Diamondbacks pitcher Luke Weaver is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Weaver struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 9-2 win over the Rockies.
Read MoreWhite Sox' Carlos Rodon tops players for Sunday, Sept. 25; Cubs' Lester rises to 4th in Box-Toppers rankings
White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 25:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 24.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.4 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | died* | 22.4 |
| 4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 21.2 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 17.8 |
| 7 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 8 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 9 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
* Jose Fernandez died in a boating accident Sept. 25. His team was the Miami Marlins.
Also Sunday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Plus, Sunday: Jose Fernandez, 24, died in a Miami boating accident. Two of his friends also died. The Miami Marlins pitcher ranked third in Box-Toppers season player rankings with 22.4 Box-Toppers points. Box-Toppers will have more on Fernandez in a coming, separate post.
Player of the Day—Rodon struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and walking three, in the 3-0 win over the Indians.
National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 17-0 win over the Phillies.
This was Gsellman’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Gsellman made his Major League debut Aug. 23 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,748th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals hit a homer and two doubles, going 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-9 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Jayson Werth of the Nationals hit a game-tying, eighth-inning, pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 10-7 win over the Pirates.
Rankings—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Lester (6.2IP 3H 0R BB 7K W in the 3-1 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.1 for the season.
Lester now has 143.2 career Box-Toppers points, 26th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 25th-ranked player Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (143.9) on the “all-time” list.
Scoring—Rodon earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gsellman earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Gordon and Werth each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’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
| 9/25 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 14.0 | CHW 3, CLE 0 | Carlos Rodon (W,8-10) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | |
| 11.1 | `BOS 3, TB 2 (10) | Eduardo Rodriguez | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | ||
| NL | 10.0 | NYM 17, PHI 0 | Robert Gsellman (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 9.2 | CHC 3, STL 1 | Jon Lester (W,19-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 7.0 | KC 12, DET 9 | Alex Gordon, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7.0 | OAK 7, TEX 1 | Jharel Cotton (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | `TOR 4, NYY 3 | Marco Estrada | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | CIN 4, MIL 2 | Brandon Finnegan (W,10-11) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | BAL 2, ARI 1 | Dylan Bundy (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 4, MIN 3 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | WSH 10, PIT 7 | Jayson Werth, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.1 | `LAD 4, COL 3 (10) | Brandon McCarthy | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | HOU 4, LAA 1 | Joe Musgrove (W,4-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 1.2 | SD 4, SF 3 | Brad Hand (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | stl-chc | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 22.1 | 34.1 | 80.3 | 143.2 | 10.1 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 11.0 | 19.0 | 43.1 | 43.1 | 3.0 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 7.0 | 15.1 | 15.1 | 15.1 | -1.1 |
| Finnegan, Brandon 3535 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | sea al | 6.5 | 8.5 | 34.2 | 53.7 | 4.5 |
| Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | dc nl | 6.0 | 9.0 | 23.0 | 50.2 | 3.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 |
| Hand, Brad 2907 | pi mr | sd nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 4.0 |
| Rodriguez, Eduardo 3480 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | 10.7 | -1.3 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | hou al | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.7 | 4.7 | 27.8 | 36.5 | 0.7 |
| Cotton, Jharel 3733 | pi sp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Gsellman, Robert 3748 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Gordon, Alex 2328 | lf | kc al | 1.5 | 6.0 | 22.0 | 31.5 | -3.0 |
Phillies' Darin Ruf tops players in Wednesday, March 9's spring training games
Darin Ruf of the Phillies is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Wednesday.
Ruf hit two homers and went 2-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 8-4 win over the Orioles. Ruf had 1.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Phillies.
American League Player of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-5 win over the Brewers. Gordon had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Royals.
Notable—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies, who led National League batters in Box-Toppers points in 2015, was Player of the Game in the 8-6 win over the Giants. Gonzalez hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice. Gonzalez led NL batters in 2015 with 11.5 Box-Toppers points.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Ruf would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gordon would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. All of Wednesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Sixteen spring training games were scheduled for Tuesday—14 are listed below. Two games are not included because they ended in a tie (Yankees vs. Mets and Dodgers vs. Angels).
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
| 3/8 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 5.0 | Phillies | Darin Ruf 1B | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 4.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Tigers | Nate Schierholtz RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `Rangers | César Ramos | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Blake Swihart DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Phillies | Cameron Rupp C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Rockies | Carlos González RF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Ed Lucas LF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | José Altuve 2B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Blue Jays | Ryan Goins SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | Zach Borenstein RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Athletics | Matt Chapman PH-3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Marlins | Justin Bour 1B | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| ` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Royals' Johnny Cueto (2-hit complete game) tops players in World Series Game 2, Wednesday, Oct. 28
Johnny Cueto pitched a complete-game two-hitter to lead the Royals to a Game 2 World Series win over the Mets Wednesday, picking up Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
Cueto allowed one run, struck out four and walked three in the 7-1 win, giving the Kansas City Royals a 2-0 lead over the New York Mets in the best-of-seven series.
Cueto had a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, the highest of all Royals players Wednesday. During the regular season, Cueto had 12.8 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players and 13th among AL pitchers. However, Cueto earned nearly all of his points while pitching with the Cincinnati Reds before he was traded in late July to the Royals. He had 10.8 points with the Reds and 2.0 with the Royals, earning Player of the Day honors on Aug. 10.
This was the second time Cueto earned Player of the Game honors this postseason. He was also Player of the Game in the American League Division Series Game 5 against the Astros on Oct. 14.
Alex Gordon (2B 1-2 2R BI) had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Royals batters of +2.0.
Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom ranked third in Box-Toppers points during the regular season (22.4), but had the lowest Box-Toppers game score of any player in Game 2. deGrom (5IP 6H 4R 3BB 2K) had a Box-Toppers game score of −10.0.
Only three Mets players had Box-Toppers game scores of 0.0 or more in Wednesday’s Game 2 as most pitchers gave up multiple hits or runs and most batters were shut down by Cueto and did not earn hits, runs or RBIs. The top three Mets were:
- Middle reliever Hansel Robles (1IP 0R 0H 0K), Box-Toppers game score of +1.0.
- Middle reliever Sean Gilmartin (0.2IP 0R 0H 0K), Box-Toppers game score of +0.2.
- First baseman Lucas Duda (2-3 BI), Box-Toppers game score of 0.0. Duda had both of the Mets’ hits off Cueto.
Thursday is a travel day. The World Series resumes with Game 3 Friday in New York.
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 Royals in World Series Game 2
Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Royals who played in World Series Game 2 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score. Johnny Cueto is Player of the Game (POG).
| 10/28 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 6.0 | Royals | Johnny Cueto (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon, LF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Paulo Orlando, RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Alex Rios, RF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Kendrys Morales, DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -5.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, 2B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Coming Friday in New York:
World Series Game 3, Royals lead Mets, 2-0
The pitching match-up Friday:
Royals—Yordano Ventura, 11.7 Box-Toppers points, 30th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.
Mets—Noah Syndergaard, 10.4 Box-Toppers points, 41st among all players, 16th among NL pitchers.
Box-Toppers season-end player rankings report
Box-Toppers point totals of all Royals players active at season's end
Box-Toppers point totals of all Mets players active at season's end
Royals' Chris Young pitches extra-innings relief to top players in World Series Game 1, Tuesday, Oct. 27
Chris Young pitched three innings of extra-innings relief to earn Player of the Game honors Tuesday in World Series Game 1, as the Royals came from behind to win 5-4 in 14 innings.
Young, slated to be the Game 4 starter, came on in relief in the 12th inning and finished out the game, allowing no hits or runs, striking out four and allowing one walk, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0, the highest among Royals players.
The Royals take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven World Series.
The Royals trailed 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, when Alex Gordon hit a one-out home run to tie the game, forcing extra innings. Eric Hosmer hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to score the winning run in the bottom of the 14th. While no Royals batter had a positive Box-Toppers game score, Hosmer had the highest score among Kansas City batters of −1.0 (2SF 0-3 2BI).
Chris Young, during the regular season, had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 78th among all players and 29th among American League pitchers.
Royals Game 1 starting pitcher Edinson Volquez had the lowest Box-Toppers game score among Kansas City players of −4.0 (6IP 6H 3R BB 3K ND).
Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.0 (6H 5K 3R 2BB 2K ND). Harvey had 15.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 16th among all players, eighth among National League pitchers.
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 Royals in World Series Game 1
Here are the Box-Toppers game score of all Royals who played in World Series Game 1 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score. Chris Young is Player of the Game (POG).
| 10/27 | Score | Team | Players | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| POG | 6.0 | Royals | Chris Young (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 4.0 | Royals | Wade Davis | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 1.2 | Royals | Danny Duffy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Ryan Madson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 0.0 | Royals | Luke Hochevar | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -0.9 | Royals | Kelvin Herrera | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| -1.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Ben Zobrist, 2B | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar, SS | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon, LF | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Paulo Orlando, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -2.0 | Royals | Jarrod Dyson, PR-DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Mike Moustakas, 3B | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Kendrys Morales, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -3.0 | Royals | Alex Rios, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| -4.0 | Royals | Edinson Volquez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Coming Wednesday in Kansas City:
World Series Game 2, Royals lead Mets, 1-0
The pitching match-up Wednesday:
Mets—Jacob deGrom, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Royals—Johnny Cueto, 12.8 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers season-end player rankings report
Box-Toppers point totals of all Royals players active at season's end
Box-Toppers point totals of all Mets players active at season's end
Reds' Johnny Cueto (CG 0R 2H 11K) tops players for Tuesday, July 7, rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings
Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 10th in player rankings.
Also Tuesday, Giants pitcher Matt Cain, who earned his first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the season, has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 7.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 2 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 12.4 |
| 4 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 12.1 |
| 5 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 12.0 |
| 6 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 11.4 |
| 8 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 10.7 |
| 9 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.7 |
| 10 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 9.8 |
Player of the Day—Cueto pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, striking out 11 and walking one, in the 5-0 win over the Nationals.
Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.8 for the season, rising to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings. He ranks fifth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out seven, in the 2-0 win over the Astros.
American League Batter of the Day—Alex Gordon of the Royals doubled and went 4-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 7-1 win over the Rays.
National League Batter of the Day—Anthony Rizzo of the Cubs homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cardinals.
Streak—Giants pitcher Matt Cain has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 11 straight seasons.
Cain was Player of the Game in Tuesday’s 3-0 win over the Mets (6IP 2H 0R 7K W) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Cain earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2005 with the Giants. His best season was 2010 with the Giants, when he had 16.1 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL pitchers. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Giants.
Cain has 96.0 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 45th among all pitchers since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. His 96.0 career points ranks 15th among active NL pitchers.
Debut—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:
- Paulo Orlando of the Royals (HR 2-5 2R 4BI in the 9-5 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut April 19 and was playing in his 33rd career game. He is the 3,526th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
- Miguel Sano of the Twins (HR 2-3 R 3BI in the 8-3 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut July 2 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,527th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Cubs pitcher Dallas Beeler (5IP 4H 2R 6K ND in the 5-3 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut July 28, 2014, and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,528th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gordon and Rizzo each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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
| 7/7 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 17.0 | Reds | Johnny Cueto (W,6-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 9.0 | Giants | Matt Cain (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | ||
| AL | 6.2 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W,4-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| 4.2 | Dbacks | Robbie Ray (W,3-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | Braves | Jason Grilli (S,24) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | Blue Jays | Felix Doubront (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon, LF | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Royals | Paulo Orlando, CF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Austin Jackson, CF | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Twins | Miguel Sano, DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Cubs | Anthony Rizzo, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Koji Uehara (S,20) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `Pirates | Francisco Liriano | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Jeff Francoeur, LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Athletics | Drew Pomeranz (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | `Cubs | Dallas Beeler | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Mets' Rafael Montero tops players for Monday, March 30's spring games
Mets pitcher Rafael Montero is Monday’s spring training Player of the Day.
Montero pitched six shutout innings, allowed two hits and struck out six, in the 7-1 win over the Marlins.
Athletics pitcher Drew Pomeranz is Monday’s American League Player of the Day. Pomeranz pitched six shutout innings, allowed two hits and struck out six, in the 11-2 win over the Rockies.
Pedro Alvarez of the Pirates is National League Batter of the Day for Monday. Alvarez hit two homers, including a grand slam and drove in six runs in the 18-4 win over the Phillies.
Alex Gordon of the Royals is AL Batter of the Day for Monday. Gordon homered and went 3-for-4 in the 11-7 win over the Rangers.
Box-Toppers points aren’t awarded for spring training games, but if this were the regular season, Montero would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Pomeranz would earn 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Alvarez and Gordon would each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Fourteen spring training games were scheduled Monday. One game which ended in a tie (Orioles and Rays tied at 1) was not included in Box-Toppers results.
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
| 330 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | Mets | Rafael Montero (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| AL | 9.0 | Athletics | Drew Pomeranz (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| BAT | 7.0 | Pirates | Pedro Alvarez 1B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 7.0 | Mariners | Taijuan Walker (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6.1 | Indians | Trevor Bauer (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Padres | Ian Kennedy (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Braves | Eric Stults (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Cubs | Zac Rosscup (S, 3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Mookie Betts CF | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Dodgers | Brett Anderson (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Blue Jays | Blake McFarland (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Cardinals | Peter Bourjos PR, CF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Box-Toppers' top player Clayton Kershaw wins NL MVP; top-ranked AL batter Jose Abreu finishes behind Mike Trout for AL MVP
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014, was voted National League Most Valuable Player Thursday.
Center fielder Mike Trout of the Angels was the unanimous choice for American League Most Valuable Player, though Trout ranked seventh among AL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2014.
Read MoreRoyals' Wade Davis tops players in ALCS Game 1, Friday, Oct. 10
Royals reliever Wade Davis shut down the Orioles in the eighth and ninth innings of the American League Championship Series Game 1, earning the win and Box-Toppers.com Player of the Day honors for Friday.
Davis struck out four over the two scoreless innings, keeping the score tied 5-5 going into the 10th inning, when the Royals struck for three runs and the lead. The Royals won 8-6 in 10 innings, taking a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven game series.
Davis had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any Royals player of +6. Alex Gordon, who hit the go-ahead homer in the top of the 10th, had a Box-Toppers game score of +4, second highest among Royals. He went 3-for-4 with a run and four RBIs.
During the regular season, Davis had 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 117th among all players, 42nd among AL pitchers and first among AL middle relievers.
Coming Saturday:
ALCS Game 2, Royals lead Orioles, 1-0
The pitching matchup Saturday:
Royals: Yordano Ventura, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 75th among all players, 33rd among AL pitchers.
Orioles: Bud Norris, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 51st among all players, 23rd among AL pitchers.
NLCS Game 1, Giants at Cardinals
The pitching matchup Saturday:
Giants: Madison Bumgarner, 22.6 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among all players, second among NL pitchers.
Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, 18.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
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
Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 1010 | Score | Team | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 6.0 | Royals | Wade Davis (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Royals' Alex Gordon (2 3-R HR) tops players for Sunday, May 18; Braves' Freeman rises to 8th in player rankings
Alex Gordon of the Royals is Sunday’s Player of the Day. Gordon hit two three-run home runs, went 4-for-4 and drove in six runs in the 8-6 win over the Orioles.
Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong is National League Player of the Day. Vogelsong pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six, in the 4-1 win over the Marlins.
Freddie Freeman of the Braves rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Sunday’s NL Batter of the Day honors. Freeman homered, went 3-for-3 and drove in three runs in the 6-5 win over the Cardinals. Freeman earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.2 for the season, moving him up to eighth place overall. He is second place among NL batters, behind overall leader Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies (9.1). (See the updated top 10 player rankings on the home page.)
Notable: It was a batter-heavy day Sunday for Players of the Game. Normally, pitchers earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors more frequently than batters. But on Sunday, batters earned Player of the Game honors in 12 of the 16 games. One notable batter who was top player in his game was Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (3-for-4, 2RBI in the 6-2 win over the Red Sox), last year’s AL batting leader. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point Sunday, giving him 4.5 for the season, in 26th place overall, fourth among AL batters.
Gordon receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Vogelsong receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Freeman receives 1.5 for being NL Batter of the Day.
All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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
Scott Kazmir, striking out 10, tops players for Thursday, May 9
Indians pitcher Scott Kazmir, who struck out 10 over six innings, is Thursday's Player of the Day. Kazmir allowed only one run in the 9-2 win over the Athletics.
Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin is National League Player of the Day. Corbin gave up just one run over 6 1/3 innings in the 2-1 win over the Phillies. As NL Player of the Day, Corbin picks up 1.7 Box-Toppers points, giving him 5.4 for the season, moving him up to ninth place among all players in 2013.
Brian McCann of the Braves is NL Batter of the Day. McCann homered and went 3-for-5 in the 6-3 win over the Giants.
Oswaldo Arcia of the Twins is American League Batter of the Day. Arcia hit a two-run homer and a triple in the 5-3 win over the Red Sox. Arcia and Alex Gordon, who was Player of the Game in the Royals 6-2 win over the Orioles, had identical Box-Toppers game scores of 2.0 and identical stat lines (4AB 2R 2H 2BI). Arcia was given the AL Batter of the Day nod because he had a homer and triple, while Gordon had a homer and a single.
Kazmir receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Corbin receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. McCann and Arcia receive 1.5 each for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Thursday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point:
| 509 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 9.0 | Indians | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Scott Kazmir (W, 2-1) | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 4.2 | Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ernesto Frieri (S, 5) | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| NL | 2.1 | Diamondbacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Patrick Corbin (W, 5-0) | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Braves | Brian McCann C | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Twins | Oswaldo Arcia RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | Royals | Alex Gordon LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2.0 | `Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | David Price | 8.0 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |||
| 2.0 | `Yankees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | CC Sabathia | 4.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 1.0 | Nationals | Ryan Zimmerman 3B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Mets | Mike Baxter PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.