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Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.
Corbin pitched a one-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out eight and allowing one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Giants.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreDiamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins becomes the 21st player—and third batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday as he hit his 50th home run of the season.
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Red Sox pitcher Doug Fister is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Albert Pujols of the Angels passes Alex Rodriguez to take the lead in career Box-Toppers points among all batters (since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began). Plus, Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs extends his season Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters after earning Player of the Game honors.
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Athletics pitcher Daniel Mengden is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Also Thursday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Mengden pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, no walks and striking out six, in the 14-5 win over the Royals.
This was Mengden’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Mengden made his Major League debut June 11 and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,741st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin pitched three scoreless innings, allowing no runs, hits or walks, striking out four and earning the save, in the 7-3 win over the Dodgers.
National League Batter of the Day—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates hit two homers and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 15-2 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Evan Longoria of the Rays hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-5, driving in five runs, in the 7-6 win over the Orioles.
Rankings—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Cueto (CG 5H 2R BB 7K W in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 15.4 for the season, rising from ninth to eighth place. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.
Notable—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays became the 41st player (and seventh batter) with 10 or more Box-Toppers points in 2016 after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.
Martin (HR 1-3 R 4BI in the 7-2 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season. He ranks 35th among all players and fourth among AL batters.
This is Martin’s first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous best season was 2007 with the Dodgers, when he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points.
Also notable—David Ortiz of the Red Sox rises to 23rd place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995 when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Day honors Thursday.
Ortiz (HR 2B 3-4 R 3BI in the 7-5 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 144.9 career points. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 22nd-ranked player, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon (145.8). Ortiz also rises to seventh place among active players in career points, second among active batters, behind only Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.3). Ortiz also now rises to seventh among all batters in career points since 1995 and trails sixth-ranked batter Jim Thome (146.7) on the “all-time” list.
Ortiz has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 19th among AL batters and fourth among AL designated hitters. Ortiz has said he will retire at the end of the season.
Scoring—Mengden earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Corbin earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. McCutchen and Longoria 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.
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Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/15 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | OAK 14, KC 5 | Daniel Mengden (W,2-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| NL | 7.0 | ARI 7, LAD 3 | Patrick Corbin (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 6.0 | SF 6, STL 2 | Johnny Cueto (W,16-5) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | `CHW 2, CLE 1 | James Shields | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | PIT 15, PHI 2 | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | TB 7, BAL 6 | Evan Longoria, 3B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | BOS 7, NYY 5 | David Ortiz, DH | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TOR 7, LAA 2 | Russell Martin, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 5, CHC 4 | Scooter Gennett, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIN 5, DET 1 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 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 | +/- |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 | 28.2 | 79.4 | 98.8 | 2.6 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 10.5 | 15.5 | 32.0 | 53.0 | 5.5 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 7.0 | 17.5 | 48.2 | 53.9 | -3.5 |
| Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 7.0 | 11.5 | 42.9 | 144.9 | 2.5 |
| Longoria, Evan 2423 | 3b | tb al | 5.5 | 8.5 | 25.0 | 46.0 | 2.5 |
| Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp cp | ari nl | 3.7 | 9.1 | 32.5 | 32.5 | -1.7 |
| Shields, James 2157 | pi sp | chi al | 3.0 | 10.4 | 68.6 | 99.4 | -4.4 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 1.5 |
| Gennett, Scooter 3254 | 2b ph | mil nl | 2.5 | 4.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 0.5 |
| Mengden, Daniel 3741 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth place among American League pitchers in player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 20.1 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 17.1 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 17.0 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
Also Saturday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to retake the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after falling to the Pirates. Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) remains in second place behind Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (23.1), with whom he has traded leads every two or three days since Sept. 2. Arrieta’s lead is now safe at least until Kershaw’s next start later this week.
Player of the Day—Hamels struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and seven hits, in the 10-1 win over the Mariners.
Hamels earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season, rising to 17th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.
Hammels also rises to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. With his points Saturday, Hamels has 124.5 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Hamels now trails 33rd-ranked player Justin Verlander (124.6), who also passed Weaver and Sheffield on Friday.
National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out five, in the 6-0 win over the Giants.
American League Batter of the Day—Victor Martinez of the Tigers homered, doubled and drove in three runs, in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Royals.
National League Batter of the Day—Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 10-2 win over the Padres.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors Saturday in his start, preventing him from retaking the player rankings lead.
Kershaw (7IP 7H 3H 8K L in the 3-2 loss to the Pirates) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Player of the Game was Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano.
Had Kershaw won Player of the Game honors, he would have passed Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta for the Box-Toppers season points lead and it would have been the seventh lead change in September between Kershaw (22.7 Box-Toppers points) and Arrieta (23.1 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw has led NL pitchers the past four seasons in Box-Toppers points—with days and starts dwindling to only a few this season, his chances for a fifth straight season leading NL pitchers is diminishing.
Notable—Several other Player of the Game honorees from Saturday achieved notable Box-Toppers milestones:
Debut—Braves pitcher Ryan Weber made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Weber (7IP 2H R 5K ND in the 2-1 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Sept. 8 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,598th 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 Corbin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Martinez and Blackmon each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/19 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | Rangers | Cole Hamels (W,10-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | |
| NL | 7.0 | Dbacks | Patrick Corbin (W,6-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | Orioles | Wei-Yin Chen (W,10-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | `Braves | Ryan Weber | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Pirates | Francisco Liriano (W,11-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 4.1 | Yankees | Michael Pineda (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Tigers | Victor Martinez, DH | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `Angels | Andrew Heaney | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.1 | Cubs | Trevor Cahill (MR) (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Rockies | Charlie Blackmon, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Astros | Evan Gattis, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Reds | J.J. Hoover (MR) (H,18) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.2 | Angels | Garrett Richards (W,14-11) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 2.2 | White Sox | Carlos Rodon (W,8-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Jackie Bradley Jr., CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Bryce Harper, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
(Other duties have put us behind updating Box-Toppers. Playing catch up …)
Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox is Box-Toppers Player of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 15.
Also, Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 18.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.7 |
| 3 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 5 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 15.8 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 15.4 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.4 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.0 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 14.7 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 14.4 |
Player of the Day—Bradley hit two homers and three doubles, going 5-for-6, scoring five times and driving in seven runs, in the 22-10 win over the Mariners.
National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 8-4 win over the Braves.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Duffy of the Giants doubled twice, scored twice and drove in four runs, in the 12-6 win over the Nationals.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday, Aug. 15, because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox.
Notable—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander rose to 34th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Verlander (7IP 3H 0R 7K ND in the 4-2 win over the Astros) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 120.9 for his career. He passed two players on the “all-time” list (since record keeping began in 1995), Jered Weaver (120.4 Box-Toppers points) and Cole Hamels (120.8 points). Verlander trails 33rd-place player Gary Sheffield (124.1).
Verlander’s 120.9 Box-Toppers points ranks third among active AL pitchers, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (178.0 Box-Toppers points) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (158.7 points).
Verlander has 2.7 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Also notable—Chris Davis of the Orioles has the highest Box-Toppers season player ranking of all 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Davis (2HR 2-4 2R 3BI in the 4-3 win over the Athletics) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and third among AL batters.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors.
Scoring—Bradley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Corbin earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Duffy earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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
| 8/15 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Red Sox | Jackie Bradley Jr., RF | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 9.0 | `Tigers | Justin Verlander | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| NL | 8.2 | Dbacks | Patrick Corbin (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 7.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W,9-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 7.0 | Twins | Tyler Duffey (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | Pirates | Joe Blanton (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Rangers | Shin-Soo Choo, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Royals | Jarrod Dyson, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Giants | Matt Duffy, 3B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Brewers | Scooter Gennett, 2B | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Chris Davis, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Mark Reynolds, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dodgers | Yasiel Puig, RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Kevin Quackenbush (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Cubs | Addison Russell, SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Box-Toppers highest-ranked pitchers in each league for the season were selected Wednesday as 2013‘s Cy Young Award winners.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was chosen as National League Cy Young Award winner. He led all players in Box-Toppers points for the season with 21.7.
Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer was chosen as American League Cy Young Award winner. He led all AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points with 18.1. He ranked fifth among all players.
Voting by the Baseball Writers Association of America for the Cy Young Award for top pitcher coincided, generally, with Box-Toppers Player Rankings. There were some anomalies and snubs.
Five pitchers who ranked in the top 10 among pitchers in their league were completely left off all ballots. Among those who received no votes for Cy Young:
Closing pitchers were another anomaly. In Box-Toppers scoring, closing pitchers often rank lower in player rankings, as they are less likely than starters to be the player who most helps his team win the game—and thus earn Player of the Game honors and Box-Toppers points. So in the American League, Red Sox closer Koji Uehara ranked seventh among AL pitchers in voting but ranked 52nd in Box-Toppers points (with 6.0).
In the NL, Braves closer Craig Kimbrel finished fourth in voting and 17th in Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers (with 12.7).
Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. The player on the winning team with the highest Box-Toppers game score is Player of the Game and receives 1.0 Box-Toppers point. The Player of the Game with the highest overall Box-Toppers game score for all the games played that day is Player of the Day and earns a total of 2.0 Box-Toppers points. The top player in the opposite league receives a total of 1.7 Box-Toppers points. If both the day’s top overall player and top player in the opposite league are pitchers, then the top American League and top National League batter of the day receive a total of 1.5 Box-Toppers points each.
Here are the results of Cy Young Award voting in both leagues. Players are listed in order of their vote total. The far right columns show how many Box-Toppers points (BTP) they earned during the 2013 season and how each player ranked in Box-Toppers points among pitchers in their league.
| Cy Young vote | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AL | ||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Club | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank* |
| Max Scherzer | pi sp | Tigers | 28 | 1 | 1 | 203 | 18.1 | 1 | ||
| Yu Darvish | pi sp | Rangers | 19 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 93 | 16.0 | 7 | |
| Hisashi Iwakuma | pi sp | Mariners | 6 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 73 | 16.1 | 6 | |
| Anibal Sanchez | pi sp | Tigers | 1 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 46 | 17.1 | 2 |
| Chris Sale | pi sp | White Sox | 1 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 44 | 16.1 | 4 | |
| Bartolo Colon | pi sp | Athletics | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 25 | 13.1 | 10 | |
| Koji Uehara | pi cp | Red Sox | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6.0 | 52 | |||
| Felix Hernandez | pi sp | Mariners | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 14.8 | 8 | ||
| Matt Moore | pi sp | Rays | 2 | 4 | 16.1 | 5 | ||||
| Greg Holland | pi cp | Royals | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11.0 | 17 | |||
| James Shields | pi sp | Royals | 1 | 2 | 9.7 | 23 | ||||
| Notable AL snubs | ||||||||||
| Justin Masterson | pi sp | Indians | 0 | 16.4 | 3 | |||||
| Ubaldo Jimenez | pi sp | Indians | 0 | 14.5 | 9 | |||||
| NL | ||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Club | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | Points | BTP | Rank* |
| Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | Dodgers | 29 | 1 | 207 | 21.7 | 1 | |||
| Adam Wainwright | pi sp | Cardinals | 1 | 15 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 86 | 20.2 | 2 |
| Jose Fernandez | pi sp | Marlins | 9 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 62 | 19.0 | 4 | |
| Craig Kimbrel | pi cp | Braves | 4 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 39 | 12.7 | 17 | |
| Matt Harvey | pi sp | Mets | 1 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 39 | 15.0 | 10 | |
| Cliff Lee | pi sp | Phillies | 6 | 6 | 2 | 32 | 13.4 | 14 | ||
| Jordan Zimmerman | pi sp | Nationals | 6 | 3 | 21 | 14.7 | 11 | |||
| Zack Greinke | pi sp | Dodgers | 2 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 19.4 | 3 | ||
| Madison Bumgarner | pi sp | Giants | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15.7 | 8 | |||
| Francisco Liriano | pi sp | Pirates | 1 | 1 | 3 | 16.7 | 6 | |||
| Notable NL snubs | ||||||||||
| Patrick Corbin | pi sp | Diamondbacks | 0 | 17.4 | 5 | |||||
| Lance Lynn | pi sp | Cardinals | 0 | 16.1 | 7 | |||||
| Shelby Miller | pi sp | Cardinals | 0 | 15.4 | 9 |
* Rank among pitchers in the league (AL or NL) in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.
Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez is Thursday's Player of the Day. Gonzalez allowed only one unearned run over seven innings in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays.
Padres pitcher Robbie Erlin is National League Player of the Day. Erlin struck out seven over seven innings and picked up a no-decision (he left after the seventh with the game tied) in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Diamondbacks.
Jason Heyward of the Braves is NL Batter of the Day. Heyward homered and went 5-for-5 in the 7-1 win over the Phillies.
Yan Gomes of the Indians is American League Batter of the Day. Gomes homered and went 3-for-4 in the 6-5 win over the Indians.
Notable: Rays pitcher Alex Cobb has the most Box-Toppers points among Thursday's nine players who earned Player of the Game honors. Cobb (7IP 0R in 4-0 win vs. Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season, putting him in 54th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Coming Friday: Two pitchers in the top 10 of Box-Toppers player rankings are scheduled to make their final regular season start Friday:
Box-Toppers Weekly Reports update: The weekly Box-Toppers Team Power Rankings and Player Rankings reports, which usually come on Friday, will come on Monday this week, after the conclusion of the season's final games Sunday.
Gonzalez receives 2.0 Box-Toppers
points for being Player of the Day. Erlin receives 1.7 for NL Player
of the Day. Heyward and Gomes each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Thursday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 926 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 8.0 | Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Miguel Gonzalez (W, 11-8) | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Alex Cobb (W, 11-3) | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |||
| NL | 6.0 | `Padres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Robbie Erlin | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Braves | Jason Heyward CF | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Indians | Yan Gomes C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | David Lough RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Nathan (W, 6-2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 3.0 | `Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Brandon Kintzler (H, 25) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 1.0 | Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Santiago Casilla (W, 7-2) | 1.0 | 0 | 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.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw takes the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings Saturday after earning Player of the Day honors.
Kershaw pitched seven shutout innings and struck out 10 in the 4-0 win over the Padres. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 20.7 for the season, rising from third to first place in player rankings (see the top 10 list on the home page). Kershaw passes Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (19.2 Box-Toppers points), who had led since Wednesday.
Kershaw is the first player this season to 20.0 Box-Toppers points (last year, three players broke 20.0). This is the third straight season Kershaw has earned 20.0 or more points (2011: 26.1, 2012: 20.8). Kershaw also broke 100.0 Box-Toppers points for his career. Since his debut in 2008, Kershaw has earned 101.1 Box-Toppers points and ranks 56th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began).
This is the third time Kershaw has led in Box-Toppers player rankings this season. He led briefly in April and again from Aug. 17 to Sept. 6.
Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score of 12.0 Saturday, the same as Indians pitcher Scott Kazmir. Both Kershaw and Kazmir won their games, pitched seven innings and struck out 10. But Kershaw was given the nod as overall Player of the Day Saturday because he gave up fewer hits than Kazmir (three vs. four).
Kazmir is American League Player of the Day for his effort in the 4-1 win over the Astros. Kazmir earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for AL Player of the Day, giving him 11.1 for the season, putting him in 40th place overall.
Alerto Callaspo of the Athletics is AL Batter of the Day. Callaspo homered, drove in three runs and went 4-for-5 in the 9-1 win over the Twins.
David Wright of the Mets is National League Batter of the Day. Wright homered and went 2-for-3 in the 5-4 win over the Phillies.
Notables: Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday are among the top 50 in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season:
Coming Sunday: Two pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 are scheduled to start Sunday:
However, neither Greinke nor Corbin can catch the new leader Clayton Kershaw (20.7) Sunday, since the most they can earn is 2.0 Box-Toppers points. But both could put themselves in position to pass Kershaw if they have another start in the final week of the season.
Kershaw receives 2.0 Box-Toppers
points for being Player of the Day. Kazmir receives 1.7 for AL Player
of the Day. Callaspo and Wright each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Saturday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 921 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 12.0 | Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Clayton Kershaw (W, 15-9) | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | ||
| AL | 12.0 | Indians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Scott Kazmir (W, 9-9) | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 11.1 | Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Alex Cobb (W, 10-3) | 8.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 12 | |||
| 9.0 | Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ivan Nova (W, 9-5) | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |||
| 8.0 | Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A.J. Burnett (W, 9-11) | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 12 | |||
| 5.2 | `Tigers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rick Porcello | 6.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |||
| 5.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Matt Garza (W, 4-5) | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||
| BAT | 4.0 | Athletics | Alberto Callaspo 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4.0 | Angels | Collin Cowgill LF | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4.0 | Blue Jays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mark Buehrle (W, 12-9) | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 4.0 | Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pedro Strop (S, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 3.1 | Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lance Lynn (W, 14-10) | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | |||
| BAT | 2.0 | Mets | David Wright 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | Diamondbacks | Matt Davidson 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 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.
Box-Toppers has a new leader in player rankings with only one week left in the season.
Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright takes the lead in the penultimate (and also next-to-last) weekly look at Box-Toppers player rankings. Wainwright has 19.2 Box-Toppers points and passed last week's leader, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (19.0).
Wainwright picked up 2.5 Box-Toppers points over the past week, rising from sixth to first in overall Box-Toppers player rankings. The race for the leading player in Box-Toppers points is tight going into the final week of the season, with eight players within 2.5 points of Wainwright.
Wainwright's outright lead and lead among National League pitchers is slim. Three other NL pitchers could pass him in the season's final week—Dodgers Clayton Kershaw or Zack Greinke or Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks. (Jose Fernandez of the Marlins was not scheduled to pitch again this season.)
National League players hold down the top five spots in player rankings. The top American League player is Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer, who this week passed previous AL leader Miguel Cabrera, also of the Tigers. Scherzer is in sixth place overall in player rankings with 17.1 Box-Toppers points and Cabrera with 16.9, has fallen from fifth to eight place overall.
Scherzer passed previous AL pitching leader Justin Masterson of the Indians this week. And Scherzer's top spot going into the final week is also not secure, with four other AL pitchers within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of him.
Cabrera maintains his dominance among AL batters. He is the sole batter among the top 10 players and leads second-place AL batter, Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (12.9), by 4.0 Box-Toppers points.
Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks continues to lead among NL batters with 13.7 Box-Toppers points. His nearest competitors among NL batters are both 2.2 points behind him—Freddie Freeman of the Braves and Michael Cuddyer of the Rockies both have 11.5 Box-Toppers points.
Previous player rankings report from Sept. 12.
What are those numbers after players' names?
How does Box-Toppers scoring work?
As of Thursday, Sept. 19
| 2013 LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 19.2 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 19.0 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.4 |
| 5 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.4 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 17.1 |
| 7 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 17.1 |
| 8 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 16.9 |
| 9 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 16.7 |
| 10 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 17.1 |
| 2 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 17.1 |
| 3 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 16.1 |
| 5 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 16.1 |
| 6 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 15.0 |
| 7 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 14.4 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.1 |
| 9 | Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | cle al | 12.8 |
| 10 | Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 12.7 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 16.9 |
| 2 | Soriano, Alfonso 1445 | lf | nyy al | 12.9 |
| 3 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 12.7 |
| 4 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | nyy al | 12.5 |
| 5 | Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 12.4 |
| 6 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | rf dh lf ph | cle al | 9.5 |
| 7 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 9.5 |
| 8 | Butler, Billy 2330 | dh | kc al | 9.0 |
| 9 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh | tor al | 8.7 |
| 10 | Fielder, Prince 2029 | 1b | det al | 8.5 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 19.2 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 19.0 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 4 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.4 |
| 5 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.4 |
| 6 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 16.7 |
| 7 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.7 |
| 8 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| 10 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 14.1 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 13.7 |
| 2 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 11.5 |
| 3 | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | rf | col nl | 11.5 |
| 4 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | lf | col nl | 11.0 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 6 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 3b | dc nl | 9.2 |
| 7 | Venable, Will 2621 | rf cf | sd nl | 9.0 |
| 8 | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | 2b | cin nl | 7.5 |
| 9 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 2b | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 10 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | nym nl | 7.5 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season
Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark is Tuesday's Player of the Day, while Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Roark pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up only two hits in the 4-0 win over the Braves.
Sanchez rises to seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings (see the updated top 10 list on the home page) after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Sanchez (6.1IP 10K ND in 6-2 win vs. Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.1 for the season. He and teammate Max Scherzer both have 17.1 Box-Toppers points, but Scherzer holds the lead among AL players since he has more Box-Toppers points over the past two seasons (34.1 vs. 23.8).
Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey is American League Player of the Day. Dickey pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 2-0 win over the Yankees.
Matt Holliday of the Cardinals is National League Batter of the Day. Holliday homered, drove in three runs and went 4-for-4 in the 11-4 win over the Rockies.
Alexi Casilla of the Orioles is AL Batter of the Day. Casilla scored the go-ahead run as a pinch runner in the ninth inning in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox.
Notable: Two top pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings were pitted against each other Tuesday, but neither picked up Box-Toppers points. Zack Greinke of the Dodgers and Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks, both in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10, were both in position to take over the points lead, but neither earned Player of the Game honors. Corbin (17.4 Box-Toppers points) left the game in the third inning after giving up six runs. His team lost. Greinke (18.4 Box-Toppers points), though he pitched six innings and struck out five, had a lower Box-Toppers game score than eventual Player of the Game Matt Kemp (4.0 vs. 0.0). Greinke remains in third place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Corbin remains in fifth.
Coming Wednesday: Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright has a chance to take the lead in Box-Toppers points. Wainwright is starting pitcher against the Rockies Wednesday. Wainwright has 17.7 Box-Toppers points and is in fourth place in player rankings. He trails points leader Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (19.0) by 1.3 Box-Toppers points. If he earns Player of the Day or NL Player of the Day honors, he would pass Fernandez.
Roark receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Dickey receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Holliday and Casilla each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Tuesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 917 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 10.0 | Nationals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tanner Roark (W, 7-0) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| AL | 9.0 | Blue Jays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | R.A. Dickey (W, 13-12) | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 7.0 | Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mike Leake (W, 14-6) | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |||
| BAT | 5.0 | Cardinals | Matt Holliday LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 5.0 | Phillies | Chase Utley 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 5.0 | Giants | Angel Pagan CF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4.1 | `Tigers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Anibal Sanchez | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | |||
| 4.0 | Dodgers | Matt Kemp CF | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Alexi Ogando (W, 7-4) | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 4.0 | Athletics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Grant Balfour (W, 1-3) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 3.0 | Padres | Jedd Gyorko 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Carlos Gomez CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | `Nationals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dan Haren | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||
| 3.0 | `White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nate Jones (H, 13) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 3.0 | Indians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Chris Perez (S, 25) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| BAT | 1.0 | Orioles | Alexi Casilla PR, DH | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 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.
Padres pitcher Andrew Cashner is Monday's Player of the Day. Cashner pitched a one-hit, complete game shutout, striking out seven in the 2-0 win over the Pirates. He gave up the one hit in the seventh inning.
White Sox pitcher Erik Johnson is American League Player of the Day. Johnson pitched six shutout innings and struck out eight in the 12-1 win over the Twins. This was Johnson's Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,284th player to make his Box-Toppers debut since record keeping began in 1995.
Caleb Gindl of the Brewers is National League Batter of the Day. Gindl homered, drove in three runs, scored three runs and went 3-for-3 in the 6-1 win over the Cubs. This was Gindl's Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,285th player to make his Box-Toppers debut since record keeping began in 1995.
No American League batters earned Player of the Game honors Monday, so there is no AL Batter of the Day.
Notable: Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee rises to 20th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Lee (8IP 14K W in 12-2 win vs. Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season.
Coming Tuesday: Two of Box-Toppers top 10 pitchers face off. Zack Greinke of the Dodgers faces Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks. Greinke has 18.4 Box-Toppers points and is in third place in Box-Toppers standings (see the top 10 list on the home page), while Corbin has 17.4 and is in fifth. Both trail points leader Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (19.0) and either could pass him to take the points lead after Tuesday's game.
Cashner receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Johnson receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Gindl receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.
All of Monday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 916 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 15.0 | Padres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Andrew Cashner (W, 10-8) | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 10.0 | Phillies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cliff Lee (W, 14-6) | 8.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 14 | |||
| AL | 8.0 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Erik Johnson (W, 1-2) | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 7.0 | Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Alex Cobb (W, 9-3) | 8.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | |||
| 7.0 | Tigers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rick Porcello (W, 13-8) | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |||
| BAT | 6.0 | Brewers | Caleb Gindl LF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6.0 | Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | James Shields (W, 12-9) | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | |||
| 4.0 | Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | C.J. Wilson (W, 17-6) | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 4.0 | Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnny Cueto (W, 5-2) | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 2.0 | Rockies | Charlie Blackmon CF, LF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.1 | Diamondbacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Trevor Cahill (W, 7-10) | 5.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
With only two weeks left in the season, Box-Toppers has a new leader atop player standings—rookie Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez.
Fernandez, who has 19.0 Box-Toppers points this season, passed last week's leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 18.7 points and is in second place.
But Fernandez' days atop player rankings may be numbered. He made what was expected to be his final start of the season this week, in part to protect his young arm and also because the Marlins are not in the playoff hunt.
The race for the not-at-all coveted top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings is a tight one. Any one of the top 10 players, who are within 2.9 Box-Toppers points of the lead, could rise and claim it. Nine of the top 10 players are pitchers and could have two or three starts left in the season, giving them plenty of opportunity to pick up 3.0 or more Box-Toppers points to claim the top spot.
The race for top National League pitcher is extremely tight, with Fernandez currently narrowly leading the way. The top four players are all National League pitchers and are only 1.6 points apart. So, for example, if Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin were to earn at least NL Player of the Day honors in his next start, he would earn 1.7 points and have 19.1 for the season, enough to pass Fernandez.
The top American League player remains Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. The third baseman—the sole batter among the top 10—has 16.9 Box-Toppers points and is in fifth place overall. Though other AL pitchers could challenge him for overall top AL player in Box-Toppers points, his lead among AL batters seems secure—he leads second-place player Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (12.9) by 4.0 Box-Toppers points.
The top American League pitcher remains Justin Masterson of the Indians with 16.4 Box-Toppers points. He falls from seventh to eight place overall. Masterson continues to lead AL pitchers despite not scoring a Box-Toppers point since July 27.
Still, he has maintained a narrow lead among AL pitchers of 1.3 points or less since then. In other words, Masterson is not exactly on fire and no other AL pitchers seem eager to steal his crown from him. (Masterson has been injured recently but hopes to return to pitching before the end of the season.)
Masterson's lead among AL pitchers does appear shaky, with five other pitchers within 1.5 Box-Toppers points of catching him with two weeks left.
Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks continues to lead among NL batters with 12.7 Box-Toppers points. There are three players who trail him by fewer than 2.0 Box-Toppers points. Freddie Freeman of the Braves and Michael Cuddyer of the Rockies, both of whom have 11.5 Box-Toppers points and both of whom have been hot recently, seem to have the best shot of catching Goldschmidt.
Now: Would any of these leaders in Box-Toppers points categories have any shot at all of winning actual coveted postseason awards?
For example, if Fernandez keeps his lead among NL pitchers, would he be worthy of winning the NL Cy Young Award? Worthy? Yes. Will he get it? Unlikely, since he comes from a non-playoff team and an ignored media market. It will probably be Kershaw. However, Fernandez should receive more-than-serious consideration for NL Rookie of the Year.
Will Justin Masterson win the AL Cy Young if he keeps his lead? No, probably not. Though Box-Toppers credits him with being most responsible for bringing his teams wins more often, I don't think he is viewed as The One for the Indians. Plus, the Tigers have overshadowed the Indians in the AL Central and their pitchers, especially Max Scherzer who has 19 wins, have been the media favorites.
Will Cabrera win AL most valuable player? Yes. He should.
Will Goldschmidt win NL MVP? No. Again, he's playing for a non-playoff team. Freddie Freeman of the Braves, in second in Box-Toppers NL batters list, would be a good candidate, but I think writers will probably pick an "intangible" guy, a leader in the clubhouse, a "spark plug" on the field, a light-hitting catcher or something. Or perhaps even someone like Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers. Though the rookie is a media juggernaut, he earned his 1.5 and only Box-Toppers points of the season on June 4.
Previous player rankings report from Sept. 5.
As of Thursday, Sept. 12
| 2013 LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 19.0 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.4 |
| 5 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 16.9 |
| 6 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 16.7 |
| 7 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 16.7 |
| 8 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 16.1 |
| 10 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 16.1 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 16.1 |
| 3 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 16.1 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 15.4 |
| 5 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 15.0 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.1 |
| 8 | Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 12.7 |
| 9 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 |
| 10 | Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp | bos al | 11.1 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 16.9 |
| 2 | Soriano, Alfonso 1445 | lf | nyy al | 12.9 |
| 3 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 12.7 |
| 4 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | nyy al | 12.5 |
| 5 | Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 12.4 |
| 6 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | rf dh lf ph | cle al | 9.5 |
| 7 | Butler, Billy 2330 | dh | kc al | 9.0 |
| 8 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh | tor al | 8.7 |
| 9 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 8.5 |
| 10 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 8.4 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 19.0 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 3 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.4 |
| 5 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 16.7 |
| 6 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 16.7 |
| 7 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 15.4 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.7 |
| 10 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 14.1 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 12.7 |
| 2 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 11.5 |
| 3 | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | rf | col nl | 11.5 |
| 4 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | lf | col nl | 11.0 |
| 5 | Venable, Will 2621 | rf cf | sd nl | 9.0 |
| 6 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf | dc nl | 8.4 |
| 7 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 3b | dc nl | 7.7 |
| 8 | Phillips, Brandon 1691 | 2b | cin nl | 7.5 |
| 9 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 2b | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 10 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | nym nl | 7.5 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season
Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers weekly player standings as of Thursday, Aug. 22:
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw takes over the top spot in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Kershaw has 18.7 Box-Toppers points as of Thursday, Aug. 22, taking over the lead from Indians pitcher Justin Masterson (16.4 points), who has fallen to third place behind Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin (17.4).
Masterson continues to lead American League players in Box-Toppers points.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers remains the leader among American League batters with 14.4 Box-Toppers points. However, Cabrera fell from ninth to 10th place overall this week.
Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks leads among NL batters with 11.7 Box-Toppers points. Goldschmidt is in 23rd place among all players.
Thirty-two players have accumulated 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points so far this season. Only five are batters—Cabrera, Goldschmidt, Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.0), Chris Davis of the Orioles (12.7) and Alfonso Soriano of the Yankees (10.9).
Previous player rankings report from Aug. 15.
What are those numbers after players' names?
How does Box-Toppers scoring work?
As of Thursday, Aug. 22
| 2013 LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.4 |
| 3 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.0 |
| 5 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 6 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 15.0 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.7 |
| 9 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 14.7 |
| 10 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 14.4 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 2 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 3 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 15.0 |
| 4 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 14.4 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 13.7 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.1 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 |
| 9 | Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 10.7 |
| 10 | Kuroda, Hiroki 2401 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.4 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 14.4 |
| 2 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 12.7 |
| 3 | Soriano, Alfonso 1445 | lf | nyy al | 10.9 |
| 4 | Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 9.2 |
| 5 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | nyy al | 8.5 |
| 6 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 8.4 |
| 7 | Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 8.0 |
| 8 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | rf dh ph | cle al | 8.0 |
| 9 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 7.5 |
| 10 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh | tor al | 7.2 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.7 |
| 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 17.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 16.0 |
| 4 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| 5 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.7 |
| 6 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 14.7 |
| 7 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.7 |
| 8 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | cin nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| 10 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.1 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 11.7 |
| 2 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | lf | col nl | 11.0 |
| 3 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 9.5 |
| 4 | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | rf | col nl | 8.5 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf | dc nl | 8.4 |
| 6 | Venable, Will 2621 | rf cf | sd nl | 8.0 |
| 7 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 2b | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 8 | McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | atl nl | 7.0 |
| 9 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca | sf nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 3b | dc nl | 6.7 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season
Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers results for Tuesday, Aug. 20:
Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin, Tuesday's Player of the Day, rises to second place in Box-Toppers points among players for the season.
Corbin pitched a complete game, striking out 10 and giving up only two runs in the 5-2 win over the Reds. Corbin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 17.4 for the season, moving from fourth to second in Box-Toppers player season rankings.
Indians pitcher Danny Salazar is American League Player of the Day. Salazar struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings in the 4-1, 14-inning win over the Angels. Salazar left the game with the Indians trailing 1-0 and so was not eligible for the win.
Robinson Cano of the Yankees is AL Batter of the Day. Cano drove in four runs and went 4-for-4 in the 8-4 win over the Blue Jays.
Sean Halton of the Brewers is National League Batter of the Day. Halton went 2-for-3 and drove in three runs in the 6-3 win over the Cardinals. This was Halton's Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,263rd player to debut since Box-Toppers record-keeping began in 1995.
Corbin receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Salazar receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Cano and Halton each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Tuesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 820 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 9.0 | Diamondbacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Patrick Corbin (W, 13-3) | 9.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 7.0 | Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A.J. Burnett (W, 6-8) | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||
| AL | 5.1 | `Indians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Danny Salazar | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | Yankees | Robinson Cano 2B | 4 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 5.0 | Nationals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dan Haren (W, 8-11) | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |||
| 4.0 | Twins | Justin Morneau 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4.0 | Rays | Matt Joyce LF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Nathan (S, 37) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Nick Franklin 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| BAT | 3.0 | Brewers | Sean Halton 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | John Danks (W, 3-10) | 8.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 2.0 | Rockies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rafael Betancourt (S, 16) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 2.0 | Dodgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Kenley Jansen (S, 20) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 2.0 | Mets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | LaTroy Hawkins (S, 5) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Giants | Roger Kieschnick LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Yankees | Jayson Nix 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 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.
Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers weekly player standings as of Thursday, Aug. 15:
Indians pitcher Justin Masterson continues to lead all players in Box-Toppers points as of Thursday, Aug. 15, with 16.4 points.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, in second place overall, leads all National League players with 15.7 points. He passes previous NL leader, Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin (15.4), who is now in third overall.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers remains the leader among American League batters with 13.4 Box-Toppers points. However, Cabrera fell from seventh to ninth place overall this week.
Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks now leads among NL batters with 11.7 Box-Toppers points. Goldschmidt passed previous leader, Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.0). Goldschmidt is in 20th place among all players.
Thirty players have accumulated 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points so far this season. Only four are batters—Cabrera, Goldschmidt, Gonzalez and Chris Davis of the Orioles (11.2).
Previous player rankings report from Aug. 8.
What are those numbers after players' names?
How does Box-Toppers scoring work?
As of Thursday, Aug. 15
| 2013 LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.7 |
| 3 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 4 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 5 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 15.0 |
| 6 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| 7 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 15.0 |
| 8 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 13.7 |
| 9 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 13.4 |
| 10 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 2 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 3 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 15.0 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 13.7 |
| 5 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.1 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 12.7 |
| 7 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 12.7 |
| 8 | Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 10.7 |
| 9 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 10.7 |
| 10 | Kuroda, Hiroki 2401 | pi sp | nyy al | 10.4 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 13.4 |
| 2 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 11.2 |
| 3 | Soriano, Alfonso 1445 | lf | nyy al | 9.4 |
| 4 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 8.4 |
| 5 | Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 8.2 |
| 6 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | rf dh ph | cle al | 8.0 |
| 7 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 7.5 |
| 8 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh | tor al | 7.2 |
| 9 | Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | bal al | 7.0 |
| 10 | Kipnis, Jason 2933 | 2b | cle al | 7.0 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 15.7 |
| 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 3 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| 4 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 15.0 |
| 5 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| 6 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.1 |
| 7 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.7 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.7 |
| 9 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.7 |
| 10 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.7 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 11.7 |
| 2 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | lf | col nl | 11.0 |
| 3 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 9.5 |
| 4 | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | rf | col nl | 8.5 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf | dc nl | 8.4 |
| 6 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 2b | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 7 | McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | atl nl | 7.0 |
| 8 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca | sf nl | 7.0 |
| 9 | Venable, Will 2621 | rf | sd nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 3b | dc nl | 6.7 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season
Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers weekly player standings as of Thursday, Aug. 8:
Indians pitcher Justin Masterson continues to lead all players in Box-Toppers points as of Thursday, Aug. 8, with 16.4 points.
Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin, in second place overall, leads all National League players with 15.4 points.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, in seventh place overall with 13.4 points, is leader among American League batters.
Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies leads among NL batters with 11.0 points. He is in 20th place overall.
Twenty-six players (22 of them pitchers) have accumulated 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points so far this season.
Previous player rankings report from Aug. 1.
As of Thursday, Aug. 8
| 2013 LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 3 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 4 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| 5 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.7 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 13.7 |
| 7 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 13.4 |
| 8 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| 9 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.1 |
| 10 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 13.0 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 2 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 13.7 |
| 4 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 13.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 11.7 |
| 6 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 11.4 |
| 7 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp | bos al | 10.1 |
| 9 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | det al | 10.0 |
| 10 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 10.0 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 13.4 |
| 2 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 11.2 |
| 3 | Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 8.2 |
| 4 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | rf dh ph | cle al | 8.0 |
| 5 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 7.4 |
| 6 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh | tor al | 7.2 |
| 7 | Kipnis, Jason 2933 | 2b | cle al | 7.0 |
| 8 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | nyy al | 7.0 |
| 9 | Butler, Billy 2330 | dh | kc al | 6.5 |
| 10 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 6.5 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 2 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 15.0 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.7 |
| 4 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| 5 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.1 |
| 6 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 13.0 |
| 7 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.7 |
| 8 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.7 |
| 9 | Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.7 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.7 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | lf | col nl | 11.0 |
| 2 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 10.7 |
| 3 | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | rf | col nl | 8.5 |
| 4 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf | dc nl | 8.4 |
| 5 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 8.0 |
| 6 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 2b | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 7 | McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | atl nl | 7.0 |
| 8 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca | sf nl | 7.0 |
| 9 | Venable, Will 2621 | rf | sd nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 3b | dc nl | 6.7 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season
Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers weekly player standings as of Thursday, Aug. 1:
Indians pitcher Justin Masterson continues to lead all players in Box-Toppers points as of Thursday, Aug. 1, with 16.4 points.
Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin, in second place overall, leads all National League players with 15.4 points.
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, in fifth place overall with 13.4 points, is leader among American League batters.
Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies leads among NL batters with 11.0 points.
Twenty-four players (20 of them pitchers) have accumulated 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points so far this season.
Previous player rankings report from July 25.
What are those numbers after players' names?
How does Box-Toppers scoring work?
As of Thursday, Aug. 1
| 2013 LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 3 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.7 |
| 5 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 13.4 |
| 6 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| 7 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 13.0 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
| 9 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.7 |
| 10 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 2 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 3 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 13.0 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 11.7 |
| 5 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 11.4 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 7 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp | bos al | 10.1 |
| 9 | Kuroda, Hiroki 2401 | pi sp | nyy al | 9.4 |
| 10 | Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | bal al | 9.0 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 13.4 |
| 2 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 11.2 |
| 3 | Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 8.2 |
| 4 | Raburn, Ryan 2340 | rf dh ph | cle al | 8.0 |
| 5 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh | tor al | 7.2 |
| 6 | Kipnis, Jason 2933 | 2b | cle al | 7.0 |
| 7 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | nyy al | 7.0 |
| 8 | Butler, Billy 2330 | dh | kc al | 6.5 |
| 9 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 6.5 |
| 10 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | lf | oak al | 6.0 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.7 |
| 3 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| 4 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
| 5 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.7 |
| 6 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 11.7 |
| 8 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 11.4 |
| 9 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 11.0 |
| 10 | Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.7 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | lf | col nl | 11.0 |
| 2 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 10.7 |
| 3 | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | rf | col nl | 8.5 |
| 4 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf | dc nl | 8.4 |
| 5 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 8.0 |
| 6 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 2b | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 7 | McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | atl nl | 7.0 |
| 8 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca | sf nl | 7.0 |
| 9 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 3b | dc nl | 6.7 |
| 10 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | nym nl | 6.5 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season
Note: Box-Toppers is playing catch-up after time away. These are Box-Toppers weekly player standings as of Thursday, July 25:
Indians pitcher Justin Masterson leads all players in Box-Toppers points as of Thursday, July 25, with 15.4 points.
Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin leads all National League players. He has 15.4 points, same as Masterson, but Masterson holds the lead because he has more points than Corbin over the past two seasons (23.1 vs. 21.4).
Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, in fifth place overall with 13.4 points, is leader among American League batters.
Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies leads among NL batters with 11.0 points. He is in 13th place overall.
Twenty-one players (17 of them pitchers) have accumulated 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points so far this season.
Previous player rankings report from July 18.
What are those numbers after players' names?
How does Box-Toppers scoring work?
As of Thursday, July 25
| 2013 LEADERS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OVERALL LEADERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 15.4 |
| 2 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 3 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 4 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.7 |
| 5 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 13.4 |
| 6 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| 7 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
| 8 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.7 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 10 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 11.4 |
| AL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Masterson, Justin 2462 | pi sp | cle al | 15.4 |
| 2 | Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | tb al | 15.1 |
| 3 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 11.4 |
| 4 | Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 11.0 |
| 5 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | det al | 10.7 |
| 6 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.7 |
| 7 | Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048 | pi sp | sea al | 10.7 |
| 8 | Buchholz, Clay 2363 | pi sp | bos al | 10.1 |
| 9 | Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 9.0 |
| 10 | Wilson, C.J. 2074 | pi sp | ana al | 8.1 |
| AL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 3b | det al | 13.4 |
| 2 | Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 10.2 |
| 3 | Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 8.2 |
| 4 | Kipnis, Jason 2933 | 2b | cle al | 7.0 |
| 5 | Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | nyy al | 7.0 |
| 6 | Butler, Billy 2330 | dh | kc al | 6.5 |
| 7 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | oak al | 6.5 |
| 8 | Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 5.7 |
| 9 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | 1b dh | tor al | 5.7 |
| 10 | Johnson, Kelly 2018 | lf | tb al | 5.5 |
| NL PITCHERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Corbin, Patrick 3027 | pi sp | ari nl | 15.4 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 13.7 |
| 3 | Miller, Shelby 3134 | pi sp | stl nl | 13.4 |
| 4 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 13.0 |
| 5 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.7 |
| 6 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 7 | Lynn, Lance 2992 | pi sp | stl nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Zimmermann, Jordan 2612 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.7 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 10 | Lee, Cliff 1798 | pi sp | phi nl | 9.4 |
| NL BATTERS | POS | TEAM | BTP | |
| 1 | Gonzalez, Carlos 2460 | lf | col nl | 11.0 |
| 2 | Goldschmidt, Paul 2935 | 1b | ari nl | 10.7 |
| 3 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf | dc nl | 8.4 |
| 4 | Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 2b | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 5 | McCann, Brian 2179 | ca | atl nl | 7.0 |
| 6 | Posey, Buster 2745 | ca | sf nl | 7.0 |
| 7 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 3b | dc nl | 6.7 |
| 8 | Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 6.5 |
| 9 | Cuddyer, Michael 1826 | rf | col nl | 6.5 |
| 10 | Alvarez, Pedro 2817 | 3b | pit nl | 6.2 |
BTP: Box-Toppers points for 2013 season
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.