Cubs pitcher Mike Montgomery is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreYankees' Luis Severino tops players for Wednesday, May 2, rises to retake season player rankings lead
Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to retake the lead in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—and is the only batter among the top 10—after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreAlbert Pujols leads designated hitters in career Box-Toppers points
Albert Pujols of the Angels has the most Box-Toppers points of any designated hitter since tracking began in 1995.
Edwin Encarnacion leads DHs in Box-Toppers points over the past season, past two seasons and past six seasons.
Read MoreBox-Toppers top outfielders by time frame (after 2017)
Manny Ramirez has the most Box-Toppers points of any outfielder since tracking began in 1995.
Matt Holliday leads active outfielders in career points. Other leaders include Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, Jay Bruce and Andrew McCutchen.
Read MoreCarlos Beltran ties Jason Giambi in 2017 for most consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points (19)
In 2017, Carlos Beltran tied Jason Giambi for the longest streak of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 19. With Beltran's retirement, CC Sabathia and Albert Pujols now have the longest active streaks of consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points at 17.
Read MoreClayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points since start of 2012
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw leads players in Box-Toppers points since the start of 2012.
Kershaw has 147.2 Box-Toppers points over the period 2012-2017, 18.3 points ahead of second-place player in that span, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (128.9). However, Kershaw’s lead in the six-year rolling Box-Toppers point total is down from last year and is his narrowest lead since 2013.
Read MoreDodgers' Yu Darvish tops players for Monday, Sept. 25; Astros' Gonzalez tops AL players
Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Darvish struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.
Read MoreNationals' Stephen Strasburg tops players for Sunday, Sept. 10, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers rankings
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRays' Jake Odorizzi tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 5; Nationals' Strasburg rises to 5th in rankings
Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke maintains his fourth-place spot in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRed Sox' Chris Sale tops players for Friday, July 21, maintains Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his player rankings lead among American League pitchers and becoming the 79th player since 1995 with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points.
Also Friday, Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians rises to first place in Box-Toppers points among AL batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreAngels' Matt Shoemaker tops players for Friday, May 12; Twins' Santana retakes Box-Toppers player rankings lead
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 12:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
| 8 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
Also Friday, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Shoemaker pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits, in the 7-0 win over the Tigers.
Shoemaker had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, tied with Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who was Player of the Game in the 5-1 win over the Yankees (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 7K W). But Shoemaker won overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he allowed one fewer hit than McCullers (three vs. four). Yet, because of that one-hit difference, Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day while McCullers earns only 1.0 point for being Player of the Game.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Eddie Butler pitched six scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing two hits, in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler Flowers of the Braves homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Marlins.
2017 lead changes
Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/2 | Carlos Martinez | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/3 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4/9 | Noah Syndergaard | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 4/14 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 4/15 | Ervin Santana | min al | 4.7 |
| 4/19 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 5/2 | Chris Sale | bos al | 6.7 |
| 5/6 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 5/12 | Ervin Santana | min al | 7.7 |
American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Friday because no AL batters earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday in the 1-0 win over the Indians (7IP 2H 0R 4K W).
Santana earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, passing previous leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (7.0 Box-Toppers points). It is the second time this season Santana has led players in Box-Toppers points; he previously led from April 15 to 18. Santana also takes the lead in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Chris Sale of the Red Sox (6.7).
Santana also now has 105.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 65th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano (104.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 64th-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1).
Streak—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2017 season.
Cueto (8IP 5H 2R 3BB 6K ND in the 3-2, 17-inning win over the Reds) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Reds and has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, becoming the 78th player with 100 or more Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995.
Cueto ranks 74th among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and Friday passed four players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Giants pitcher Matt Cain (100.7). Cueto now trails 73rd-ranked player Matt Holliday of the Yankees (100.8). Though both Cueto and Holliday both have 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, Holliday ranks higher because he has more 2017 Box-Toppers points than Cueto (3.0 vs. 1.0).
Cueto’s best season was 2014 with the Reds, when he had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players. In 2016, he had 16.4 points with the Giants, eighth among all players.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Rangers closer Kela Keone (2IP 0H 0R BB 2K W in the 5-2 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut April 7, 2015, and was playing in his 115th career game. He is the 3,789th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Austin Hedges of the Padres (HR 2B 2-4 R 3BI in the 6-3 win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut May 4, 2015, and was playing in his 98th career game. He is the 3,790th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Butler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Flowers earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 5/12 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | LAA 7, DET 0 | Matt Shoemaker (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | HOU 5, NYY 1 | Lance McCullers Jr. (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | CHC 3, STL 2 | Eddie Butler (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 8, MIA 4 | Tyler Flowers, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIN 1, CLE 0 | Ervin Santana (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | TOR 4, SEA 0 | Joe Biagini (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 7, NYM 4 | Eric Sogard, SS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 5, OAK 2 | Keone Kela (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | TB 5, BOS 4 | Alex Colome (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 11, PIT 4 | Brandon Drury, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SD 6, CHW 3 | Austin Hedges, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 6, COL 2 | Chase Utley, 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `SF 3, CIN 2 (F/17) | Johnny Cueto | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | KC 3, BAL 2 | Joakim Soria (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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 | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 | 11.7 | 44.5 | 105.0 | 3.7 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 10.1 | 16.8 | 16.8 | -2.1 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 3.0 | 12.0 | 20.7 | 20.7 | -6.0 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 | -5.0 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi mr cp | kc al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 47.7 | 1.0 |
| Butler, Eddie 3483 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 0.7 |
| Flowers, Tyler 3101 | ca | atl nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | -1.0 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 1.0 | 17.4 | 71.0 | 100.8 | -15.4 |
| Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | 2b lf | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 1b 2b | lad nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 74.1 | 0.0 |
| Sogard, Eric 3174 | ss 2b | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Hedges, Austin 3790 | ca | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Kela, Keone 3789 | pi cp | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers' Alex Wood tops players for Monday, May 8; Cardinals' Martinez rises to 10th in player rankings
Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rises to 10th place in season Box-Toppers player rankings after becoming the second pitcher of the season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 8:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 6.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | 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 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.5 |
Player of the Day—Wood struck out 11 over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 12-1 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 6-4 win over the Nationals.
National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 9-4 win over the Marlins.
Martinez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings and fifth among NL pitchers.
He also becomes the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright did it on April 21. Not only has the feat been accomplished both times by Cardinals, but both pitchers also earned NL Batter of the Day honors when they did it.
This is the second time in his career Martinez has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it Sept. 19, 2016. During the 2016 season, pitchers won Player of the Game honors for batting eight times.
Martinez had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, highest among all Cardinals players Monday. He had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 for pitching (6IP 5H 3R 3ER 2BB 7K W).
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.
Holliday earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 100.8 for his career. He becomes the 77th player to earn 100 Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his points Monday, he rises to 73rd on the “all-time” player list, passing six players—White Sox pitcher James Shields (99.4), Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (99.8), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Giants pitcher Matt Cain (100.7). Holliday now trails 72nd-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).
Scoring—Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cahill earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Martinez and Holliday each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 5/8 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | LAD 12, PIT 1 | Alex Wood (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 6.1 | SD 5, TEX 1 | Trevor Cahill (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | BAL 6, WSH 4 | Kevin Gausman (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| 4.1 | KC 7, TB 3 | Nate Karns (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 9, MIA 4 | Carlos Martinez, P | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `NYM 4, SF 3 | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | NYY 10, CIN 4 | Matt Holliday, 1B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | TOR 4, CLE 2 | Ryan Goins, SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | OAK 3, LAA 2 (F/11) | Jed Lowrie, 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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 | +/- |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.5 | 16.9 | 31.6 | 31.6 | -7.9 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.4 | 7.4 | 22.1 | 44.6 | 1.4 |
| Holliday, Matt 1836 | dh 1b lf | nyy al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 36.2 | 100.8 | -3.0 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp mr | lad nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 22.4 | 22.4 | 2.0 |
| Karns, Nathan 3414 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 | 5.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -0.3 |
| Goins, Ryan 3478 | ss 2b | tor al | 2.0 | 3.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.5 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 1.7 | 12.5 | 25.9 | 25.9 | -9.1 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 10.7 | 46.1 | 46.1 | -8.7 |
| Lowrie, Jed 2437 | 2b ss | oak al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 16.5 | 28.0 | 0.0 |
Mariners' Ariel Miranda tops players for Friday, April 28; Holland, Kimbrel rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings
Mariners pitcher Ariel Miranda is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, two closing pitchers rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after both earned Player of the Game honors—Greg Holland of the Rockies rises to fourth place and Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox rises to seventh.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 28:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 5.7 |
| 3 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 7 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 4.0 |
| 8 | Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 4.0 |
| 9 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 10 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 3.7 |
Player of the Day—Miranda struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 3-1 win over the Indians.
National League Player of the Day—Travis d’Arnaud of the Mets hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in five runs, in the 7-5 win over the Nationals.
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Yankees hit a 10th-inning, three-run walk-off home run in the 14-11, 10th-inning win over the Orioles. Holliday also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times.
Holliday also has now earned Box-Toppers points in 14 consecutive seasons. He earned his first points in 2004 with the Rockies and has 99.3 career points, fifth among active AL batters. His best season was 2007 with the Rockies when he had 16.2 points, first among NL batters. In 2016, he had 6.0 points with the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall NL Player of the Day is batter Travis d’Arnaud.
Rankings—Two closing pitchers rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after both earned Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Greg Holland of the Rockies (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv in the 3-1 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.0 for the season, rising to fourth place among all players, second among NL pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (6.0).
- Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox (1IP H 0R 0BB 3K Sv in the 5-4 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 4.0 for the season, rising to seventh place among all players, fourth among AL pitchers.
Debut—Gift Ngoepe of the Pirates made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Ngoepe (3B 3-3 2R BI in the 12-2 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut April 26 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,779th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Miranda earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and d’Arnaud earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Holliday earns 1.5 points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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| 4/28 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.1 | SEA 3, CLE 1 | Ariel Miranda (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| NL | 6.0 | NYM 7, WSH 5 | Travis d'Arnaud, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | HOU 9, OAK 4 | Charlie Morton (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 5.0 | LAD 5, PHI 3 | Kenta Maeda (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | `LAA 6, TEX 3 | Tyler Skaggs | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | NYY 14, BAL 11 (F/10) | Matt Holliday, DH | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIN 6, KC 4 | Miguel Sano, 3B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CHW 7, DET 3 | Anthony Swarzak (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | PIT 12, MIA 2 | Gift Ngoepe, 2B-SS | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 5, CHC 4 | Craig Kimbrel (S,8) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 10, MIL 8 | Jose Ramirez (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | STL 7, CIN 5 | Seung-Hwan Oh (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | SF 4, SD 3 | Brandon Belt, LF-1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | COL 3, ARI 1 | Greg Holland (S,10) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.2 | TB 7, TOR 4 | Chase Whitley (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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 | +/- |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 35.0 | 38.0 | 5.0 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 4.0 | 12.0 | 56.7 | 62.7 | -4.0 |
| Miranda, Ariel 3738 | pi sp | sea al | 3.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b | min al | 2.5 | 5.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | -0.5 |
| Whitley, Chase 3352 | pi mr sp | tb al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 2.0 |
| d’Arnaud, Travis 3384 | ca | nym nl | 1.7 | 2.7 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 0.7 |
| Holliday, Matt 1836 | dh lf | nyy al | 1.5 | 7.5 | 34.7 | 99.3 | -4.5 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 1.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | -9.0 |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b lf | sf nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 20.0 | 21.5 | -6.0 |
| Oh, Seung Hwan 3693 | pi cp | stl nl | 1.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -4.0 |
| Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | hou al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 17.7 | 28.7 | -2.0 |
| Skaggs, Tyler 3183 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 3.7 | 13.4 | 13.4 | -1.7 |
| Ramirez, Jose A. 3716 | pi mr | atl nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Swarzak, Anthony 2603 | pi mr | chi al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 8.7 | 1.0 |
| Ngoepe, Gift 3779 | 2b ss | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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