Walker Buehler of the Dodgers and Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of National League Division Series openers.
Read MoreBox-Toppers’ NL Division Series previews: Cardinals vs. Braves, Nationals vs. Dodgers
Both National League Division Series begin Thursday.
The NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals face the NL East champion Atlanta Braves in one best-of-five game series and the NL Wild Card champion Washington Nationals take on the Los Angeles Dodgers, champions of the NL West in the other series.
Read MoreERA leader Jacob deGrom ranked 12th in 2018 Box-Toppers rankings
Jacob deGrom of the Mets had the lowest earned run average of any pitcher in 2018 and ranked 12th in Box-Toppers player rankings.
The overall Box-Toppers points leader, Blake Snell of the Rays (27.2), ranked second in ERA (1.89).
Read MoreAstros’ Verlander tops players for Saturday, Sept. 29; Rays’ Snell extends Box-Toppers player rankings lead
Astros pitcher Justin Verlander is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his third-place spot in season player rankings.
Also Saturday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell finished his 2018 Box-Toppers Player of the Year season with a flourish, earning Player of the Game honors, extending his lead over Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer in season player rankings.
In addition, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola rises to fifth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. And Christian Yelich of the Brewers extends his lead among National League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Read MoreRays’ Blake Snell tops players for Sunday, Sept. 23, increases lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings
Rays pitcher Blake Snell is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, increasing his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings and achieving the 16th-highest single-season Box-Toppers point total since tracking began in 1995.
Snell struck out 11 over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays.
Read MoreCleveland Indians had most players—seven—among Box-Toppers’ top 100 at the All-Star break
The Cleveland Indians had the most players—seven–among the top 100 in Box-Toppers’ 2018 player rankings at the All-Star break.
Five teams were tied for the second-most players with six players each among the top 100—the Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners.
Read MoreMariners’ James Paxton is Box-Toppers’ most deserving player not selected to 2018 All-Star Game
Mariners pitcher James Paxton is the most deserving player not selected to the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star teams.
Paxton has 14.0 Box-Toppers points in 2018, fifth among all players and fourth among American League pitchers.
Read MoreTwins’ Jose Berrios tops players for Thursday, June 7, rises to 3rd in player rankings
Twins pitcher Jose Berrios is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to third place in season player rankings.
Also Thursday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreCardinals’ Miles Mikolas tops players for Monday, May 21; Twins' Berrios tops AL players, ranks 5th
Cardinals pitcher Miles Mikolas is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Twins pitcher Jose Berrios maintains his fifth-place ranking in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta rises to sixth place in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MorePhillies' A.J. Burnett (7IP R 12K) tops players for Monday, Aug. 25
Phillies pitcher A.J. Burnett is Monday’s Player of the Day. Burnett struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 3-2 win over the Nationals.
Rangers pitcher Miles Mikolas is American League Player of the Day. Mikolas pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out five in the 2-0 win over the Mariners.
Delmon Young of the Orioles is AL Batter of the Day. Young homered and doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 9-1 win over the Rays.
Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers is National League Batter of the Day. Ramirez homered and doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-1 win over the Padres.
Notable: Christian Yelich of the Marlins has the highest Box-Toppers season point total of all 10 players who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Yelich (3-5 2R 2BI in the 7-1 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.5 for the season. He ranks 72nd among all players and fourth among NL batters.
Burnett receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Mikolas receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Young and Ramirez each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday’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
| 825 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 13.0 | Phillies | A.J. Burnett (W, 7-14) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| AL | 9.0 | Rangers | Miles Mikolas (W, 2-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 7.0 | Athletics | Jeff Samardzija (W, 4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 4.1 | Yankees | Michael Pineda (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Orioles | Delmon Young LF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | Brewers | Aramis Ramirez 3B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Jon Jay PH, CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rockies | LaTroy Hawkins (S, 21) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 0.1 | `Red Sox | Clay Buchholz | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.