Red Sox' Mookie Betts tops players for Wednesday, June 14; Mets' Blevins tops NL players

Mookie Betts of the Red Sox is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Betts homered twice and doubled in the 7-3 win over the Phillies. Betts also went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 14:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	14.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	12.0
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	11.4
4	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	10.0
5	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
6	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	8.2
7	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	8.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.7
9	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	7.7
10	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	7.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Jerry Blevins pitched 1 1/3 innings of scoreless middle relief, striking out three, allowing no hits and no walks and earning the win in the 9-4 win over the Cubs.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Phillips of the Braves hit two doubles and went 4-for-6, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Nationals.

Phillips has now earned Box-Toppers points for 12 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor for 2017. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2002 with the Indians, but began his current 12-season streak in 2006 with the Reds. He has 65.6 career Box-Toppers points, fifth among all second basemen since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He ranks third in career points among active second basemen, behind Robinson Cano of the Mariners (78.4) and Chase Utley of the Dodgers (75.1).

Phillips’ best season was 2012 with the Reds when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters. He had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016 with the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because the overall Player of the Day is AL batter Mookie Betts.

Notable—Trey Mancini of the Orioles has the most 2017 Box-Toppers points of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Mancini (2B 3-4 3R BI in the 10-6 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 5.2 for the season and ranks 30th among all players in 2017 season player rankings, fifth among AL batters.

Also notable—Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano now has 105.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Liriano (7IP 5H 3R 2ER 2BB 9K ND in the 7-6 win over the Rays) rises to 65th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He passes Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 64th-ranked player Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7).

Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Astros pitcher Francis Martes (5IP 3H R 2B 7K W in the 13-2 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut June 9 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,822nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Angels pitcher Blake Parker (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 7-5 win over the Yankees) made his Major League debut May 17, 2012, and was playing in his 124th career game. He is the 3,823rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Raimel Tapia of the Rockies (2B 4-4 3R 0BI in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2016, and was playing in his 36th career game. He is the 3,824th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Betts earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Blevins earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Phillips earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.

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 

6/14	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	6.0	BOS 7, PHI 3	Mookie Betts, RF	5	4	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	HOU 13, TEX 2	Francis Martes (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	1	1	2	7
NL	4.1	NYM 9, CHC 4	Jerry Blevins (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	4.0	ATL 13, WSH 2	Brandon Phillips, 2B	6	3	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	ARI 2, DET 1	Fernando Rodney (S,18)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	`TOR 7, TB 6	Francisco Liriano	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	3	2	2	9
	3.1	LAA 7, NYY 5	Blake Parker (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	COL 5, PIT 1	Raimel Tapia, RF	4	3	4	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	KC 7, SF 2	Lorenzo Cain, CF	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	BAL 10, CHW 6	Trey Mancini, 1B	4	3	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIL 7, STL 6	Eric Thames, 1B	5	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIA 11, OAK 6	Dee Gordon, 2B	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	LAD 6, CLE 4	Enrique Hernandez, PH-2B	2	1	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	SD 4, CIN 2	Brandon Maurer (S,12)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.2	`SEA 6, MIN 4	James Pazos (H,5)	-	-	-	-		1.2	1	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	+/-
Mancini, Trey 3766	lf 1b ph	bal al	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2	5.2
Thames, Eric 2909	1b lf	mil nl	4.0	4.0	5.0	6.5	4.0
Cain, Lorenzo 3171	cf	kc al	3.5	10.0	24.2	24.2	-3.0
Betts, Mookie 3404	rf	bos al	3.5	9.7	14.7	14.7	-2.7
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	ari nl	3.0	8.0	26.0	38.0	-2.0
Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	tor al	2.0	10.0	59.7	105.2	-6.0
Pazos, James 3786	pi mr	sea al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Blevins, Jerry 2788	pi mr	nym nl	1.7	1.7	6.7	7.7	1.7
Phillips, Brandon 1691	2b	atl nl	1.5	3.5	25.2	65.6	-0.5
Maurer, Brandon 3157	pi cp	sd nl	1.0	3.0	6.0	6.0	-1.0
Hernandez, Enrique 3541	2b ph	lad nl	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0.0
Gordon, Dee 2990	2b	fla nl	1.0	1.0	8.5	8.5	1.0
Martes, Francis 3822	pi sp	hou al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Parker, Blake 3823	pi mr	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Tapia, Raimel 3824	rf	col nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Tuesday, May 23, rises to 3rd in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, passing Schilling

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his top spot in season player rankings and rising to third place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 23:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.7
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
4	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	6.7
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	6.0
6	McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	6.0
7	Harper, Bryce 3011	rf	dc nl	6.0
8	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
9	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	6.0
10	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	6.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors: Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rose to second place and Astros pitcher Lance McCullers rose to sixth place.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 10 over nine innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Cardinals. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 1-1 when he exited after nine innings.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He is the first player to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points in 2017, the ninth straight season he’s earned 10 or more points in a season. Kershaw was also the first player to 10 points in 2016, reaching the milestone a week earlier than this year (May 17).

All-time leaders

Here are Box-Toppers top 20 players since record keeping began in 1995:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	pi sp	retired	278.8
2	Pedro Martinez	pi sp	retired	244.8
3	Clayton Kershaw	pi sp	lad nl	194.4
4	Curt Schilling	pi sp	retired	194.1
5	CC Sabathia	pi sp	nyy al	188.0
6	Alex Rodriguez	dh	released	187.0
7	Albert Pujols	1b dh	ana al	182.3
8	Roy Halladay	pi sp	retired	170.7
9	Felix Hernandez	pi sp	sea al	169.7
10	Manny Ramirez	lf dh	retired	167.2
11	Johan Santana	pi sp	free agent	166.6
12	Roger Clemens	pi sp	retired	164.8
13	Zack Greinke	pi sp	ari nl	162.8
14	John Smoltz	pi sp	retired	160.9
15	Tim Hudson	pi sp	retired	157.0
16	Mike Mussina	pi sp	retired	155.6
17	Barry Bonds	lf	retired	153.2
18	Greg Maddux	pi sp	retired	151.7
19	Bartolo Colon	pi sp	atl nl	151.2
20	Chipper Jones	3b	retired	149.0

BTP: Box-Toppers points
List of top 100 players since 1995 at the close of the 2016 season.

Kershaw maintains his top spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana (9.4 Box-Toppers points), who was American League Player of the Day Tuesday.

Kershaw also rises to third place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Kershaw now has 194.4 career Box-Toppers points and passes Curt Schilling (194.1) on the “all-time” list. It should be noted that Schilling began his career in 1988, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, and so would likely have more total career points. Rough Box-Toppers projected estimates put Schilling’s actual career total at 232. (A look at projected Box-Toppers point totals for pitchers who began their careers before 1995.)

Kershaw has risen steadily up Box-Toppers career points rankings in recent years but his rise will now become more difficult. Kershaw now trails second-place player Pedro Martinez on the “all-time” list, who has 244.8 career Box-Toppers points since 1995. The 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw is the largest between any two players in “all-time” Box-Toppers rankings. In essence, Kershaw has whizzed by the close-together “inner planets” of players with fewer than 200 Box-Toppers points and now has to travel much greater distances to reach the “gas giants” of players with more than 200 career Box-Toppers points since 1995—Martinez and Randy Johnson (the overall leader with 278.8 points).

However, given Kershaw’s pace, perhaps the 50.4-point gap between Martinez and Kershaw is not so great and insurmountable. Kershaw has earned 50.8 points since July 23, 2015, less than two complete seasons (which included time on the disabled list). If Kershaw were able to maintain that pace, he might catch Martinez by the end of the 2018 season.

American League Player of the Day—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana pitched a two-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out six and walking two, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.

Santana earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 9.4 for the season, rising from third to second place in season player rankings, first among AL pitchers, passing previous AL pitching leader, Chris Sale of the Red Sox (8.4 points). Santana trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.7 points).

Santana also now has 106.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 59th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes six players on the “all-time” list: Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7), Aramis Ramirez (105.8), Carlos Beltran of the Astros (105.9), Frank Thomas (106.2) and Red Sox pitcher David Price (106.2). Santana now trails 58th-ranked player Lance Berkman (108.1).

National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rendon of the Nationals homered twice and doubled in the 10-1 win over the Mariners. Rendon went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 11-6 win over the Rangers.

Rankings—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. Rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

McCullers (5IP H 0R 2BB 5K W in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester now has 145.2 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday (CG 4H R 0BB 10K W in the 4-1 win over the Giants). Lester had a Box-Toppers game score of +13.0, but lost out on earning Player of the Game honors to Kershaw, who had a game score of +14.0. So Lester only earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game.

That point boosts him to 24th place in career Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began. He passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (144.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 23rd-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9). Lester now ranks seventh among active players in career points, trailing Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (151.2).

Debut—Blue Jays pitcher Danny Barnes made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Barnes (1.2IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut Aug. 2, 2016, and was playing in his 26th career game. He is the 3,807th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Santana earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Rendon and Bogaerts each earn 1.5 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.

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 

5/23	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	`LAD 2, STL 1 (F/13)	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	1	1	0	10
	13.0	CHC 4, SF 1	Jon Lester (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	1	1	0	10
AL	11.0	MIN 2, BAL 0	Ervin Santana (W,7-2)	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	2	6
BAT	7.0	WSH 10, SEA 1	Anthony Rendon, 3B	4	3	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	HOU 6, DET 2	Lance McCullers Jr. (W,5-1)	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	2	5
	5.1	LAA 4, TB 0	Matt Shoemaker (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	0	0	3	5
	5.0	MIA 11, OAK 9	Justin Bour, 1B	5	4	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	BOS 11, TEX 6	Xander Bogaerts, SS	5	4	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	NYM 9, SD 3	Michael Conforto, LF	4	2	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.2	TOR 4, MIL 3	Danny Barnes (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	COL 8, PHI 2	Charlie Blackmon, CF	4	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	CLE 8, CIN 7	Edwin Encarnacion, 1B	4	3	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	ATL 6, PIT 5	Matt Adams, 1B	5	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	KC 6, NYY 2	Danny Duffy (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	2	2	3	7
	1.0	ARI 5, CHW 4	Fernando Rodney (S,11)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	0

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	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	10.7	35.1	134.8	194.4	-13.7
Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4	13.4	46.2	106.7	5.4
McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	6.0	12.1	18.8	18.8	-0.1
Conforto, Michael 3622	cf lf	nym nl	4.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	-1.0
Rendon, Anthony 3258	3b	dc nl	3.5	9.0	15.5	15.5	-2.0
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	3.0	13.7	31.7	32.7	-7.7
Shoemaker, Matt 3290	pi sp	ana al	3.0	10.0	28.4	28.4	-4.0
Blackmon, Charlie 2891	cf	col nl	2.7	6.7	13.2	14.7	-1.3
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	2.0	24.1	69.6	145.2	-20.1
Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh 1b	cle al	2.0	10.0	45.1	69.1	-6.0
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp	ari nl	2.0	7.0	25.0	37.0	-3.0
Bour, Justin 3433	1b	fla nl	2.0	4.5	14.5	14.5	-0.5
Adams, Matt 3220	1b ph	atl nl	2.0	3.0	11.5	11.5	1.0
Bogaerts, Xander 3383	ss	bos al	1.5	2.5	8.0	8.0	0.5
Barnes, Danny 3807	pi mr	tor al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Angels' 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

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

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	+/-
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

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Lackey tops players for Tuesday, May 9; Astros' Beltran ties Box-Toppers record, earning points in 19 straight seasons

Cubs pitcher John Lackey is Tuesday’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 9:  

	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	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	5.4
6	Kimbrel, Craig 2825	pi cp	bos al	5.0
7	Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp	pit nl	5.0
8	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	5.0
9	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	5.0
10	Judge, Aaron 3767	rf	nyy al	5.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Carlos Beltran of the Astros has now earned Box-Toppers points for 19 straight seasons, tying the “all-time” record set by Jason Giambi, after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Plus, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Lackey struck out 10 over seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 8-1 win over the Rockies.

Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 123.2 career points, ranked 39th among all player since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 38th-ranked player Gary Sheffield (124.1).

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco struck out seven over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Blue Jays.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Carlos Beltran has tied Jason Giambi for the longest streak—19 straight seasons. Beltran has earned points each season from 1999 to 2017; Giambi earned points each season from 1995 to 2013. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by length of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

	Streak	Player	Pos	Duration	Career BTP
1	19	Jason Giambi	1b	1995-2013	133.4
1	19	Carlos Beltran*	rf	1999-2017	105.9
3	18	Jim Thome	1b dh	1995-2012	146.7
3	18	Chipper Jones	3b	1995-2012	149.0
3	18	Johnny Damon	lf	1995-2012	63.0
3	18	Alex Rodriguez	3b	1996-2013	187.0
7	17	Mariano Rivera	pi cp	1995-2011	126.4
7	17	Derek Jeter	ss	1996-2012	76.4
7	17	Paul Konerko	1b	1998-2014	100.7
7	17	Tim Hudson	pi sp	1999-2015	157.0
7	17	Torii Hunter	cf	1999-2015	115.9
7	17	David Ortiz	dh	2000-2016	145.9
7	17	CC Sabathia*	pi sp	2001-2017	187.0
14	16	Manny Ramirez	lf	1995-2010	167.2
14	16	Andy Pettitte	pi sp	1995-2010	138.5
14	16	Jamie Moyer	pi sp	1995-2010	104.0
14	16	Scott Rolen	3b	1996-2011	97.6
14	16	Kevin Millwood	pi sp	1997-2012	108.3
14	16	Derek Lowe	pi sp	1998-2013	91.5
14	16	Aramis Ramirez	3b	2000-2015	105.8
14	16	Mark Buehrle	pi sp	2000-2015	116.7
14	16	Albert Pujols*	dh 1b	2001-2016	182.3
14	16	Ichiro Suzuki*	rf	2001-2016	53.7
24	15	Randy Johnson	pi sp	1995-2009	278.8
24	15	Garret Anderson	lf	1995-2009	86.5
24	15	Ivan Rodriguez	ca	1995-2009	79.0
24	15	Tony Clark	1b	1995-2009	63.8
24	15	Gary Sheffield	lf	1995-2009	124.1
24	15	Jason Kendall	ca	1996-2010	40.9
24	15	Vladimir Guerrero	rf	1997-2011	128.3
24	15	Bobby Abreu	rf	1997-2011	95.5
24	15	Mike Cameron	cf	1997-2011	70.3
24	15	Miguel Tejada	ss	1997-2011	102.3
24	15	Jorge Posada	ca	1997-2011	79.5
24	15	Livan Hernandez	pi sp	1997-2011	76.7
24	15	Kyle Lohse	pi sp	2001-2015	89.0
24	15	Jake Peavy	pi sp	2002-2016	141.8

BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak of a player active in 2017
Updated Wednesday, May 10, 2017
Details

Carrasco earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to fifth place in season player rankings and third among AL pitchers, behind Chris Sale of the Red Sox (6.7) and Ervin Santana of the Twins (6.7).

National League Batter of the Day—Keon Broxton of the Brewers homered, tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-7 win over the Red Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Ben Gamel of the Mariners hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 10-9 win over the Phillies. Gamel went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs.

Streak—Carlos Beltran of the Astros tied Box-Toppers’ record for the longest consecutive season streak in which a player has earned Player of the Game honors. 

Beltran was Player of the Game Tuesday in the 8-3 win over the Braves (HR 2-4 2R BI), marking the 19th straight season in which he has earned Box-Toppers points (1999 to 2017). That ties the record of Jason Giambi, who earned Box-Toppers points for 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, the same year Giambi began his Major League career. Giambi earned points in each season he played except for his last season in 2014.)

Beltran earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1999 with the Royals and has 105.9 career points, rising to 61st place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. Beltran earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Tuesday, passing three players on the “all-time” list—Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1), Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (105.7) and Aramis Ramirez (105.8). Beltran now trails 60th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2).

Beltran’s 105.9 career Box-Toppers points also ranks fourth among active AL batters.

Beltran’s best season was 2003 with the Royals when he had 13.9 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters, behind Carlos Delgado of the Blue Jays (17.7). In 2016, Beltran had 6.0 points with the Yankees and Rangers, eighth among AL designated hitters.

Beltran barely kept the streak alive earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers points in two different seasons—in 2010 with the Mets and in 2014 with the Yankees.

Besides Beltran, there are only three other Major League players who earned Box-Toppers points in 1999 or earlier who are still listed as active players today:

• Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon, who has 2.7 points this season, but he earned no points in 2010, so his consecutive season streak stands only at seven.
• Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, though he hasn’t earned Box-Toppers points yet this season. Also, Beltre did not earn points in 2005 or 2014, so his longest consecutive season streak earning Box-Toppers points is eight. His current streak is two seasons (2015 and 2016). 
• Pitcher Joe Nathan of the Nationals, though he hasn’t earned Box-Toppers points since Sept. 25, 2014.

Scoring—Lackey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Carrasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Broxton and Gamel each earn 1.5 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.

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 

5/9	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	CHC 8, COL 1	John Lackey (W,3-3)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	10
AL	11.0	CLE 6, TOR 0	Carlos Carrasco (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	0	7
	8.0	TEX 11, SD 0	A.J. Griffin (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	0	0	1	4
BAT	7.0	MIL 11, BOS 7	Keon Broxton, CF	3	3	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.1	`LAD 4, PIT 3 (F/10)	Julio Urias	-	-	-	-		6.1	1	1	1	2	5
BAT	6.0	SEA 10, PHI 9	Ben Gamel, RF	5	3	4	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	COL 10, CHC 4	Mark Reynolds, 1B	4	3	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	KC 7, TB 6 (F/12)	Salvador Perez, C	4	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	STL 6, MIA 5	Matt Adams, PH	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	NYM 6, SF 1	Zack Wheeler (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	4	4
	2.0	BAL 5, WSH 4 (F/12)	Logan Verrett (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		3.0	2	0	0	1	2
	1.0	LAA 7, OAK 3	Yunel Escobar, 3B	5	1	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	MIN 7, CHW 2	Byron Buxton, CF	4	1	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	HOU 8, ATL 3	Carlos Beltran, DH	4	2	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	CIN 5, NYY 3	Joey Votto, 1B	2	0	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	DET 7, ARI 3	Nicholas Castellanos, 3B	3	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	+/-
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	5.4	17.8	46.5	51.9	-7.0
Reynolds, Mark 2297	1b	col nl	3.5	7.5	22.2	54.9	-0.5
Griffin, A.J. 3074	pi sp	tex al	3.0	8.7	23.4	23.4	-2.7
Gamel, Ben 3784	rf	sea al	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Votto, Joey 2366	1b	cin nl	2.5	13.0	27.7	66.7	-8.0
Broxton, Keon 3785	cf	mil nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	2.0	15.4	41.8	123.2	-11.4
Castellanos, Nick 3349	3b	det al	2.0	7.5	15.7	15.7	-3.5
Verrett, Logan 3518	pi cp	bal al	2.0	3.0	6.0	6.0	1.0
Beltran, Carlos 1194	dh rf	hou al	1.0	7.0	19.2	105.9	-5.0
Urias, Julio 3652	pi sp	lad nl	1.0	6.7	6.7	6.7	-4.7
Buxton, Byron 3604	cf	min al	1.0	5.7	6.7	6.7	-3.7
Perez, Salvador 2972	ca	kc al	1.0	5.0	20.2	22.7	-3.0
Escobar, Yunel 2331	3b	ana al	1.0	2.0	17.5	42.0	0.0
Adams, Matt 3220	1b ph	stl nl	1.0	2.0	10.5	10.5	0.0
Wheeler, Zack 3204	pi sp	nym nl	1.0	1.0	12.7	12.7	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?