11-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	11
	10.0	STL 2, WSH 1	Michael Wacha (W, 5-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	1	9
	8.0	ARI 6, COL 2	Zack Greinke (W, 10-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	0	8
	7.0	CLE 4, DET 1	Carlos Carrasco (W, 9-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	7
	6.2	TEX 10, CHW 4	Cole Hamels (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-		6.2	2	2	2	0	6
BAT	4.0	MIN 10, KC 5	Eddie Rosario (LF)	5	3	5	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	HOU 7, NYY 6	Yuli Gurriel (1B)	4	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	TB 10, BAL 3	Logan Morrison (1B)	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	KC 11, MIN 6	Brandon Moss (DH)	4	3	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	DET 7, CLE 4	Justin Wilson (S, 8)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	ATL 4, OAK 3	Jim Johnson (S, 18)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.1	`SF 2, PIT 1 (F/11)	George Kontos	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	MIL 8, MIA 4	Orlando Arcia (SS)	4	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	NYM 7, PHI 6	Asdrubal Cabrera (2B)	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.1	CIN 5, CHC 3	Raisel Iglesias (S, 15)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	0

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	13.1	26.5	94.5	99.5	-0.3
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	10.4	22.8	51.5	56.9	-2.0
Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7	19.4	88.7	165.8	0.0
Rosario, Eddie 3542	lf	min al	5.2	8.2	9.7	9.7	2.2
Hill, Rich 2215	pi sp	lad nl	4.7	19.1	23.1	42.8	-9.7
Morrison, Logan 2794	1b	tb al	4.2	6.2	16.2	21.7	2.2
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	4.0	15.4	32.1	91.2	-7.4
Johnson, Jim 2417	pi cp	atl nl	4.0	8.0	19.0	25.7	0.0
Wilson, Justin 3140	pi cp	det al	4.0	5.0	10.0	10.0	3.0
Gurriel, Yuli 3796	1b	hou al	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7
Moss, Brandon 2520	dh rf lf 1b	kc al	2.0	6.0	27.0	29.0	-2.0
Iglesias, Raisel 3467	pi cp	cin nl	2.0	5.0	7.7	7.7	-1.0
Wacha, Michael 3276	pi sp	stl nl	2.0	4.0	21.7	21.7	0.0
Arcia, Orlando 3717	ss	mil nl	1.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	0.5
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	1.0	18.8	70.0	145.0	-16.8
Kontos, George 3106	pi mr cp	sf nl	1.0	4.0	8.7	8.7	-2.0
Cabrera, Asdrubal 2362	2b ss	nym nl	1.0	3.0	13.0	43.7	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Marlins' Dan Straily tops players for Friday, June 16; Scherzer, 2nd in player rankings, earns Player of the Game

Marlins pitcher Dan Straily is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 16:  

	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	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	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	8.0
8	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	8.0
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.7
10	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	7.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earned Player of the Game honors. Plus, two other players rose into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season—Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rose to seventh and Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel rose to 10th.

Player of the Day—Straily struck out eight over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Braves.

American League Player of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-4 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul DeJong of the Cardinals homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-2 win over the Orioles.

This was DeJong’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. DeJong made his Major League debut May 28 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,827th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Melky Cabrera.

Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Scherzer (8IP 4H R 2BB 10K W in the 7-2 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He trails overall leader and NL pitching leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (14.4 Box-Toppers points).

Scherzer also rises to 26th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday he has 144.7 career points, passing Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 25th-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9).

Passing Hamels, Scherzer now ranks ninth among active players in career Box-Toppers points, seventh among active pitchers. He trails the eighth-ranked active player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9) and the sixth-ranked active pitcher Jon Lester of the Cubs (147.2).

Scherzer narrowly missed out on earning overall Player of the Day honors Friday. His Box-Toppers game score of 10.0 was topped by Straily’s game score of 10.1.

Rankings—Two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood (8IP 4H R 0BB 5K W in the 3-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to seventh place in player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers.
• Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv in the 2-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to 10th in player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers and most among all closing pitchers.

Notable—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers now has 112.3 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Beltre (1-2 2R 2BI in the 10-4 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season, and ranks 53rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 52nd-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Beltre ranks 16th among all batters since 1995 and third among all active batters in career points, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (184.3) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9).

Also notable—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday.

LeMahieu (2B 4-4 2R 2BI in the 10-8 win over the Giants) was also Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day Thursday in the 10-9 win over the Giants. LeMahieu has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, all earned in the past two days.

Scoring—Straily earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cabrera earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. DeJong earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

6/16	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.1	MIA 5, ATL 0	Dan Straily (W,5-4)	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	0	0	0	8
	10.0	WSH 7, NYM 2	Max Scherzer (W,8-4)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	2	10
	7.0	LAD 3, CIN 1	Alex Wood (W,7-0)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	0	5
AL	6.0	CHW 11, TOR 4	Melky Cabrera, LF	4	3	2	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	STL 11, BAL 2	Paul DeJong, 2B	4	3	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	KC 3, LAA 1	Ian Kennedy (W,1-6)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	1	4
	4.1	CLE 8, MIN 1	Carlos Carrasco (W,7-3)	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	1	1	3	7
	4.0	COL 10, SF 8	DJ LeMahieu, 2B	4	2	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	DET 13, TB 4	Justin Upton, LF	4	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.1	`ARI 5, PHI 4	Archie Bradley (H,11)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	CHC 9, PIT 5	Willson Contreras, C	3	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TEX 10, SEA 4	Adrian Beltre, 3B	2	2	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	OAK 7, NYY 6	Santiago Casilla (S,11)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	3
	2.0	BOS 2, HOU 1	Craig Kimbrel (S,19)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	MIL 6, SD 5 (F/10)	Manny Pina, C	4	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	13.0	38.7	116.9	144.7	-12.7
Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	8.0	9.0	27.4	27.4	7.0
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	7.7	15.7	60.4	66.4	-0.3
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	7.4	19.8	48.5	53.9	-5.0
Straily, Dan 3080	pi sp	fla nl	6.0	13.0	23.7	23.7	-1.0
Cabrera, Melky 2143	lf	chi al	4.7	8.7	18.7	35.2	0.7
Upton, Justin 2411	lf	det al	4.0	10.7	36.9	55.1	-2.7
Contreras, Willson 3776	ca ph	chi nl	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
Pina, Manny 3769	ca	mil nl	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
Kennedy, Ian 2723	pi sp	kc al	3.0	13.0	44.1	69.5	-7.0
LeMahieu, DJ 3091	2b	col nl	2.5	10.5	23.5	23.5	-5.5
Dejong, Paul 3827	2b	stl nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	tex al	1.0	10.5	44.4	112.3	-8.5
Casilla, Santiago 2301	pi cp	oak al	1.0	4.0	19.7	24.7	-2.0
Bradley, Archie 3438	pi mr sp	ari nl	1.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Tuesday, June 6; Reds' Gennett hits 4 homers

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 6:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.7
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
5	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	8.0
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.7
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	7.4
8	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	7.4
9	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	7.0
10	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	7.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. 

Plus, Scooter Gennett of the Reds on Tuesday became the 17th player in Major League history to hit four home runs in a game and earned what seems to the be the second-highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter since player tracking began in 1995. However, that game score was not high enough to be the highest of Tuesday’s Players of the Game. And it also was not high enough to be the highest game score by a batter this season.

Player of the Day—Scherzer struck out 14 over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks, in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season, maintaining his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (12.7). Scherzer also ranks second among NL pitchers behind Kershaw.

Scherzer also rises to 27th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he now has 143.7 career points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jake Peavy (141.8) and Tigers pitcher and former teammate Justin Verlander (142.0). Scherzer now trails 26th-ranked player, Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0).

Scherzer rises to 10th in career points among active players, eighth among active pitchers.

It took Scherzer three fewer seasons than Verlander to rack up a comparable career Box-Toppers point total. Verlander was the 2,112nd player to debut in Box-Toppers, earning his first Player of the Game honor April 8, 2006. Scherzer was the 2,588th player to debut on May 26, 2009. Both Scherzer and Verlander have led their league’s pitchers in Box-Toppers points in past seasons. Verlander led American League pitchers in 2011 (24.4) and 2012 (24.8). Scherzer led AL pitchers in 2013 with the Tigers (18.1) and National League pitchers in 2016 (25.7).

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel struck out five over 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one walk, in the 5-4 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—Scooter Gennett of the Reds hit four home runs—only the 17th time in history that feat has been accomplished—in the 13-1 win over the Cardinals. Gennett went 5-for-5 and drove in 10 runs.

Gennett had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +14.0, which appears to be the second-highest game score for a batter in the 23 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping. The only batter to have a higher score happened earlier this season—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals on April 30 had a Box-Toppers game score of +15.0 (3HR 2B 6-6 5R 10BI in the 23-5 win over the Mets).

While Rendon earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points on April 30 for having the highest Box-Toppers game score of the day and earning overall Player of the Day honors, Gennett only earned 1.5 Box-Toppers points for his high game score on Tuesday. Gennett’s +14.0 game score was second-best of Tuesday, behind Scherzer’s +15.0. That meant Gennett could not earn overall Player of the Day nor could he earn overall NL Player of the Day (worth 1.7). Tuesday’s AL Player of the Day Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points even though his Box-Toppers game score was far lower than Gennett’s (+5.1). Gennett easily beat out the next-highest NL batter who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday, Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies, who had a game score of +6.0.

Batters have hit four home runs in a game 17 times in Major League history, including five times during the Box-Toppers era (since 1995). Gennett’s Box-Toppers game of +14.0 is the highest of all four-home-run hitters in the Box-Toppers era. The other four-home run games during the Box-Toppers era:

• On May 2, 2002, Mike Cameron of the Mariners (4HR 4-5 4R 4BI in the 15-4 win over the White Sox) had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0.
• On May 23, 2002, Shawn Green of the Dodgers (4HR 2B 6-6 6R 7BI in the 16-3 win over the Brewers) had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, apparently now the third-highest game score by a batter in the Box-Toppers era.
• On Sept. 25, 2002, Carlos Delgado of the Blue Jays (4HR 4-4 4R 6BI in the 10-8 win over the Devil Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score of +10.0.
• On May 8, 2012, Josh Hamilton of the Rangers (4HR 2B 5-5 4R 8BI in the 10-3 win over the Orioles) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.

Gennett became the 14th player in Major League history to have a game with 10 runs batted in. That’s a club that’s even rarer than the four-home run club. During the Box-Toppers era (since 1995), there have been four other games in which a player has had 10 RBIs:

• On May 10, 1999, Nomar Garciaparra of the Red Sox (3HR 3-4 3R 10BI in the 12-4 win over the Mariners) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.
• On April 26, 2005, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (3HR 4-5 3R 10BI in the 12-4 win over the Angels) had a Box-Toppers game score of +12.0.
• On Aug. 21, 2007, Garret Anderson of the Angels (2HR 2-2B 4-6 3R 10BI in the 18-9 win over the Yankees) had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0.
• On April 30, 2017, Rendon had his 10 RBI game in which he had a +15.0 game score, apparently the highest for a batter in the Box-Toppers era.

While Gennett’s Box-Toppers game score is the second-highest for a batter this season, it is only the 14th-highest for a player this season. The highest score of +18.0 was by Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg on May 27 (7IP 3H 0R BB 15K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres). Scherzer’s +15.0 game score Tuesday is the 11th-highest of the season. Scherzer also has the 12th-highest score of the season (+14.2 on May 26).

National League Batter of the Day—Robinson Cano of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Twins.

Rankings—Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray rises from eighth to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Ray (6.2IP 3H R 2BB 11K W in the 10-2 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Kershaw (12.7) and Scherzer (12.0).

Streak—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Tuesday.

Gonzalez (HR 2-2 4R 2BI in the 11-3 win over the Indians) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Athletics and has 59.7 career points, 12th among active NL batters, fifth among active NL outfielders. He has three seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. His best season was 2015 with the Rockies when he had 11.5 points, first among NL batters. In 2016, he had 5.5 points.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kimbrel earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Gennett and Cano 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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Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

6/6	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	15.0	WSH 2, LAD 1	Max Scherzer (W,7-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	0	2	14
BAT	14.0	CIN 13, STL 1	Scooter Gennett, LF	5	4	5	10		-	-	-	-	-	-
	10.2	ARI 10, SD 2	Robbie Ray (W,6-3)	-	-	-	-		6.2	3	1	1	2	11
	6.0	COL 11, CLE 3	Carlos Gonzalez, RF	2	4	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	PHI 3, ATL 1	Aaron Nola (W,3-3)	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	1	1	6
AL	5.1	BOS 5, NYY 4	Craig Kimbrel (S,17)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	1	5
BAT	5.0	SEA 12, MIN 3	Robinson Cano, 2B	3	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.2	MIL 5, SF 2	Chase Anderson (W,5-1)	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	0	0	1	4
	4.0	KC 9, HOU 7	Mike Moustakas, DH	5	2	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	CHC 10, MIA 2	Anthony Rizzo, 1B	5	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 6, PIT 5 (F/10)	Jonathan Schoop, 2B	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAA 5, DET 3	Kole Calhoun, RF	2	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	`CHW 4, TB 2	Jose Quintana	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	1	1	4	7
	2.1	`OAK 4, TOR 1	Ryan Madson (H,9)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	1	2
	2.0	TEX 10, NYM 8	Nomar Mazara, RF	5	1	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0	37.7	115.9	143.7	-13.7
Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	8.0	14.7	18.7	18.7	1.3
Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	6.7	14.7	59.4	65.4	-1.3
Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.0	15.4	40.2	40.2	-5.4
Anderson, Chase 3328	pi sp	mil nl	4.7	11.7	20.7	20.7	-2.3
Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	chi nl	3.5	6.5	30.5	30.5	0.5
Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	3.0	11.0	40.5	78.4	-5.0
Mazara, Nomar 3614	rf	tex al	3.0	10.0	10.0	10.0	-4.0
Schoop, Jonathan 3307	2b	bal al	3.0	7.5	12.5	12.5	-1.5
Gennett, Scooter 3254	2b lf	cin nl	2.5	5.0	14.0	14.0	0.0
Madson, Ryan 1841	pi cp mr	oak al	2.0	5.0	5.0	25.7	-1.0
Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	1.0	7.7	9.7	9.7	-5.7
Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	rf	col nl	1.0	6.5	39.7	59.7	-4.5
Calhoun, Kole 3279	rf	ana al	1.0	6.0	16.7	16.7	-4.0
Moustakas, Mike 2967	dh 3b	kc al	1.0	2.0	21.2	23.2	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?