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Astros pitcher Justin Verlander maintains the lead in Box-Toppers weekly team rankings report for the third straight week.
Also this week, all four main category leaders maintain their leads from last week: Verlander continues to lead American League pitchers, Brewers pitcher Josh Hader continues to lead National League pitchers, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers continues to lead NL batters and Joey Gallo of the Rangers continues to lead AL batters.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, passing former teammate, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who had passed Verlander on the career points list nearly two years ago.
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Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points in 18 consecutive seasons, tied with Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia for the longest active season streak; it is tied for the third-longest streak since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
In addition Thursday, Box-Toppers’ two top-ranked players for 2018 started Thursday but neither earned Player of the Game honors in their teams’ wins. Neither top-ranked Luis Severino of the Yankees nor second-ranked Max Scherzer of the Nationals were top players in their games.
Read MorePhillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Also Monday, Twins pitcher Jose Berrios rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreMark Reynolds of the Nationals is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, recording the highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter this season.
Also Saturday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
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Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 18.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 12.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 9 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
| 10 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 9.0 |
Also Friday, two players rise in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rises to sixth place and Royals pitcher Jason Vargas rises to 10th.
Player of the Day—deGrom struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Phillies.
deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season. He ranks 16th among all players and seventh among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Brett Gardner of the Yankees hit a grand slam, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in six runs, in the 13-4 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Pence of the Giants went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in five runs, in the 13-5 win over the Pirates.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Brett Gardner.
Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
Debut—Deven Marrero of the Red Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Marrero (2-4 R 3BI in the 7-4, 11-inning win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut June 28, 2015, and was playing in his 80th career game. He is the 3,842nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gardner earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Pence 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.
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| 6/30 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | NYM 2, PHI 1 | Jacob deGrom, W (8-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| 10.0 | CIN 5, CHC 0 | Scott Feldman, W (7-5) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 9.0 | ATL 3, OAK 1 | Mike Foltynewicz (W, 6-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | NYY 13, HOU 4 | Brett Gardner (LF) | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | SEA 10, LAA 0 | Ariel Miranda (W, 7-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | LAD 10, SD 4 | Alex Wood (W, 9-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | SF 13, PIT 5 | Hunter Pence (RF) | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIL 3, MIA 2 | Stephen Vogt (C) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | COL 6, ARI 3 | Jon Gray (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 4.0 | CHW 8, TEX 7 | Anthony Swarzak (W, 4-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | `TB 6, BAL 4 (F/10) | Jacob Faria | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 8, WSH 1 | Yadier Molina (C) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 8, MIN 1 | Jason Vargas (W, 12-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 7, TOR 4 (F/11) | Deven Marrero (3B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 | 11.0 | 29.4 | 29.4 | 9.0 |
| Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 9.0 | 10.0 | 35.4 | 56.2 | 8.0 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.7 | 17.4 | 52.8 | 52.8 | -2.0 |
| Miranda, Ariel 3738 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 4.0 |
| Feldman, Scott 2632 | pi sp | cin nl | 6.0 | 6.0 | 22.7 | 30.7 | 6.0 |
| Faria, Jacob 3816 | pi sp | tb al | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | stl nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 16.5 | 37.7 | -1.0 |
| Swarzak, Anthony 2603 | pi mr cp | chi al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 10.7 | 3.0 |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | sf nl | 2.5 | 6.0 | 22.0 | 54.7 | -1.0 |
| Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 8.7 | 8.7 | -2.0 |
| Gardner, Brett 2486 | lf | nyy al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 9.7 | 20.2 | 1.7 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | -6.0 |
| Vogt, Stephen 3503 | ca | mil nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 7.5 | 7.5 | -3.0 |
| Marrero, Deven 3842 | 3b | bos al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez extended his lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings and rose to 12th place among all players since 1995. In addition, Tigers pitcher David Price rose to eighth in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 12.4 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 10.0 |
| 3 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.0 |
| 5 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 9.0 |
| 6 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 7 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.4 |
| 8 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 8.1 |
| 9 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 7.7 |
Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out 11, in the 2-0 win over the Cardinals.
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 140.6 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 20th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks 14th among all pitchers.
Kershaw also now has 7.0 Box-Toppers points for the season and ranks 12th among all players in season player rankings, sixth among NL pitchers. Last year, he led all players with 31.5 Box-Toppers points, the fourth-highest single-season total since 1995. And although he still is not in the top 10 player rankings, he is actually ahead of his pace from 2014—on June 7, 2014, Kershaw had 6.7 Box-Toppers points.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher David Price pitched a complete game, allowing one run and striking out 11, in the 7-1 win over the White Sox. Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.1 for the season and rising to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Matt Kemp of the Padres homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 9-7 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Brett Gardner of the Yankees went 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs in the 8-2 win over the Angels.
Rankings—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez extended his lead in season Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Hernandez (7IP 2H R 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. Hernandez has led Box-Toppers player rankings all but six days this season.
With the point earned Saturday, Hernandez now rises to 12th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 when record keeping began. Hernandez now has 155.7 career Box-Toppers points and passes two players on the “all-time” list Saturday—Tim Hudson (155.0) and Mike Mussina (155.6). Hernandez trails the 11th-place player on the list, John Smoltz (160.9). Hernandez also rises to ninth place among all pitchers since 1995.
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Price earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Kemp and Gardner each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/6 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | Dodgers | Clayton Kershaw (W, 5-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| AL | 11.0 | Tigers | David Price (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| 8.0 | Indians | Danny Salazar (W, 6-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Padres | Matt Kemp RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W, 9-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Rockies | Wilin Rosario 1B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Cubs | Jason Hammel (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | Red Sox | Joe Kelly (W, 2-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Carlos Gomez CF | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Braves | Christian Bethancourt C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Giants | Norichika Aoki LF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rangers | Wandy Rodriguez (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 2.1 | Blue Jays | Drew Hutchison (W, 5-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Welington Castillo C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Yankees | Brett Gardner CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Braves pitcher Julio Teheran is Wednesday's Player of the Day. Teheran was four outs away from a no-hitter when he gave up his first and only hit in the 5-0 win over the Braves. Teheran struck out 11 over eight innings and gave up only two walks.
Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey is American League Player of the Day. Dickey gave up no runs and only two hits over 8 1/3 innings in the 4-0 win over the Giants.
Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies is National League Batter of the Day. Gonzalez homered three times and drove in six runs in the 12-4 win over the Reds.
Brett Gardner of the Yankees is AL Batter of the Day. Gardner hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3 in the 6-4 win over the Indians.
Standings update: Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt rises to seventh place in Box-Topper player standings (see updated standings on the home page) for the 2013 season. Goldschmidt (grand slam, 2-for-5, 4 RBI) was Player of the Game in the 10-3 win over the Cardinals. Goldschmidt earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game and now has 8.7 points for the season. Goldschmidt has scored 3.5 Box-Toppers points in the past week: He also earned 1.5 points on June 1 for being NL Batter of the Day and earned 1.0 point on June 2 for being Player of the Game. Goldschmidt is the current leader in Box-Toppers points among NL batters.
Teheran receives 2.0 Box-Toppers
points for being Player of the Day. Dickey receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Gonzalez and Gardner each receive 1.5 for being top
Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Wednesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
| 605 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 16.0 | Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Julio Teheran (W, 4-2) | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 11.0 | Phillies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cole Hamels (W, 2-9) | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |||
| AL | 9.1 | Blue Jays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | R.A. Dickey (W, 5-7) | 8.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | Rockies | Carlos Gonzalez LF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 6.2 | `Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Alex Cobb | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |||
| 5.0 | `White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nate Jones | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 4.0 | Mets | Marlon Byrd RF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.2 | `Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Alexi Ogando | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 3.1 | Padres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jason Marquis (W, 7-2) | 6.1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |||
| BAT | 3.0 | Yankees | Brett Gardner CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | Diamondbacks | Paul Goldschmidt 1B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Athletics | Josh Donaldson 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Astros | Matt Dominguez 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Cody Ransom 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | Royals | Billy Butler DH | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Box-Toppers 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.