Yankees pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MorePirates’ Jameson Taillon tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 18; Rays’ Snell rises to lead Box-Toppers ’18 player rankings
Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning AL Player of the Day honors, passing previous leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer. In addition, Indians pitcher Corey Kluber maintains his sixth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after he earns Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Read MoreMets’ Zack Wheeler tops players for Wednesday, Sept 12; Rays’ Snell edges closer to Box-Toppers leader Scherzer
Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, becoming the 38th player this season to earn 10 or more Box-Toppers points.
Also Wednesday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell who leads American League pitchers in 2018 Box-Toppers points and is ranked second overall, edged closer to overall leader Max Scherzer of the Nationals after earning AL Player of the Day honors. In addition Wednesday, Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreIndians’ Carlos Carrasco top players for Tuesday, Aug. 28, rises to 6th in player rankings
Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
Carrasco struck out 11 over 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks, in the 8-1 win over the Twins.
Read MoreRed Sox’ David Price tops players for Thursday, Aug. 23; Phillies’ Nola maintains 3rd place in player rankings
Red Sox pitcher David Price is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola maintained his third-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreRangers’ Mike Minor tops players for Wednesday, June 27; Red Sox’ Martinez rises to lead AL batter rankings
Rangers pitcher Mike Minor is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, J.D. Martinez of the Red Sox rises to lead American League batters in 2018 Box-Toppers points after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
Read MoreDodgers' Kershaw tops players for Sunday, April 15; Rangers' Colon is 1st to earn Box-Toppers points in 20 seasons
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to fifth place in season player rankings.
Also Sunday, Rangers pitcher Bartolo Colon, flirting with a perfect game at age 44, becomes the first player to earn Box-Toppers points in 20 different seasons after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MorePhillies' Nick Pivetta tops players for Thursday, April 5; Red Sox' Price tops AL players
Phillies pitcher Nick Pivetta is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Pivetta struck out nine over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins.
Read MoreNationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Friday, March 30; Tanaka tops AL players
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Scherzer struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.
Read MoreBox-Toppers top pitchers by time frame (after 2017)
Randy Johnson has the most Box-Toppers points of any pitcher since tracking began in 1995.
Meanwhile, Chris Sale of the Red Sox led all pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2017, Max Scherzer of the Nationals led all pitchers in points over the past two seasons and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers led all pitchers in points over the past six seasons. Kershaw also leads all active pitchers in career Box-Toppers points.
Read MoreRed Sox' Chris Sale tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 20, rises to lead Box-Toppers player rankings
Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead season player rankings, passing Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who only took the lead Tuesday.
Sale struck out 13 over eight scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 9-0 win over the Orioles.
Read MorePhillies' Aaron Nola tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 13; Twins' Santana rises to 9th in Box-Toppers rankings
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Wednesday, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer failed in his chance to take the 2017 Box-Toppers points lead after he did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s loss Wednesday.
Read MoreTwins' Ervin Santana tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 2, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Twins pitcher Ervin Santana is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth in season player rankings.
Santana pitched a four-hit complete game, striking out nine and allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 5-2 win over the Padres. He retired the first 10 batters he faced.
Read MoreMets' Jacob deGrom tops players for Friday, July 14, rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th place in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of July 14:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 21.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 17.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 9 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 10 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
deGrom struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk, in the 14-2 win over the Rockies.
deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season, rising to 10th place in player rankings, seventh place among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 5-0 win over the Indians.
National League Batter of the Day—Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers hit two homers, including a ninth-inning, three-run shot, in the 6-4 win over the Marlins. Puig went 2-for-4, driving in four total runs.
Puig earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 Box-Toppers points for 2017, which is his highest single-season total of his five-season career. His previous best seasons were 2015 and 2016 when he had 3.5 each season. He had just 1.5 points in 2013 and just 1.0 point in 2014.
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, in the 5-3 win over the Royals.
Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 113.8 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 49th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list—Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). Beltre now trails 48th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).
Passing Sosa, Beltre now ranks 15th among all batters since 1995, trailing 14th-ranked Torii Hunter (115.9). Beltre also ranks 15th among active players in career Box-Toppers points, trailing 14th-ranked player, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (117.5). He ranks third among active batters in career points, behind second-ranked Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9).
Beltre has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Scoring—deGrom earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Puig and Beltre each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s 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| 7/14 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | NYM 14, COL 2 | Jacob deGrom (W, 10-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| 8.1 | WSH 5, CIN 0 | Gio Gonzalez (W, 8-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| AL | 8.0 | OAK 5, CLE 0 | Sonny Gray (W, 5-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | SEA 4, CHW 2 | James Paxton (W, 8-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | LAD 6, MIA 4 | Yasiel Puig (RF) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | PIT 5, STL 2 | Josh Bell (1B) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | `BOS 5, NYY 4 | Matt Barnes | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | TEX 5, KC 3 | Adrian Beltre (3B) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | CHC 9, BAL 8 | Wade Davis (S, 17) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 10, MIN 5 | Marwin Gonzalez (LF) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 9, PHI 6 | Ryan Braun (LF) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 7, DET 2 | Jose Bautista (RF) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 4, ARI 3 | Jim Johnson (S, 20) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | TB 2, LAA 1 (F/10) | Alex Colome (S, 26) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | SF 5, SD 4 | Gorkys Hernandez (LF) | 4 | 1 | 4 | 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 | +/- |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 | 19.4 | 54.8 | 54.8 | 0.0 |
| Paxton, James 3280 | pi sp | sea al | 8.0 | 12.4 | 19.1 | 19.1 | 3.6 |
| Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp | atl nl | 6.0 | 10.0 | 21.0 | 27.7 | 2.0 |
| Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 5.7 | 6.7 | 38.5 | 38.5 | 4.7 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 5.0 | 14.0 | 22.7 | 22.7 | -4.0 |
| Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | lad nl | 4.5 | 8.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 1.0 |
| Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 | 9.0 | 60.1 | 89.5 | -3.0 |
| Barnes, Matt 3466 | pi mr cp | bos al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.0 |
| Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 2.5 | 12.0 | 45.9 | 113.8 | -7.0 |
| Bautista, Jose 2169 | rf | tor al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 26.5 | 65.4 | 1.5 |
| Gonzalez, Marwin 3078 | lf | hou al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.5 |
| Hernandez, Goryks 3758 | cf lf | sf nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Braun, Ryan J. 2300 | lf | mil nl | 2.0 | 12.5 | 38.0 | 90.2 | -8.5 |
| Davis, Wade 2681 | pi cp | chi nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 21.0 | 28.0 | -2.0 |
| Bell, Josh E. 3682 | 1b | pit nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
Marlins' Dan Straily tops players for Friday, June 16; Scherzer, 2nd in player rankings, earns Player of the Game
Marlins pitcher Dan Straily 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 June 16:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.0 |
| 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 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.0 |
| 8 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 10 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 7.7 |
Also Friday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earned Player of the Game honors. Plus, two other players rose into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings for the season—Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood rose to seventh and Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel rose to 10th.
Player of the Day—Straily struck out eight over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 5-0 win over the Braves.
American League Player of the Day—Melky Cabrera of the White Sox homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-4 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Paul DeJong of the Cardinals homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-2 win over the Orioles.
This was DeJong’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. DeJong made his Major League debut May 28 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,827th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
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 Melky Cabrera.
Scherzer—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer maintains his second-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Scherzer (8IP 4H R 2BB 10K W in the 7-2 win over the Mets) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He trails overall leader and NL pitching leader Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers (14.4 Box-Toppers points).
Scherzer also rises to 26th place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday he has 144.7 career points, passing Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels (144.0) on the “all-time” list. He now trails 25th-ranked player David Ortiz (145.9).
Passing Hamels, Scherzer now ranks ninth among active players in career Box-Toppers points, seventh among active pitchers. He trails the eighth-ranked active player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9) and the sixth-ranked active pitcher Jon Lester of the Cubs (147.2).
Scherzer narrowly missed out on earning overall Player of the Day honors Friday. His Box-Toppers game score of 10.0 was topped by Straily’s game score of 10.1.
Rankings—Two players rose into Box-Toppers season player rankings top 10 list after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood (8IP 4H R 0BB 5K W in the 3-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to seventh place in player rankings, fourth among NL pitchers.
- Red Sox closing pitcher Craig Kimbrel (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K Sv in the 2-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to 10th in player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers and most among all closing pitchers.
Notable—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers now has 112.3 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Beltre (1-2 2R 2BI in the 10-4 win over the Mariners) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season, and ranks 53rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails 52nd-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Beltre ranks 16th among all batters since 1995 and third among all active batters in career points, behind Albert Pujols of the Angels (184.3) and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (146.9).
Also notable—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Friday.
LeMahieu (2B 4-4 2R 2BI in the 10-8 win over the Giants) was also Box-Toppers NL Batter of the Day Thursday in the 10-9 win over the Giants. LeMahieu has 2.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, all earned in the past two days.
Scoring—Straily earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cabrera earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. DeJong earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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| 6/16 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.1 | MIA 5, ATL 0 | Dan Straily (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 10.0 | WSH 7, NYM 2 | Max Scherzer (W,8-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| 7.0 | LAD 3, CIN 1 | Alex Wood (W,7-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | CHW 11, TOR 4 | Melky Cabrera, LF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | STL 11, BAL 2 | Paul DeJong, 2B | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | KC 3, LAA 1 | Ian Kennedy (W,1-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | CLE 8, MIN 1 | Carlos Carrasco (W,7-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | COL 10, SF 8 | DJ LeMahieu, 2B | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | DET 13, TB 4 | Justin Upton, LF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.1 | `ARI 5, PHI 4 | Archie Bradley (H,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 9, PIT 5 | Willson Contreras, C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 10, SEA 4 | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 7, NYY 6 | Santiago Casilla (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 2, HOU 1 | Craig Kimbrel (S,19) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | MIL 6, SD 5 (F/10) | Manny Pina, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 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 | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.0 | 38.7 | 116.9 | 144.7 | -12.7 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.0 | 9.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 | 7.0 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 7.7 | 15.7 | 60.4 | 66.4 | -0.3 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 7.4 | 19.8 | 48.5 | 53.9 | -5.0 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | fla nl | 6.0 | 13.0 | 23.7 | 23.7 | -1.0 |
| Cabrera, Melky 2143 | lf | chi al | 4.7 | 8.7 | 18.7 | 35.2 | 0.7 |
| Upton, Justin 2411 | lf | det al | 4.0 | 10.7 | 36.9 | 55.1 | -2.7 |
| Contreras, Willson 3776 | ca ph | chi nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Pina, Manny 3769 | ca | mil nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 3.0 | 13.0 | 44.1 | 69.5 | -7.0 |
| LeMahieu, DJ 3091 | 2b | col nl | 2.5 | 10.5 | 23.5 | 23.5 | -5.5 |
| Dejong, Paul 3827 | 2b | stl nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 1.0 | 10.5 | 44.4 | 112.3 | -8.5 |
| Casilla, Santiago 2301 | pi cp | oak al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 19.7 | 24.7 | -2.0 |
| Bradley, Archie 3438 | pi mr sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -2.0 |
For nearly 16 years, Curt Schilling held 3rd-place spot in Box-Toppers career points rankings, until Clayton Kershaw passed him this week
Curt Schilling rose into third place in Box-Toppers career points on July 21, 2001, and held that spot continuously for nearly 16 years until just this week, when Clayton Kershaw, in his 10th season, passed him.
Read MoreIndians' Corey Kluber tops players for Friday, April 21; Harper, Holland rise into Box-Toppers top 10
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kluber pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out nine and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the White Sox.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 21:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 2 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 6 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 |
| 7 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 |
| 8 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 9 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
Kluber led AL players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 21.2. This was Kluber’s first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor for 2017.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Trevor Cahill allowed one run and three hits over seven innings, striking out six, in the 5-3 win over the Marlins.
National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright homered and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 6-3 win over the Brewers.
This is the first time this season that a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. It was done eight times in 2016 (including twice by Wainwright) and seven times in 2015. Wainwright has earned Player of the Game honors four times in his career for batting: July 24, 2012, May 2, 2016 and Sept. 5, 2016. He’s earned NL Batter of the Day three times (the only time he didn’t was Sept. 5, 2016).
Wainwright had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, which was the same as his Box-Toppers game score for pitching (5IP 6H 2R 0BB 9K W). But in cases of game score ties, batters beat pitchers, so Wainwright the batter beat out Wainwright the pitcher on the tiebreaker to earn Player of the Game honors.
Wainwright also now has 113.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 48th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list: Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). He now trails 47th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers hit two homers, going 2-for-3 and driving in three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Royals.
Rankings—Two players rise into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
- Bryce Harper of the Nationals (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Mets) rises to fifth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.0 for the season.
- Rockies closing pitcher Greg Holland (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 6-5 win over the Giants) rises to sixth place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.0 for the season.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Blue Jays pitcher Ryan Tepera (3IP H 0R 0BB 3K W in the 8-7, 13-inning win over the Angels) made his Major League debut May 10, 2015, and was playing in his 59th career game. He is the 3,774th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Cubs pitcher Carl Edwards Jr. (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Sept. 7, 2015, and was playing in his 48th career game. He is the 3,775th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cahill earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Wainwright and Gallo each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score| 4/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | CLE 3, CHW 0 | Corey Kluber (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| NL | 7.0 | SD 5, MIA 3 | Trevor Cahill (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 5.0 | PHI 4, ATL 3 | Jeremy Hellickson (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | TOR 8, LAA 7 (F/13) | Ryan Tepera (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 6, MIL 3 | Adam Wainwright, P | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 6, KC 2 | Joey Gallo, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.1 | PIT 6, NYY 3 | Juan Nicasio (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 13, LAD 5 | Daniel Descalso, PH-1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 2, BOS 0 | Dylan Bundy (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 6, CIN 5 (F/11) | Carl Edwards Jr. (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 6, TB 3 | Ken Giles (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | COL 6, SF 5 | Greg Holland (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 4, NYM 3 (F/11) | Bryce Harper, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 6, DET 3 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 3, SEA 1 | Sean Manaea (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
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 | +/- |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 31.4 | 31.4 | 1.0 |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 34.0 | 37.0 | 4.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -3.0 |
| Gallo, Joey 3485 | 3b | tex al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 | 23.2 | 67.4 | 67.4 | -19.2 |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | 15.1 | 36.1 | 46.8 | -11.1 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 1.7 | 4.7 | 19.4 | 41.9 | -1.3 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.5 | 11.7 | 62.8 | 113.5 | -8.7 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi mr sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 10.0 | 22.4 | 26.4 | -8.0 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -5.7 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi cp mr | hou al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -2.0 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -2.0 |
| Descalso, Daniel 2855 | ph 1b | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 11.2 | 0.0 |
| Edwards, Carl Jr. 3775 | pi mr | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Tepera, Ryan 3774 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Box-Toppers top pitchers by time frame
Randy Johnson leads pitchers in career Box-Toppers points. CC Sabathia and Clayton Kershaw lead active pitchers in points.
Read MoreDodgers' Rich Hill tops players for Saturday, Sept. 10, rises to 9th; Nationals' Scherzer bolsters lead in Box-Toppers rankings
Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 10:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 |
Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rises to 10th place in player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Hill pitched seven perfect innings, striking out nine, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins. Despite allowing no base runners for seven innings, he was pulled after 89 pitches to preserve his health—he had spent time recently on the disabled list. While three Dodgers relievers preserved the shutout, they did give up two hits.
Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10 over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.
Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
With the rise of Hill to ninth place and Tanaka to 10th place in season player rankings, two other players were displaced from Box-Toppers top 10 list for the season—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (14.0) and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (13.7).
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two homers and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Pence of the Giants homered and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in one run, in the 11-3 win over the Diamondbacks. It is the second straight day Pence has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 0R BB 8K ND in the 3-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.7 for the season. He leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (20.4) by 3.3 points.
Scherzer also now has 129.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 30th-ranked Jason Giambi (133.4).
Notable—Three other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season also earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
- Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 4H 2R BB 5K W in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season, 13th among all players and fourth among AL pitchers.
- Joey Votto of the Reds (HR 2B 4-5 2R BI in the 8-7 win over the Pirates) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season, 33rd among all players and second among NL batters, behind Kris Bryant of the Cubs (10.5). (Bryant holds the higher rank because he had more 2015 Box-Toppers points—8.5 vs. 5.)
- Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (8IP 6H R 4BB 7K W in the 5-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.2 for the season, 36th among all players and 17th among NL pitchers. Wainwright now has 112.0 career Box-Toppers points, 52nd-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Adrian Beltre of the Rangers (111.3) in “all-time” rankings and now trails 51st-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8).
Debut—Twins pitcher J.T. Chargois made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Chargois (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Indians) made his Major League debut June 11 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,736th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters and Pence each earn 1.5 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/10 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | LAD 5, MIA 0 | Rich Hill (W,12-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 14.0 | SD 6, COL 3 | Christian Friedrich (W,5-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | ||
| AL | 10.1 | NYY 5, TB 1 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,13-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| 9.2 | `WSH 3, PHI 0 | Max Scherzer | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | BAL 11, DET 3 | Matt Wieters, C | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | SF 11, ARI 3 | Hunter Pence, RF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SEA 14, OAK 3 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | HOU 2, CHC 1 | Collin McHugh (W,10-10) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 5, MIL 1 | Adam Wainwright (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 8, PIT 7 | Joey Votto, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 8, LAA 5 | Carlos Gomez, LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | KC 6, CHW 5 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 3, BOS 2 | J.A. Happ (W,18-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 2, CLE 1 (12) | J.T. Chargois (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | ATL 4, NYM 3 (10) | Matt Kemp, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the 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 (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 | 44.7 | 109.3 | 129.7 | 2.7 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 38.1 | 10.4 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 | 22.1 | 34.8 | 34.8 | 6.1 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 13.7 | 26.8 | 42.2 | 50.2 | 0.6 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 10.5 | 15.5 | 32.2 | 64.2 | 5.5 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.2 | 13.2 | 61.3 | 112.0 | 7.2 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 9.5 | 10.5 | 28.5 | 34.2 | 8.5 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 8.5 | 17.5 | 31.0 | 31.0 | -0.5 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 | 17.4 | 29.2 | 29.2 | -2.0 |
| Kemp, Matt 2151 | rf lf | atl nl | 6.5 | 12.0 | 36.5 | 58.1 | 1.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | sea al | 5.5 | 7.5 | 33.2 | 52.7 | 3.5 |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | sf nl | 3.5 | 5.5 | 24.5 | 52.2 | 1.5 |
| Friedrich, Christian 3024 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 2.7 |
| Gomez, Carlos 2397 | cf lf | tex al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 18.5 | 29.5 | -4.0 |
| Chargois, J.T. 3736 | pi cp | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Nationals' Max Scherzer tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 30, extending his season Box-Toppers points lead
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and extends his lead in season player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 30:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 18.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 17.2 |
| 5 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 6 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.4 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 8 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.1 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 14.0 |
| 10 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.7 |
Scherzer struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs, three hits and one walk, in the 3-2 win over the Phillies.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 22.7 for the season. Scherzer took the Box-Toppers points lead in his last start Aug. 25, passing previous leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0 Box-Toppers points).
Scherzer’s 22.7 points is now his single-season career high, passing his 2014 point total of 22.1 he earned with the Tigers.
Scherzer also now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 32nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes three players on the “all-time” list—Roy Oswalt (127.2), A.J. Burnett (127.8) and Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Scherzer now trails 31st-ranked player Trevor Hoffman (129.4).
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Collin McHugh pitched six scoreless innings, allowing four hits, one walk and striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Curtis Granderson of the Mets hit two homers and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 8-7 win over the Mariners.
Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 111.3 career points, rising to 52nd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Tuesday, he passes Tom Glavine (110.6) on the “all-time” list and now trails 51st-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8).
Beltre has 9.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, fifth among AL batters.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 110.0 career Box-Toppers points—54th-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Wainwright (7IP 3H R 0BB 7K ND in the 3-1, 10-inning win over the Brewers) passes Jeff Kent (109.7) on the “all-time” list and now trails 53rd-ranked player Tom Glavine (110.6).
Wainwright has 8.2 Box-Toppers points on the season, 21st among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks has 11.7 Box-Toppers points on the season after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.
Hendricks (7IP 3H 0R BB 4K W in the 3-0 win over the Pirates) ranks 18th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
Debut—Rays pitcher Enny Romero made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Romero (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 4-3 win over the Red Sox) made his Major League debut Sept. 22, 2013, and was playing in his 68th career game. He is the 3,726th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McHugh earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Granderson and Beltre 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/30 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | WSH 3, PHI 2 | Max Scherzer (W,15-7) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 9.0 | `STL 2, MIL 1 (10) | Adam Wainwright | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 7.0 | CHC 3, PIT 0 | Kyle Hendricks (W,13-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| AL | 6.0 | HOU 3, OAK 1 | Collin McHugh (W,9-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 5.2 | CLE 5, MIN 4 | Dan Otero (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | NYM 7, MIA 4 | Curtis Granderson, PH-RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | ATL 7, SD 3 | Julio Teheran (W,4-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 8, SEA 7 | Adrian Beltre, 3B | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | NYY 5, KC 4 (10) | Dellin Betances (W,3-4; BS,4) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 4, CIN 2 | C.J. Cron, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | DET 8, CHW 4 | J.D. Martinez, RF | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TB 4, BOS 3 | Enny Romero (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | BAL 5, TOR 3 | Brad Brach (W,8-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 0.0 | ARI 4, SF 3 | Welington Castillo, C | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the 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 (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 22.7 | 43.7 | 108.3 | 128.7 | 1.7 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 11.7 | 21.4 | 26.4 | 26.4 | 2.0 |
| Beltre, Adrian 1141 | 3b | tex al | 9.5 | 22.0 | 47.9 | 111.3 | -3.0 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 8.2 | 11.2 | 59.3 | 110.0 | 5.2 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 7.0 | 14.7 | 42.8 | 42.8 | -0.7 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 6.7 | 16.4 | 28.2 | 28.2 | -3.0 |
| Castillo, Wellington 3251 | ca | ari nl | 5.0 | 8.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | 1.5 |
| Martinez, J.D. 2922 | rf | det al | 4.5 | 6.2 | 16.2 | 16.2 | 2.8 |
| Cron, C.J. 3338 | 1b dh | ana al | 3.7 | 9.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -2.3 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -1.0 |
| Granderson, Curtis 2051 | rf ph | nym nl | 3.0 | 7.0 | 31.9 | 64.3 | -1.0 |
| Brach, Brad 3374 | pi mr | bal al | 3.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
| Otero, Dan 3365 | pi mr | cle al | 3.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 1.3 |
| Romero, Enny 3726 | pi mr | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |