Blog
The Los Angeles Dodgers should be considered favorites against the Houston Astros in the 2017 World Series.
The Dodgers were the dominant, hottest team much of the season. And though they slumped in August and September, losing 16 of 17 games from Aug. 26 to Sept. 11, they finished strong, ending with baseball’s best record and the second-highest Box-Toppers point total among all teams.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. is Box-Toppers Player of the Game as Houston eliminates the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series Saturday.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s American League Championship Series Game 6, as Houston pulls even in the series with the New York Yankees.
Read MoreEnrique Hernandez of the Dodgers is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s National League Championship Series Game 5, as Los Angeles eliminates the Chicago Cubs.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Wednesday’s League Championship Series games.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Yu Darvish and Aaron Judge of the Yankees are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Tuesday’s League Championship Series games.
Read MoreTodd Frazier of the Yankees is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the American League Championship Series Game 3.
The Astros lead the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.
The Dodgers take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Justin Verlander and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Saturday’s two League Championship Series games.
Read MoreThe 2017 National League Championship Series is a rematch of the 2016 series between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. But this year, the tables are turned.
Last year, the Cubs were kings, leading Box-Toppers team rankings in 2016 almost wire-to-wire, and coming into their NLCS matchup against the Dodgers holding practically every advantage. This year, they’ve scraped together their success with a pitching staff that is little more than half as good as it was when it led them to a World Series title in 2016.
Read MoreAstros pitcher Dallas Keuchel is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.
Keuchel struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Yankees. The Indians take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Read MoreThe Houston Astros rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings, though the New York Yankees hold an advantage in starting pitching and top-10 ranked players as they face off in the American League Championship Series starting Friday.
Read MoreNationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg and Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman are Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Players of the Day in two League Division Series games.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Jose Quintana is Monday’s Box-Toppers top Player of the Game among the four League Division Series playoff games.
The other three Players of the Game Monday are Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish, Yankees closer Tommy Kahnle and George Springer of the Astros.
Read More
Kyle Hendricks is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Saturday as the Cubs win their first pennant in 71 years, defeating the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series Game 6.
Hendricks pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out six.
The Chicago Cubs win the best-of-seven game series over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-2, becoming National League champions and advancing to the World Series for the first time since 1945.
Hendricks had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +11.1, most of all Cubs players. Anthony Rizzo had the highest Box-Toppers game score (0.0) among Cubs batters (HR 2B 2-4 R BI).
Opposing starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers had a Box-Toppers game score of −7.0 (5IP 7H 5R 0BB 4K L). Kershaw ranked second among all players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 24.4.
Hendricks had 13.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 17th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.
The Cubs rank first in Box-Toppers team rankings with players accumulating 139.5 Box-Toppers points in 2016. They ranked first nearly the entire season—in 24 Box-Toppers weekly team rankings reports, they were ranked first in 22 of them, missing only April 14 and July 21.
The Dodgers ranked third among all teams in Box-Toppers points with 125.2, second among NL teams, behind the Cubs.
The Cubs now face the Indians in the World Series beginning Tuesday in Cleveland. The Indians have not won the World Series since 1948. The Cubs have not won since 1908.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 11.1 | CHC 5, LAD 0 | Kyle Hendricks (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
The Chicago Cubs could reach the World Series for the first time since 1945 (that’s 71 years if you’re counting) with a win Saturday over the Los Angeles Dodgers:
The pitching matchup Saturday is a rematch of Game 2 of the series, won by the Dodgers, 1-0:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Kyle Hendricks, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 17th among all players, 10th among NL pitchers.
In Game 2, both pitchers did well, with Kershaw pitching seven scoreless innings and Hendricks allowing one run over 5 1/3 innings—a solo home run by Adrian Gonzalez, the only scoring in the game.
If the Dodgers win Game 6, they tie the series, 3-3, and Game 7 happens Sunday in Chicago. If the Cubs win, they win the series and face the Cleveland Indians in the World Series beginning Tuesday in Cleveland.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Factoid—The Cubs hold the record for the longest streak between World Series championships. It is 108 years and counting since their 1908 win.
In 1945, the last time the Cubs made the World Series, they had the longest streak of any team since winning their last World Series. At the time, they had not won a World Series in the 37 years since they won in 1908. However, in 1945, three franchises had yet to earn their first World Series title:
The Cubs have been the longest-suffering team between World Series championships since 1922. That year, the New York Giants won the World Series for the first time since 1905, ending the then longest drought between championships of 17 years. The Cubs’ 14-year drought then became the longest and has grown each year for the past 94 years.
The Cubs franchise began in 1876 and has won two World Series titles in 1907 and 1908. They made it to seven World Series between 1910 and 1945—including four from 1929 to 1939—losing all of them.
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.
Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s National League Championship Series Game 5.
Lester allowed one run over seven innings, allowing five hits, one walk and striking out six, as the Cubs take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Lester had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +5.0, highest among Cubs players. Second baseman Javier Baez had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+2.0) among Cubs batters (2B 3-5 R 3BI).
Opposing starting pitcher Kenta Maeda of the Dodgers had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.2 (3.2IP 3H R 2BB 6K ND).
Lester, during the regular season, had 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers. This was the second time this postseason he’s earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game in the NL Division Series Game 1 win over the Giants, 1-0, on Oct. 7.
The series resumes Saturday with Game 6 in Chicago. There are no games scheduled for Friday.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 5.0 | CHC 8, LAD 4 | Jon Lester (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
Pitcher Ryan Merritt led the Indians to a clinching American League Championship Series Game 5 win Wednesday, even though he has never earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors during the regular season.
Also Wednesday, Anthony Rizzo was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the Cubs’ Game 4 win to even the National League Championship Series with the Dodgers at two games apiece.
Merritt pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out three, to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
The Indians win the best-of-seven-game series over the Blue Jays, 4-1, and advance to the World Series beginning next Tuesday in Cleveland.
Merritt picked up a no decision because he did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win. However, he did pitch at least three innings, enough to qualify to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game.
Merritt had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +5.1, most of any Indians player. Left fielder Coco Crisp had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+1.0) among Indians batters (HR 1-2 R BI).
Opposing pitcher Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (6IP 5H 3R 0BB 7K L).
Merritt had no Box-Toppers points during the regular season and in fact is unranked because he has yet to earn his first career Player of the Game honor during the regular season. Merritt made his Major League debut May 30 and has played in four games, pitching a total of 11 innings.
The Indians ranked higher than the Blue Jays in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Indians ranked fourth with an accumulated 123.7 Box-Toppers points earned by their players in 2016. The Blue Jays ranked ninth with 114.0, the lowest of the five AL teams to qualify for the playoffs.
Yet, the Indians were weakened by the loss of two of their top starting pitchers—Danny Salazar (12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among AL pitchers) and Carlos Carrasco (12.4 points, ranked 10th among AL pitchers). Both were out with injuries. A third starter, Trevor Bauer (11.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 12th among AL pitchers), was injured during the series—cutting his pinky finger repairing a drone—and could only pitch 2/3 of an inning in Game 3 before having to be removed because he was bleeding so profusely from his drone wound.
Yet, the Indians were able to cobble together four wins with bullpen stars like Andrew Miller (8.0 Box-Toppers points, first among AL middle relievers) and Cody Allen (7.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL closers), plus their ace starter Corey Kluber (21.2 Box-Toppers points, first among AL pitchers).
One final note: In March, Box-Toppers somehow made the correct preseason forecast that the Indians and Blue Jays would face off in the American League Championship Series and the Cubs and Dodgers would face off in the National League Championship Series.
The only problem with that: Box-Toppers picked the Blue Jays to win the ALCS and the World Series. Now, that ain’t gonna happen.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Rizzo homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
The Cubs now even the best-of-seven-game National League Championship Series with the Dodgers, 2-2.
Rizzo had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +3.0, most among Cubs players. Cubs starting pitcher John Lackey (13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3.0 (4IP 3H 2R 3BB 3K ND).
Opposing pitcher Julio Urias of the Dodgers had a Box-Toppers game score of −6.8 (3.2IP 4H 4R 2BB 4K L).
Rizzo had 3.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 71st among NL batters and 16th among NL first basemen.
The series resumes Thursday with Game 5 in Los Angeles.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 5.1 | `CLE 3, TOR 0 | Ryan Merritt | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3.0 | CHC 10, LAD 2 | Anthony Rizzo, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | |||||||||||||
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
The pitching matchup Thursday is a rematch of the Game 1 starters from Saturday. The Cubs won that game, 8-4:
Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Kenta Maeada, 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 54th among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill and Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez are top players in Tuesday’s two League Championship Series games.
In both LCS games Tuesday, the top 10 pitcher was outdueled by a lesser-ranked starter:
Hill pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out six to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. The Dodgers take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Hill had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, most among Dodgers players. Top Dodgers batter was catcher Yasmani Grandal, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (HR 1-3 R 3BI).
Opposing starting pitcher Jake Arrieta of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.0 (5IP 6H 4R 0BB 5K L).
The series resumes Wednesday in Los Angeles.
Sanchez allowed one run over six innings, giving up two hits, two walks and striking out five to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. The Blue Jays stave off elimination and now trail the Indians 3-1 in the best-of-seven game series.
Sanchez had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +5.0, most among Blue Jays players. Top Blue Jays batter was first baseman Edwin Encarnacion who had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (2-4 0R 2BI).
Opposing starting pitcher Corey Kluber of the Indians had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (5IP 4H 2R 2BB 7K L).
The series resumes Wednesday in Toronto.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 8.0 | LAD 6, CHC 0 | Rich Hill (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | |
| 5.0 | TOR 5, CLE 1 | Aaron Sanchez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
Coming Wednesday\
Though the Blue Jays are on the brink of elimination, they hold the distinct advantage in pitching.
The Indians staff depleted by injury, throw a rookie on the mound to start Game 5 who has never earned a Box-Toppers point. Meanwhile, the Indians have already used their one healthy ace Corey Kluber, who leads AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points, twice during this series already. The Blue Jays counter with starter Marco Estrada, who ranks among the top 15 AL pitchers. And with Kluber unavailable for at least a couple of games, the Blue Jays may be able to stave off elimination and possibly make the series competitive.
The pitching matchup Wednesday:
Indians—Ryan Merritt, 0.0 Box-Toppers points, unranked. Merritt made his Major League debut May 30 and has played in four games but has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut—he has never earned Player of the Game honors.
Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
The Cubs lost Game 3 though they had a slight pitching advantage with Arrieta (15.7 Box-Toppers points) over Hill (14.4). They hold a more distinct advantage Wednesday when the higher-ranked and veteran pitcher John Lackey with 24 games of postseason experience takes on the rookie Julio Urias with two innings of postseason experience.
The pitching matchup Wednesday:
Cubs—John Lackey, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Julio Urias, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 179th among all players, 51st among NL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
Indians closing pitcher Andrew Miller is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Monday in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.
Miller pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit, no walks, striking out three and earning the save, in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. The Indians take a 3-0 lead over the Blue Jays in the best-of-seven game series.
Miller had 8.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 92nd among all players and 32nd among AL pitchers. Miller earned 3.0 of his Box-Toppers points as a middle reliever and 5.0 as a closer during the season. He ranks third among AL closers and first among AL middle relievers. He started the season with the Yankees (earning 4.0 Box-Toppers points) before being traded to the Indians (earning 4.0 more points).
This is the second time this postseason Miller has earned Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game on Oct. 6 in Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the Red Sox.
Miller had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.1, most among Indians players. He narrowly beat first baseman Mike Napoli, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (HR 2B 2-3 2R 2BI).
Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of −3.9 (5.1IP 3H 4R 3BB 5K L).
The series resumes Tuesday with Game 4 in Toronto (more details below).
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 3.1 | CLE 4, TOR 2 | Andrew Miller (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||
Coming Tuesday:
The tentative pitching matchup Tuesday:
Indians—Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, first among AL pitchers. Kluber was also Player of the Game in ALCS Game 1 and ALDS Game 2.
Blue Jays—Aaron Sanchez, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, 45th among all players, 19th among AL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Cubs—Jake Arrieta, 15.7 Box-Toppers points, ninth among all players, sixth among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Rich Hill, 14.4 Box-Toppers points, 13th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.
See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.
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.