Blue Jays' Kendrys Morales tops players for Friday, May 5; Dbacks' Goldschmidt tops NL players

Kendrys Morales of the Blue Jays is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Morales hit two homers and doubled, going 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 8-4 win over the Rays.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 5:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	6.7
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	6.7
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	6.0
4	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
5	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	5.0
6	Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp	pit nl	5.0
7	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	5.0
8	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	5.0
9	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	5.0
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 6-3 win over the Rockies.

Goldschmidt earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.7 points for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Goldschmidt ranks 19th among all players and second among NL batters, behind Bryce Harper of the Nationals (4.0 Box-Toppers points).

Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Friday because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Kendrys Morales and the overall NL Player of the Day was NL batter Paul Goldschmidt.

Streaks—Three players extended streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after all three earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Joe Mauer of the Twins (HR 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Red Sox) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 14 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2004 with the Twins and has 71.6 career points, eighth among active AL batters. His best season was 2008 with the Twins when he had 9.5 points, eighth among AL batters. In 2016, he had 1.5 points with the Twins.
• Royals pitcher Jason Hammel (6IP 3H R 2BB 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Indians) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Rays and has 60.2 career points, 21st among active AL pitchers. His best season was 2016 with the Cubs, when he had 13.0 Box-Toppers points, 13th among NL pitchers.
• Brian McCann of the Astros (HR 2-4 R 4BI in the 7-6, 10-inning win over the Angels) has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2006 with the Braves and has 59.4 career points, first among active catchers and fifth among all catchers since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. His best season was 2009 with the Braves, when he had 8.5 points, first among NL catchers. In 2016, he had 3.2 points with the Yankees.

Scoring—Morales earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Goldschmidt earns 1.7 points for being NL Player 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 

5/5	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	TOR 8, TB 4	Kendrys Morales, DH	4	3	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	7.0	ARI 6, COL 3	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	3	2	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	STL 10, ATL 0	Lance Lynn (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	2	6
	5.0	CIN 13, SF 3	Billy Hamilton, CF	4	4	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	KC 3, CLE 1	Jason Hammel (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	2	6
	5.0	BAL 4, CHW 2	Gabriel Ynoa (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	0	0	0	5
	5.0	PIT 4, MIL 0	Wade LeBlanc (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	0	0	0	4
	4.1	`WSH 4, PHI 2	Enny Romero (H,2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	LAD 8, SD 2	Cody Bellinger, 1B	5	2	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	DET 7, OAK 2	Michael Fulmer (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		8.0	8	2	1	2	9
	4.0	`NYY 3, CHC 2	Michael Pineda	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	2	1	6
	3.0	HOU 7, LAA 6 (F/10)	Brian McCann, C	4	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	NYM 8, MIA 7	T.J. Rivera, 1B	4	1	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIN 4, BOS 3	Joe Mauer, 1B	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	`TEX 3, SEA 1 (F/13)	Tony Barnette	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	0	0	1	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	+/-
Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	1b	ari nl	3.7	8.2	39.6	43.6	-0.8
Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	stl nl	3.7	3.7	59.6	59.6	3.7
Pineda, Michael 2841	pi sp	nyy al	3.0	9.0	25.4	37.1	-3.0
Fulmer, Michael 3640	pi sp	det al	2.0	14.7	14.7	14.7	-10.7
Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	tor al	2.0	10.5	25.2	41.2	-6.5
LeBlanc, Wade 2669	pi cp mr sp	pit nl	2.0	5.0	5.0	12.0	-1.0
Bellinger, Cody 3781	lf 1b	lad nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Hammel, Jason 2235	pi sp	kc al	1.0	14.0	45.1	60.2	-12.0
McCann, Brian 2179	ca	hou al	1.0	4.2	30.2	59.4	-2.2
Hamilton, Billy 3287	cf	cin nl	1.0	3.0	9.5	9.5	-1.0
Barnette, Tony 3670	pi mr	tex al	1.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	-1.0
Mauer, Joe 1869	1b	min al	1.0	2.5	24.0	71.6	-0.5
Rivera, T.J. 3710	1b	nym nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Romero, Enny 3726	pi mr	dc nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Ynoa, Gabriel 3743	pi mr	bal al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mariners' Iwakuma tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 3; Nationals' Scherzer edges closer to Kershaw's lead

Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 3:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	14.5
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	12.4
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
10	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, ranked second among players in Box-Toppers points this season, got within striking distance of overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Iwakuma pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing five hits and no walks, in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox.

National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing three runs, four hits and one walk, in the 8-3 win over the Diamondbacks.

Scherzer earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 18.7 for the season, maintaining second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. With his points Wednesday, he now has the chance to pass overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points) on his next start. 

Scherzer’s 1.3-point gap behind Kershaw is the closest any player has been to the leader since May 22, when Kershaw had 10.0 Box-Toppers points and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta trailed him in second place with 8.7 (Arrieta now has 10.7 points, 11th among all players). Kershaw has led all players since May 7, but last earned Box-Toppers points on June 20 before going on the disabled list June 27. On Wednesday, he was retroactively placed on the 60-day disabled list, eligible to return Aug. 27.

Scherzer also now has 124.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Wednesday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 36th-ranked player, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver (125.1).

American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins hit two doubles and tripled, going 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-5 win over the Indians.

This was Mauer’s first Player of the Game honor in 2016 and he has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons, all with the Twins. He earned his first points in 2004 and has 70.6 career points, 11th among active AL batters. His best season was 2008 when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL batters. In 2015, he had 2.5 points.

National League Batter of the Day—Yangervis Solarte of the Padres homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Brewers.

Notable—Besides Scherzer, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday:

• Albert Pujols of the Angels (HR 2B 3-5 2R 3BI in the 8-6 win over the Athletics) now has 181.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranked sixth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began (see updated list of the overall top 20 players in career points). He now trails fifth-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0), by only 0.7 points. Pujols has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, 10th among AL batters.
• Cubs pitcher John Lackey (7IP 7H 3R 0BB 8K ND in the 5-4 win over the Marlins) rises to 40th place in career Box-Toppers points (118.2) among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes two players on the “all-time” list, Barry Zito (117.4) and Carlos Delgado (117.7) and now trails 39th-ranked player Cliff Lee (119.1). Lackey also becomes the 19th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points—he has 10.4 and ranks 14th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.

Streak—Ryan Howard has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons—all with the Phillies—after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season Wednesday.

Howard (HR 3-4 R BI in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Giants) earned his first points in 2005 and has 97.7 career points, second among active NL batters, trailing Matt Holliday of the Cardinals (97.8) by 0.1 point. Howard’s best season was 2009 when he had 15.4 points, third among NL batters. In 2015, he had 5.5 points.

Scoring—Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Scherzer earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Mauer and Solarte each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/3	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.1	SEA 3, BOS 1	Hisashi Iwakuma (W,12-7)	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	0	0	0	7
NL	8.0	WSH 8, ARI 3	Max Scherzer (W,12-6)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	3	3	1	11
	8.0	TOR 3, HOU 1	Marco Estrada (W,7-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	0	7
	8.0	TB 12, KC 0	Jake Odorizzi (W,6-5)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	2	6
	6.1	NYY 9, NYM 5	Luis Severino (W,1-6)	-	-	-	-		4.1	1	1	0	1	5
BAT	5.0	MIN 13, CLE 5	Joe Mauer, 1B	5	2	4	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	SD 12, MIL 3	Yangervis Solarte, 3B	5	4	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	COL 12, LAD 2	Nolan Arenado, 3B	3	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.1	DET 2, CHW 1	Shane Greene (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	LAA 8, OAK 6	Albert Pujols, DH	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ATL 8, PIT 4	Ender Inciarte, CF	4	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	BAL 3, TEX 2	Kevin Gausman (W,3-8)	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	2	2	1	7
	2.0	`CHC 5, MIA 4	John Lackey	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	3	3	0	8
	1.0	PHI 5, SF 4 (12)	Ryan Howard, 1B	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	STL 5, CIN 4	Brandon Moss, 1B	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

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

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7	39.7	104.3	124.7	-2.3
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	10.4	20.1	39.8	118.2	0.7
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	7.0	15.0	39.1	39.1	-1.0
Pujols, Albert 1438	dh 1b	ana al	7.0	14.0	44.0	181.3	0.0
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	6.5	15.0	16.5	16.5	-2.0
Gausman, Kevin 3191	pi sp	bal al	5.4	11.1	18.8	18.8	-0.3
Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	4.7	13.4	24.4	24.4	-4.0
Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	4.0	17.1	52.2	52.2	-9.1
Solarte, Yangervis 3304	3b	sd nl	3.0	8.0	9.0	9.0	-2.0
Greene, Shane 3381	pi sp	det al	3.0	6.0	13.0	13.0	0.0
Moss, Brandon 2520	rf lf 1b	stl nl	2.5	7.5	23.5	25.5	-2.5
Mauer, Joe 1869	1b	min al	1.5	4.0	26.0	70.6	-1.0
Howard, Ryan 2040	1b	phi nl	1.0	6.5	31.4	97.7	-4.5
Inciarte, Ender 3360	cf	atl nl	1.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	-2.0
Severino, Luis 3567	pi mr sp	nyy al	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 11; Harvey, Greinke rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 18th in player rankings.

Also Tuesday, two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings:

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 11.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	17.4
2	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	16.1
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	16.0
4	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	15.8
5	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	15.4
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	15.4
7	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	15.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	15.0
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	14.4
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	14.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

• Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to sixth place with 15.4 Box-Toppers points.
• Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to eighth place with 15.0 Box-Toppers points.

Plus, Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins, with his first Player of the Game honor of the season, has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete game five-hitter, allowing one run and striking out 12, in the 3-1 win over the Astros.

Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season. He is the 24th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 18th among all players, ninth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Jedd Gyorko of the Padres homered and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 3-2 win over the Rangers.

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

• Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to sixth place with 15.4 Box-Toppers points. Harvey (8IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 4-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Jacob deGrom of the Mets (17.4) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0).
• Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to eighth place with 15.0 Box-Toppers points. Greinke (6IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 5-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 point and ranks fifth among NL pitchers. Greinke also now has 140.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 20th place player, Jim Thome (146.7).

Notable—There were five players who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday who now have more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season. In addition to Bumgarner, Harvey and Greinke, the other two are:

• Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (8IP 4H 2R 8K ND in the 5-4, 16-inning win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
• Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker (6IP 5H 2R 6K ND in the 6-5, 10-inning win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 25th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 20th among all players, 10th among AL pitchers.

Streak—Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins has now earned Box-Toppers points for 15 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on Tuesday.

Suzuki (1-2 R BI in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He earned his first points in 2001 with the Mariners. His best season was 2007 with the Mariners, when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL outfielders. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Yankees. He has 51.7 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks sixth among active NL outfielders.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gyorko and Mauer each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/11	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W,13-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	1	1	0	12
AL	13.0	White Sox	Carlos Rodon (W,5-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	11
	8.0	Mets	Matt Harvey (W,11-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	0	4
	8.0	`Indians	Carlos Carrasco	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	2	2	0	8
	6.0	Dbacks	Jeremy Hellickson (W,8-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	7	1	0	0	6
	6.0	Rays	Erasmo Ramirez (W,9-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	0	4
	6.0	Royals	Yordano Ventura (W,7-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	6	8
	5.0	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W,12-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	0	0	1	6
	4.0	Cardinals	Trevor Rosenthal (S,34)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	3.0	Padres	Jedd Gyorko, 2B	4	1	2	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Blue Jays	Drew Hutchison (W,11-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	2	6
	2.0	`Mariners	Taijuan Walker	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	2	1	6
	1.0	Cubs	Anthony Rizzo, 1B	3	0	2	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	1.0	Twins	Joe Mauer, 1B	3	1	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Marlins	Ichiro Suzuki, RF	2	1	1	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Pirates' Locke tops players for Saturday, July 4; Tigers' Price rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Tigers pitcher David Price rose to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Joe Mauer of the Twins earned a Box-Toppers point for his 12th straight season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 4.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
2	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	13.4
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	12.1
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	12.0
5	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
6	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	11.4
7	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	11.4
8	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	10.7
9	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	10.7
10	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	9.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Locke pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 1-0 win over the Indians.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10, in the 3-2 win over the Rays. Pineda did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because after he exited, the Rays tied the game 2-2.

American League Batter of the Day—C.J. Cron of the Angels homered and went 3-for-4, driving in six runs, in the 13-0 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit two home runs, including a grand slam and drove in six total runs, in the 7-2 win over the Marlins.

Rankings—Tigers pitcher David Price rose to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Price (7IP 8H R 7K W in the 8-3 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.1 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (13.4).

Streak—Joe Mauer of the Twins has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Mauer (HR 4-5 2R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Mauer earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2004 with the Twins. His best season was 2008 with the Twins, when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL batters. In 2014, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points.

Mauer has 67.6 career Box-Toppers points, fourth-most among active AL first basemen. Mauer spent most of his career as a regular catcher and if he were considered a catcher in ranking his career points, he would finish ahead of the current active AL catcher in career points, Brian McCann of the Yankees (50.7 Box-Toppers points).

Notable—Dodgers pitcher Zack Grienke now has 134.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Grienke (7IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) maintains his spot in 23rd place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He now has 9.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, sixth among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Cliff Pennington of the Diamondbacks earned Player of the Game honors Saturday for the second straight day. Pennington (PH 1-1 R BI in the 7-3 win over the Rockies) was also Player of the Game in the Diamondback’s win Friday.

Scoring—Locke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Pineda earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Cron and Bryant each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	Pirates	Jeff Locke (W, 5-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	0	6
AL	11.0	`Yankees	Michael Pineda	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	10
	9.2	`White Sox	Jeff Samardzija	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	3	1	1	2	9
	9.0	Red Sox	Clay Buchholz (W, 7-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	6	1	1	0	8
	7.0	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W, 7-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	0	4
BAT	6.0	Angels	C.J. Cron DH	4	1	3	6	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	6.0	Cubs	Kris Bryant 3B	4	2	2	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	`Nationals	Stephen Strasburg	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	1	0	0	2	3
	3.0	Twins	Joe Mauer 1B	5	2	4	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Braves	Cameron Maybin CF	5	3	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Tigers	David Price (W, 8-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	1	1	1	7
	2.0	Brewers	Adam Lind 1B	3	2	2	1	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Dbacks	Cliff Pennington PH	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Athletics	Kendall Graveman (W, 6-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	1
	1.0	Cardinals	Seth Maness (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		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.

Reds' Mike Leake (6.2IP 0R 2H 6K) tops players for Saturday, Aug. 23

Reds pitcher Mike Leake is Saturday’s Player of the Day. Leake pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 1-0 win over the Braves.

Athletics pitcher Jon Lester is American League Player of the Day and rises to 14th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. Lester struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Angels. Lester left the mound with the game tied, 1-1, so did not pick up the win, but earned a no-decision. Lester earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.7 for the season. He ranks eighth among AL pitchers.

Adrian Gonzalez of the Dodgers is National League Batter of the Day. Gonzalez homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 7-4 win over the Mets.

Joe Mauer of the Twins is AL Batter of the Day. Mauer doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-4 win over the Tigers.

Notable: Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmermann rose to 25th place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Zimmermann (8IP 8K W in the 6-2 win over the Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 10th among NL pitchers.

Leake receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Lester receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Gonzalez and Mauer 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.

Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed, click here.

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. Players earn Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

823	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.2	Reds	Mike Leake (W, 10-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	2	0	0	3	6
BAT	6.0	Dodgers	Adrian Gonzalez 1B	3	2	2	5	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	6.0	`Athletics	Jon Lester	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	7
	6.0	`Mariners	Yoervis Medina	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	5
	5.1	Cubs	Justin Grimm (W, 4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.1	0	0	0	1	3
	5.0	Pirates	Pedro Alvarez 1B	3	2	2	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Nationals	Jordan Zimmermann (W, 9-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	7	2	2	0	8
	5.0	`Indians	Danny Salazar	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	2	1	2	7
BAT	4.0	Twins	Joe Mauer DH	3	2	2	3	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.1	`Dbacks	Vidal Nuno	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	2	2	2	2	4
	3.0	`Rockies	Nick Masset	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Yankees	Martin Prado 2B	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Royals	Jeremy Guthrie (W, 10-10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	1	1	2
	2.0	Cardinals	Seth Maness (W, 5-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Tigers	Eugenio Suarez SS	4	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Blue Jays	Jose Reyes SS	5	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Red Sox' Jon Lester (8IP 1H 0R 15K) tops players for Saturday, May 3

Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester is Saturday’s Player of the Day. Lester pitched eight scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and striking out 15 in the 6-3 win over the Athletics.

Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto is National League Player of the Day. Cueto struck out 10 over eight innings in the 6-2 win over the Brewers.

Joe Mauer of the Twins is American League Batter of the Day. Mauer hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4, driving in four, in the 6-1 win over the Orioles.

Dee Gordon of the Dodgers is NL Batter of the Day. Gordon went 5-for-6 and drove in two runs in the 9-7, 11-inning win over the Marlins.

Lester receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Cueto receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Mauer and Gordon 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.

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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

503	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	20.0	Red Sox	Jon Lester (W, 3-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	1	0	0	2	15
NL	10.0	Reds	Johnny Cueto (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	2	2	1	10
	9.0	Tigers	Drew Smyly (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	2	6
	9.0	Dbacks	Brandon McCarthy (W, 1-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	6
	8.1	Indians	Justin Masterson (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	4	0	0	1	6
	6.1	`Cubs	Jake Arrieta	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	0	0	2	7
	6.0	Phillies	A.J. Burnett (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	2	7
BAT	5.0	Twins	Joe Mauer 1B	4	2	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.1	Mariners	Fernando Rodney (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	Dodgers	Dee Gordon 2B	6	2	5	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Charlie Culberson PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Howie Kendrick 2B	5	2	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Jacoby Ellsbury CF	4	2	3	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Pirates	Jordy Mercer PH	1	0	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Giants	Sergio Romo (S, 9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Tigers' Miguel Cabrera, Reds' Brandon Phillips among leaders in All-Star voting and Box-Toppers standings

Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers and Brandon Phillips of the Reds are among players who are leaders both in fan All-Star voting and Box-Toppers standings.

In fact, Box-Toppers standings roughly coincide with about half of the players currently leading in All-Star voting.

Major League Baseball released All-Star vote standings for the National League on June 9 and released American League standings on June 3. The current leaders by league and by position are listed in the far right columns in the chart below. Note that five of the players currently leading in All-Star voting also rank first in their position in the league in Box-Toppers points. Three others rank second.

Overall, it's either a very good showing by fans or a decent affirmation of Box-Toppers' worth as a measure of player performance. Or it could be that we're all wrong.

Fans and Box-Toppers generally agree on these players: 

• AL 1B: Chris Davis of the Orioles.
• AL 2B: Robinson Cano of the Yankees. 
• AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers. 
• AL CA: Joe Mauer of the Twins. (Mauer ranks second among AL catchers in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, but leads among AL catchers when both the 2012 and 2013 seasons are combined.)  
• AL OF: Mike Trout of the Angels. (Trout ranks seventh among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season, but leads among AL outfielders over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.) 
• AL DH: David Oritz of the Red Sox. 
• NL 1B: Brandon Phillips of the Reds. 
• NL CA: Buster Posey of the Giants. (Posey is second to Brian McCann of the Braves in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season and the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons, but it is a pretty close race.) 
• NL OF: Bryce Harper of the Nationals. (Harper is second among NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season.) 

There are a few instances in which Box-Toppers ranked a player lower than fans: 

• AL SS: Elvis Andrus of the Rangers ranks ninth in Box-Toppers points among AL shortstops for the 2013 season. He has 1.0 point this season and only 2.0 the past two seasons. 
• AL OF: Adam Jones of the Orioles ranks 13th in Box-Toppers points among AL outfielders.
• AL OF: Torii Hunter of the Angels ranks 55th in Box-Toppers among AL outfielders. Though Hunter has scored no Box-Toppers points this season, he ranks second among AL outfielders in Box-Toppers points over the period of 2008-2013.
• NL 1B: Joey Votto of the Reds ranks 10th in Box-Toppers points among NL first basemen. 
• NL SS: Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies ranks fifth among NL shortstops. 
• NL 3B: Pablo Sandoval of the Giants ranks seventh among NL third basemen. 
• NL OF: Justin Upton of the Braves ranks 20th among NL outfielders. 
• NL OF: Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals ranks 28th among NL outfielders.

There are only a few obvious snubs by Box-Toppers measures, but there are still a couple of weeks before All-Star voting closes to fix the problems:

• NL 1B: Should be Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks. Goldschmidt leads all NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season with 8.7. He leads NL first basemen in Box-Toppers points for 2013 and over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. He is second among NL first basemen in All-Star voting with over 900,000 votes, more than 600,000 behind Votto.
• NL SS: Should be Everth Cabrera of the Padres. Cabrera leads NL shortstops in Box-Toppers points for 2013 and over the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. He's not in the top five among NL shortstops in All-Star voting.
• NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies should be among the top three. He is currently seventh in All-Star voting with 955,000—Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals, currently third in voting among NL outfielders, has 1,550,000. Gonzalez leads all NL outfielders in Box-Toppers points for both the 2013 season and the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.
• NL CA: Buster Posey leads in fan voting, but Brian McCann of the Braves has very narrow Box-Toppers points leads over Posey. But it hardly matters since Posey has nearly 2 million fan votes and McCann has barely 500,000.

The chart below shows Box-Toppers points leaders by position so far through the 2013 season. The middle columns look at players over the longer run, seeing who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons. And the far right columns show the current All-Star fan vote leaders, with their rank by position in Box-Toppers points in the 2013 season.

The chart also includes Box-Toppers points leaders among starting, middle and relief closing pitchers, even though fans don't get to vote on those.

Voting for the All-Star game is open until July 4.

Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today: 

	2013 SEASON				2012-13 SEASONS				ALL-STAR VOTE LEADERS
AL	PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	RANK BY POS.
First base	Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	4.5		Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	16.5		Chris Davis	bal al	1
Second base	Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	4.5		Kipnis, Jason 2933	cle al	9.5		Robinson Cano	nyy al	1
Shortstop	Drew, Stephen 2210	bos al	4.5		Escobar, Yunel 2331	tb al	10		Elvis Andrus	tex al	9
Third base	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	10.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	22.4		Miguel Cabrera	det al	1
Catcher	Arencibia, J.P. 2781	tor al	5.5		Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	13		Joe Mauer	min al	2
Outfield 1	Johnson, Kelly 2018	tb al	4.5		Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	13.5		Mike Trout	ana al	7
Outfield 2	Nava, Daniel 2740	bos al	4.5		Hamilton, Josh 2332	ana al	11.5		Adam Jones	bal al	13
Outfield 3	Raburn, Ryan 2340	cle al	4.5		Rios, Alex 1989	chi al	9.9		Torii Hunter	det al	55
Designated hitter	Ortiz, David	bos al	5.2		Butler, Billy 2330	kc al	13.7		David Ortiz	bos al	1
Starting pitcher 1	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	10.7		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	30.8
Starting pitcher 2	Buchholz, Clay 2363	bos al	10.1		Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	25.8
Starting pitcher 3	Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	sea al	9.7		Scherzer, Max 2588	det al	25.7
Starting pitcher 4	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	9		Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	25.4
Middle reliever	Tazawa, Junichi 3151	bos al	4		Chen, Bruce 1170	kc al	8
Closing pitcher	Perkins, Glen 2506	min al	5		Rodney, Fernando 1803	tb al	10
NL
First base	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	8.7		Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	13.2		Joey Votto	cin nl	10
Second base	Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	5		Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	14.5		Brandon Phillips	cin nl	1
Shortstop	Cabrera, Everth 2625	sd nl	4.5		Cabrera, Everth 2625	sd nl	7.5		Troy Tulowitzki	col nl	5
Third base	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	dc nl	5.2		Freese, David 2710	stl nl	12.7		Pablo Sandoval	sf nl	7
Catcher	McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	5		McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	11		Buster Posey	sf nl	2
Outfield 1	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	8		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	17.2		Justin Upton	atl nl	20
Outfield 2	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16		Bryce Harper	dc nl	2
Outfield 3	Pollock, A.J. 3142	ari nl	4.7		Holliday, Matt 1836	stl nl	15.7		Carlos Beltran	stl nl	28
Starting pitcher 1	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	9.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	28.8
Starting pitcher 2	Corbin, Patrick 3027	ari nl	9.4		Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	26.1
Starting pitcher 3	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	9		Strasburg, Stephen 2736	dc nl	23.4
Starting pitcher 4	Wainwright, Adam 2150	stl nl	8.7		Gonzalez, Gio 2626	dc nl	22.7
Middle reliever	Collmenter, Josh 2863	ari nl	3		Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	6
Closing pitcher	Grilli, Jason 2209	pit nl	4.7		Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	18
AL top player	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	10.7		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	30.8
AL top batter	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	10.7		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	22.4
NL top player	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	9.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	28.8
NL top batter	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	8.7		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	17.2

BTP: Box-Toppers points

RANK BY POS: Where the player ranks by fielding position in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season. 

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cabrera, Mauer, Braun, McCann among top candidates for Box-Toppers All-Star teams

Who is worthy of your All-Star vote?

Let's take a look at who is leading Box-Toppers points by position and in each league. We'll look at it in a couple of different ways: We'll look at who is leading so far through the 2013 season. And since the sample size of the 1.5-month-old season is still fairly small, we'll also look at who is leading in Box-Toppers points for the combined 2012 and 2013 seasons.​

So, for example, Mitch Moreland of the Rangers is leading among American League first basemen ​so far in 2013 with 3.5 Box-Toppers points. But Mike Napoli of the Red Sox is leading among AL first basemen if you combine his 2012 and 2013 Box-Toppers points. Napoli has 10.7 (8.2 in 2012 and 2.5 in 2013).

Box-Toppers also includes starting, middle relief and closing pitchers in its all-star line-ups, even though fans don't get to vote for them.

Several players appear on both the 2013 and the combined 2012-13 list, indicating they may be especially worthy of your attention as you fill out your ballot. They include:​

• ​AL 3B: Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who also leads all AL batters in Box-Toppers for 2013 (7.2) and combined 2012-13 seasons (18.9).
• AL CA: Joe Mauer of the Twins.
• AL OF: Chris Davis of the Orioles.​
• AL pitcher: Yu Darvish of the Rangers (but, again, fans don't vote on pitchers). Darvish leads all players in Box-Toppers points for the 2013 season with 8.0.​
• NL CA: Brian McCann of the Braves.​
• NL OF: Ryan Braun of the Brewers. Braun leads NL batters for the combined 2012-13 seasons with 16.0.​
• NL OF: Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies.​
• NL pitcher: Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. Kershaw leads NL players in points for the combined 2012-13 seasons with 27.8.​
• NL middle reliever: Santiago Casilla of the Giants.​

Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stood as of May 3.​

Voting for the All-Star game is open until July 4.

Here is how the Box-Toppers All-Star teams stand as of today:​

	2013 SEASON				2012-13 SEASONS
AL	PLAYER	TEAM	BTP		PLAYER	TEAM	BTP
First base	Moreland, Mitch 2799	tex al	3.5		Napoli, Mike 2161	bos al	10.7
Second base	Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	3.5		Cano, Robinson 2092	nyy al	7.5
Shortstop	Drew, Stephen 2210	bos al	2.5		Hardy, J.J. 2071	bal al	9.2
Third base	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	7.2		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	18.9
Catcher	Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	3		Mauer, Joe 1869	min al	12
Outfield 1	Raburn, Ryan 2340	cle al	3.5		Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	14
Outfield 2	Wells, Vernon 1548	nyy al	3		Trout, Mike 2949	ana al	12
Outfield 3	Davis, Chris 2478	bal al	2		Hamilton, Josh 2332	ana al	11.5
Designated hitter	Hafner, Travis 1650	nyy al	3.5		Butler, Billy 2330	kc al	12.7
Starting pitcher 1	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	8		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	29.8
Starting pitcher 2	Masterson, Justin 2462	cle al	7.7		Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	24.8
Starting pitcher 3	Buchholz, Clay 2363	bos al	7.1		Hernandez, Felix 2064	sea al	24.4
Starting pitcher 4	Sale, Chris 2806	chi al	6.7		Dickey, R.A. 1734	tor al	23.1
Middle reliever	Scheppers, Tanner 3136	tex al	3		Chen, Bruce 1170	kc al	8
Closing pitcher	Balfour, Grant 1880	oak al	3		Rodney, Fernando 1803	tb al	10
NL
First base	Goldschmidt, Paul 2935	ari nl	3.5		Jones, Garrett 2655	pit nl	9.5
Second base	Carpenter, Matt 2987	stl nl	3.5		Phillips, Brandon 1691	cin nl	12
Shortstop	Desmond, Ian 2673	dc nl	2.5		Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	col nl	7
Third base	Zimmerman, Ryan 2180	dc nl	3.7		Freese, David 2710	stl nl	10.7
Catcher	McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	3		McCann, Brian 2179	atl nl	9
Outfield 1	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16
Outfield 2	Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	4		Holliday, Matt 1836	stl nl	14.7
Outfield 3	Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	3.5		Gonzalez, Carlos 2460	col nl	13.2
Starting pitcher 1	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	7.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	27.8
Starting pitcher 2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	7		Lynn, Lance 2992	stl nl	23.4
Starting pitcher 3	Harvey, Matt 3075	nym nl	7		Bumgarner, Madison 2753	sf nl	22.4
Starting pitcher 4	Corbin, Patrick 3027	ari nl	6.4		Strasburg, Stephen 2736	dc nl	22.4
Middle reliever	Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	2		Casilla, Santiago 2301	sf nl	6
Closing pitcher	Feldman, Scott 2632	chi nl	3		Chapman, Aroldis 2826	cin nl	16
AL top player	Darvish, Yu 3003	tex al	8		Verlander, Justin 2112	det al	29.8
AL top batter	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	7.2		Cabrera, Miguel 1776	det al	18.9
NL top player	Miller, Shelby 3134	stl nl	7.7		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	lad nl	27.8
NL top batter	Harper, Bryce 3011	dc nl	5.9		Braun, Ryan J. 2300	mil nl	16

BTP: Box-Toppers points

What are those numbers after players' names?

Wainwright tops players for Saturday, May 11; Darvish takes season lead in Box-Toppers points

On Saturday, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright was Player of the Day and Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish took the season lead in Box-Toppers points.

Wainwright threw a two-hit shutout in the 3-0 win over the Rockies, giving up his first hit in the eighth inning.​ Wainwright earns 2.0 Box-Toppers for being Player of the Day and now has 6.0 for the season, moving him up to sixth place.

Ubaldo Jimenez of the Indians is American League Player of the Day. Jimenez struck out eight over six innings in the 7-6 win over Detroit.​

Jose Tabata of the Pirates is National League Batter of the Day. Tabata went 4-for-5 and was a triple short of the cycle in the 11-2 win over the Mets.​

Joe Mauer of the Twins is American League Batter of the Day. Mauer went 3-for-4 in the 8-5 win over the Orioles.​

Darvish was Player of the Game in the Rangers' 8-7 win over the Astros. Darvish gave up three hits and struck out eight over seven innings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being top player in the game, giving him 8.0 points for the season, taking the lead from Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers, who has 7.2 points.​

Also Saturday, two pitchers were named Players of the Game for batting. Mat Latos of the Reds went 2-for-3 in the 13-7 win over the Brewers. And Edwin Jackson of the Cubs with 1-for-2 with 2 RBIs in the 8-2 win over the Nationals.​

Wainwright receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Jimenez receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Tabata and Mauer receive 1.5 each 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:

511	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	13.0	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Adam Wainwright (W, 5-2)	9.0	2	0	0	1	7
	10.0	Giants	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Madison Bumgarner (W, 4-1)	7.0	4	1	1	2	11
AL	8.0	Indians	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 3-2)	6.0	3	1	1	1	8
	5.1	Rays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Cesar Ramos (W, 1-0)	2.0	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	Pirates	Jose Tabata RF, LF	5	3	4	3	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	4.0	Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Andy Pettitte (W, 4-2)	7.0	5	2	2	1	7
	3.0	Dodgers	Andre Ethier RF	4	3	4	0	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	3.0	Twins	Joe Mauer C	4	3	3	1	1	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Reds	Mat Latos P	3	2	2	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Yu Darvish (W, 6-1)	7.0	3	3	3	3	8
	3.0	`Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Mark Buehrle	7.0	5	1	1	2	5
	2.2	Phillies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jonathan Papelbon (S, 6)	1.0	2	0	0	0	3
	2.0	Cubs	Edwin Jackson P	2	1	1	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Angels	Mike Trout CF	4	1	2	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Grant Balfour (S, 6)	1.0	1	0	0	1	2

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Ryan Dempster tops players for Monday, April 15

Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster is Monday's Player of the Day. Dempster pitched seven innings, struck out 10 and gave up only one run, two hits and two walks in the 3-2 win over the Rays. However, despite Dempster's efforts, he did not pick up the win in the game. When he left the game, the Red Sox led 2-1, but when the Rays tied the game in the top of the ninth, Dempster was no longer eligible for the win. The Red Sox scored to win in the bottom of the ninth, giving the win to closer Andrew Bailey, who also blew the save in the top of the ninth.

Ryan Zimmerman of the Nationals is National League Player of the Day. ​Zimmerman went 2-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs in the 10-3 win over the Marlins.

Joe Mauer of the Twins is American League Batter of the Day. Mauer went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs in the 8-2 win over the Angels.​

Note: Pitcher Eric Stults of the Padres was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Dodgers, but for batting, not for pitching. Stults got highest Box-Toppers score among Padres ​by hitting a three-run homer.

Dempster receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Zimmerman receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Mauer receives 1.5 points for AL Batter of the Day.

All of Monday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive one Box-Toppers point:​

415	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	11.0	`Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Ryan Dempster	7.0	2	1	1	2	10
BAT	4.0	Twins	Joe Mauer C	5	2	4	3	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	3.0	Nationals	Ryan Zimmerman 3B	5	2	2	4	0	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Athletics	Jed Lowrie SS	4	1	2	4	1	2			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Cardinals	Jon Jay CF	4	3	2	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Padres	Eric Stults P	2	1	1	3	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Casey Janssen (S, 4)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Aroldis Chapman (S, 3)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.​