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Though the Washington Nationals are the Wild Card team, they seem to hold most of the advantages over the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series.
The Nationals have more wins and rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings than the NL Central champion Cardinals. Still, the Cardinals have a Box-Toppers point advantage in starting batting lineups, as the teams begin the best-of-seven games series Friday in St. Louis.
Read MoreWalker Buehler of the Dodgers and Marcell Ozuna of the Cardinals are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of National League Division Series openers.
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While batters made modest gains in 2017, earning more Box-Toppers points and Player of the Game honors than in 2016, pitchers were still dominant, earning the most Box-Toppers points and far and away the most Player of the Day honors for the season.
Here's a look at some key statistics in a comprehensive look at all 2,430 Major League Baseball games played and tracked in 2017 by Box-Toppers.
Read MoreAnthony Rendon of the Nationals had the best single-game performance by a batter in the 2017 season as measured by Box-Toppers game score.
It also appears to be the highest game score for a batter in Box-Toppers’ 23 seasons of record keeping.
Read MoreThree of the four players who won Cy Young or Most Valuable Player awards in 2017 also led their teams in Box-Toppers points for the season.
The only exception: American League Most Valuable Player Jose Altuve did not lead Astros batters in Box-Toppers points. In fact, with only 2.5 Box-Toppers points, he finished 11th among Astros batters and 21st among all Astros players.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 2017’s leader in Box-Toppers points, also was the season’s leader in strikeouts.
Six of the 10 leaders in strikeouts in 2017 were among the top 10 pitchers in their league in Box-Toppers points. All 10 strikeout leaders were among the overall top 100 players in Box-Toppers points.
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Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth place in season player rankings.
| 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 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
| 7 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 |
| 8 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.5 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 7.4 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 7.4 |
Martinez pitched a complete-game, four-hit shutout, striking out 11 and walking one, in the 7-0 win over the Phillies.
Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, rising to eighth place in season player rankings, fifth among National League pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Mike Fiers struck out eight over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in the 3-1 win over the Angels.
American League Batter of the Day—Lorenzo Cain of the Royals hit two home runs, including a grand slam, in the 12-6 win over the Padres. Cain went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
National League Batter of the Day—T.J. Rivera of the Mets hit a two-run, eighth-inning, pinch-hit home run, in the 8-1 win over the Braves.
Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fiers earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Cain and Rivera 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.
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.
| 6/10 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | STL 7, PHI 0 | Carlos Martinez (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| AL | 10.1 | HOU 3, LAA 1 | Mike Fiers (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 9.0 | NYY 16, BAL 3 | Luis Severino (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 7.1 | COL 9, CHC 1 | Jeff Hoffman (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | KC 12, SD 6 | Lorenzo Cain, CF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | TEX 6, WSH 3 (F/11) | Keone Kela (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 5.2 | NYM 6, ATL 1 | Robert Gsellman (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | CHW 5, CLE 3 | David Robertson (S,10) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.1 | PIT 7, MIA 6 | Felipe Rivero (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 11, DET 3 | Mitch Moreland, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | TOR 4, SEA 2 | Marcus Stroman (W,7-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3.2 | ARI 3, MIL 2 | Zack Godley (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | NYM 8, ATL 1 | T.J. Rivera, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | TB 6, OAK 5 (F/10) | Steven Souza Jr., DH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 3, SF 2 | Brandon Kintzler (S,17) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 5, CIN 4 | Kenley Jansen (W,4-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | OAK 7, TB 2 | Yonder Alonso, 1B | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 7.5 | 19.9 | 34.6 | 34.6 | -4.9 |
| Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 6.7 | 8.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | 4.7 |
| Godley, Zack 3538 | pi sp | ari nl | 5.0 | 6.0 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 4.0 |
| Kintzler, Brandon 3150 | pi cp | min al | 5.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 5.0 |
| Hoffman, Jeff 3806 | pi sp | col nl | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp mr | lad nl | 3.0 | 9.0 | 34.7 | 39.4 | -3.0 |
| Souza, Steven Jr. 3461 | rf dh | tb al | 3.0 | 8.7 | 14.2 | 14.2 | -2.7 |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi cp | chi al | 3.0 | 8.0 | 25.0 | 29.0 | -2.0 |
| Moreland, Mitch 2799 | 1b ph | bos al | 3.0 | 6.5 | 19.7 | 21.7 | -0.5 |
| Cain, Lorenzo 3171 | cf | kc al | 2.5 | 9.0 | 23.2 | 23.2 | -4.0 |
| Rivera, T.J. 3710 | 1b ph | nym nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 2.0 | 8.7 | 25.1 | 25.1 | -4.7 |
| Alonso, Yonder 2945 | 1b | oak al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 13.5 | 15.0 | 0.0 |
| Gsellman, Robert 3748 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 0.3 |
| Kela, Keone 3789 | pi cp | tex al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | hou al | 1.7 | 6.7 | 27.8 | 27.8 | -3.3 |
| Rivero, Felipe 3579 | pi cp | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Estrada struck out 12 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 3-1 win over the Orioles.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.7 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 6 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 3-2 win over the Braves.
Strasburg earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season, most among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Strasburg ranks 22nd among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.
Strasburg also has the most career Box-Toppers points among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday with 87.3. That ranks 14th among active NL pitchers and 107th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs homered twice and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 13-6 win over the Brewers.
American League Batter of the Day—Yan Gomes of the Indians homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-6 win over the Astros.
Notable—Kyle Freeland of the Rockies became the third pitcher this season to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for batting.
Freeland (HR 2B 2-2 2R BI in the 6-4 win over the Reds) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 for batting, best among Rockies players Sunday. He had a Box-Toppers game score of -5.8 for pitching (5.2IP 5H 4R 2BB 3K W).
Previously this season, two Cardinals have earned Player of the Game honors for batting—Adam Wainwright on April 21 and Carlos Martinez on May 8. In 2016, pitchers earned Player of the Game honors for batting eight times.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Strasburg earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Bryant and Gomes 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.
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.
| 5/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.2 | TOR 3, BAL 1 | Marco Estrada (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| NL | 8.2 | WSH 3, ATL 2 | Stephen Strasburg (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 8.0 | SD 5, ARI 1 | Clayton Richard (W,3-5) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | `PIT 1, PHI 0 | Chad Kuhl | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | CHC 13, MIL 6 | Kris Bryant, 3B | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | CLE 8, HOU 6 | Yan Gomes, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | LAD 6, MIA 3 | Brandon McCarthy (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.1 | NYY 3, TB 2 | Dellin Betances (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | LAA 12, NYM 5 | Mike Trout, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CHW 8, SEA 1 | Derek Holland (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.2 | `TEX 5, DET 2 | Sam Dyson (H,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | KC 6, MIN 4 | Brandon Moss, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 12, OAK 3 | Hanley Ramirez, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 8, SF 3 | Randal Grichuk, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | COL 6, CIN 4 | Kyle Freeland, P | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIN 8, KC 4 | Robbie Grossman, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.4 | 19.5 | 78.6 | 87.3 | -10.7 |
| Holland, Derek 2634 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 30.1 | 49.8 | 0.0 |
| Richard, Clayton 2584 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 14.2 | 33.6 | 2.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 3.0 | 14.0 | 43.1 | 46.1 | -8.0 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -1.0 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 5.7 | 25.4 | 39.5 | 0.3 |
| Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | cle al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 12.2 | 12.2 | 2.0 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf | stl nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.5 |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | 3b lf | chi nl | 1.5 | 12.0 | 20.5 | 20.5 | -9.0 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 1.0 | 13.5 | 48.5 | 50.0 | -11.5 |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | dh 1b | bos al | 1.0 | 8.0 | 23.5 | 58.6 | -6.0 |
| Moss, Brandon 2520 | dh rf lf 1b | kc al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 26.0 | 28.0 | -3.0 |
| Grossman, Robbie 3267 | rf | min al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -1.0 |
| Kuhl, Chad 3687 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Dyson, Sam 3399 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rises to 10th place in season Box-Toppers player rankings after becoming the second pitcher of the season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.
| 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 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 6 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.5 |
Player of the Day—Wood struck out 11 over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 12-1 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 6-4 win over the Nationals.
National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 9-4 win over the Marlins.
Martinez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings and fifth among NL pitchers.
He also becomes the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright did it on April 21. Not only has the feat been accomplished both times by Cardinals, but both pitchers also earned NL Batter of the Day honors when they did it.
This is the second time in his career Martinez has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it Sept. 19, 2016. During the 2016 season, pitchers won Player of the Game honors for batting eight times.
Martinez had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, highest among all Cardinals players Monday. He had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 for pitching (6IP 5H 3R 3ER 2BB 7K W).
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.
Holliday earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 100.8 for his career. He becomes the 77th player to earn 100 Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his points Monday, he rises to 73rd on the “all-time” player list, passing six players—White Sox pitcher James Shields (99.4), Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (99.8), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Giants pitcher Matt Cain (100.7). Holliday now trails 72nd-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).
Scoring—Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cahill earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Martinez and Holliday each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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.
| 5/8 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | LAD 12, PIT 1 | Alex Wood (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 6.1 | SD 5, TEX 1 | Trevor Cahill (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | BAL 6, WSH 4 | Kevin Gausman (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| 4.1 | KC 7, TB 3 | Nate Karns (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 9, MIA 4 | Carlos Martinez, P | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `NYM 4, SF 3 | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | NYY 10, CIN 4 | Matt Holliday, 1B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | TOR 4, CLE 2 | Ryan Goins, SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | OAK 3, LAA 2 (F/11) | Jed Lowrie, 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.5 | 16.9 | 31.6 | 31.6 | -7.9 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.4 | 7.4 | 22.1 | 44.6 | 1.4 |
| Holliday, Matt 1836 | dh 1b lf | nyy al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 36.2 | 100.8 | -3.0 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp mr | lad nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 22.4 | 22.4 | 2.0 |
| Karns, Nathan 3414 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 | 5.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -0.3 |
| Goins, Ryan 3478 | ss 2b | tor al | 2.0 | 3.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.5 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 1.7 | 12.5 | 25.9 | 25.9 | -9.1 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 10.7 | 46.1 | 46.1 | -8.7 |
| Lowrie, Jed 2437 | 2b ss | oak al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 16.5 | 28.0 | 0.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to become the active leader in career Box-Toppers points.
Kershaw struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and two hits, in the 14-3 win over the Padres.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 185.7 |
| 6 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 185.0 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 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 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | atl nl | 148.5 |
Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 185.7 for his career, passing Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (185.0 points) to lead all active players in career Box-Toppers points. Kershaw now ranks fifth among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when tracking began, trailing fourth place player Alex Rodriguez (187.0 points) by just 1.3.
Sabathia became the active leader in career Box-Toppers points on Aug. 13, 2016, when Alex Rodriguez, the then-active leader, was released by the Yankees. Kershaw’s rise past Sabathia is the first time a player has passed another player for the career points lead among active players (without a release or retirement) since April 2, 2011, when Rodriguez (168.6 points) passed then-active leader Manny Ramirez (167.2)—though Ramirez retired several days later.
Kershaw also assumes first place in 2017 season player rankings after two days of the season with his 2.0 Box-Toppers points. While he is tied with Sunday’s Player of the Day, Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (2.0 points), Kershaw holds the tiebreaker because he had more 2016 points—24.4 vs. 12.4. Kershaw led players three times in 2016, including from May 7 to Aug. 24. He has been Box-Toppers Player of the Year, leading all players in Box-Toppers points, three times—in 2011 (26.1 points), 2013 (21.7) and 2014 (31.5).
Kershaw has now also earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for 10 straight seasons. Kershaw earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2008 with the Dodgers. His best season was 2014 with 31.5 points, when he led all players. He has six straight seasons (through 2016) with 20.0 or more points and eight straight seasons (through 2016) with 10.0 or more points.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out four, in the 3-0 win over the Mariners.
National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Rockies homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-5 win over the Brewers.
Reynolds has now earned Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points 2007 with the Diamondbacks and has 52.9 career points, fifth among active NL first basemen. His best year was 2011 with the Orioles, when he had 9.5 points, fifth among AL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Athletics homered twice and went 3-for-4, in the 4-2 win over the Angels.
Streaks—In addition to Kershaw and Reynolds, two other players Monday extended streaks of 10 or more straight seasons earning Box-Toppers points:
Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Keuchel earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Davis each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/3 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | LAD 14, SD 3 | Clayton Kershaw (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | `NYM 6, ATL 0 | Noah Syndergaard | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | HOU 3, SEA 0 | Dallas Keuchel (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | COL 7, MIL 5 | Mark Reynolds, 1B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIN 7, KC 1 | Ervin Santana (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | OAK 4, LAA 2 | Khris Davis, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | WSH 4, MIA 2 | Adam Lind, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CLE 8, TEX 5 | Andrew Miller (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 5, PIT 3 | Craig Kimbrel (S,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.2 | `BAL 3, TOR 2 (F/11) | Mychal Givens (BS,1) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 4, CIN 3 | Freddy Galvis, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 2.0 | 26.4 | 126.1 | 185.7 | -22.4 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 1.7 | 8.7 | 44.5 | 44.5 | -5.3 |
| Davis, Khris 3242 | lf | oak al | 1.5 | 8.2 | 18.2 | 18.2 | -5.2 |
| Reynolds, Mark 2297 | 1b | col nl | 1.5 | 5.5 | 20.2 | 52.9 | -2.5 |
| Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 17.7 | 28.1 | 28.1 | -15.7 |
| Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 1.0 | 9.0 | 53.7 | 59.7 | -7.0 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi mr cp | cle al | 1.0 | 9.0 | 16.0 | 24.0 | -7.0 |
| Lind, Adam 2238 | 1b ph | dc nl | 1.0 | 6.4 | 25.4 | 60.5 | -4.4 |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 37.8 | 98.3 | -3.0 |
| Galvis, Freddy 3202 | ss | phi nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | -3.0 |
| Givens, Mychal 3599 | pi mr | bal al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -1.0 |
Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Sunday’s opening day Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Martinez pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits, no walks and striking out 10 in the 4-3 win over the Cubs. Martinez did not earn the win because after he exited, the Cubs tied the game in the top of the ninth inning before the Cardinals won the game in the bottom of the ninth.
While it is relatively rare for a pitcher to earn overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day without earning a win or a save, it did happen nine times in 2016, including once by Martinez on Aug. 29.
American League Player of the Day—Logan Morrison of the Rays homered and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks hit a two-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring twice, in the 6-5 win over the Giants.
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner had a magnificent day, hitting two home runs and pitching a perfect game through five innings (his final line was 7IP 6H 3R 0BB 11K ND), but earns no Box-Toppers points for his effort (despite having a Box-Toppers game score of +6.0 for pitching, highest of any player on either team) simply because the Giants did not win.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Logan Morrison. Also, only one AL game was played Sunday.
Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and becomes the de facto early leader in season Box-Toppers points. Morrison earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Pollock earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/2 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.1 | `STL 4, CHC 3 | Carlos Martinez | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| AL | 3.0 | TB 7, NYY 3 | Logan Morrison, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 2.0 | ARI 6, SF 5 | A.J. Pollock, CF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| ` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | '17 | '16-17 | '12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 | 14.4 | 29.1 | 29.1 | -10.4 |
| Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 1.7 | 3.7 | 13.7 | 19.2 | -0.3 |
| Pollock, A.J. 3142 | cf | ari nl | 1.5 | 1.5 | 16.2 | 16.2 | 1.5 |
Mike Piazza leads catchers in career Box-Toppers points. Brian McCann leads active catchers in career points.
Read More3 of 4 major postseason award winners are among Box-Toppers top-ranked pitchers or batters on their teams. The exception: AL Cy Young Rick Porcello, who ranks 6th among Red Sox players.
Read More
Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 25.7 |
| 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 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 16.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 16.4 |
| 9 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 15.7 |
| 10 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
Darvish struck out 12 over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 3-1 win over the Rays.
Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 50th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and rises to 47th place among all players, 19th among American League pitchers.
This is Darvish’s fourth season with 10 or more points. In 2012, he had 16.8 points, in 2013—16.0 and in 2014—12.5. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015 and did not play.
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez struck out nine over seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, in the 7-0 win over the Pirates.
Martinez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Martinez ranks 29th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Ben Zobrist of the Cubs hit two home runs, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Reds.
American League Batter of the Day—Francisco Lindor of the Indians hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-2, scoring twice, in the 7-2 win over the Royals.
Notable—David Ortiz of the Red Sox rises to 23rd place in career Box-Toppers points since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
Ortiz (HR 2-4 R 3BI in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 145.9 for his career. With his point Friday, he passes Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (144.9) on the “all-time” list and now trails 22nd-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7). Ortiz now rises to seventh place among active players in career Box-Toppers points. He has 8.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 18th among AL batters. Ortiz is retiring after this season.
Debut—Angels pitcher Daniel Wright made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Wright (6IP 6H R 0BB 5K W in the 7-1 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut May 24 and was playing in his ninth career game. He is the 3,753rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Zobrist and Lindor 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/30 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | TEX 3, TB 1 | Yu Darvish (W,7-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| NL | 10.0 | STL 7, PIT 0 | Carlos Martinez (W,16-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| 5.2 | DET 6, ATL 2 | Daniel Norris (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | CHC 7, CIN 3 | Ben Zobrist, 2B-LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | SF 9, LAD 3 | Brandon Belt, 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | CLE 7, KC 2 | Francisco Lindor, SS | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | CHW 7, MIN 3 | Carlos Rodon (W,9-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 4.0 | BAL 8, NYY 1 | Jonathan Schoop, 2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 5, PHI 1 | Jay Bruce, RF | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SEA 5, OAK 1 | Robinson Cano, 2B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | MIA 7, WSH 4 | Christian Yelich, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | LAA 7, HOU 1 | Daniel Wright (W,1-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | COL 4, MIL 1 | Adam Ottavino (S,7) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 5, TOR 3 | David Ortiz, DH | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | ARI 5, SD 3 | Chris Owings, SS | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 12.4 | 26.1 | 27.1 | 27.1 | -1.3 |
| Darvish, Yu 3003 | pi sp | tex al | 10.4 | 10.4 | 55.6 | 55.6 | 10.4 |
| Bruce, Jay 2453 | rf | nym nl | 8.5 | 11.7 | 31.7 | 58.8 | 5.3 |
| Rodon, Carlos 3494 | pi sp | chi al | 8.0 | 16.1 | 16.1 | 16.1 | -0.1 |
| Cano, Robinson 2092 | 2b | sea al | 8.0 | 14.5 | 43.5 | 75.4 | 1.5 |
| Ortiz, David | dh | bos al | 8.0 | 12.5 | 43.9 | 145.9 | 3.5 |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | sf nl | 7.0 | 8.5 | 20.5 | 20.5 | 5.5 |
| Lindor, Francisco 3586 | ss | cle al | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 6.0 |
| Yelich, Christian 3334 | lf cf | fla nl | 5.5 | 8.0 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 3.0 |
| Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b | bal al | 4.5 | 7.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 2.0 |
| Zobrist, Ben 2216 | 2b rf lf | chi nl | 4.0 | 5.0 | 23.0 | 32.0 | 3.0 |
| Ottavino, Adam 3054 | pi cp | col nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 |
| Owings, Chris 3347 | ss cf | ari nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 2.0 |
| Norris, Daniel 3548 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -2.0 |
| Wright, Daniel 3753 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 20.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 20.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym al | 15.7 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 15.4 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 10 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
Also Monday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings, edged within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of season leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Estrada pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing one hit and three walks, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.
Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 43rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 43rd among all players and 17th among AL pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Giants. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited the Dodgers trailed 1-0, before scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth to win.
Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 22.7 for the season, maintaining his spot in second place among all players and among NL pitchers. He moves within 1.0 Box-Toppers point of overall leader, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (23.7). Scherzer assumed the lead on Aug. 25. Previously, Kershaw led from May 7.
Madison Bumgarner, who started the game for the Giants, was in line to win Player of the Game (and overall Player of the Day) until the Dodgers made their ninth-inning comeback. Bumgarner (7IP H 0R 0BB 10K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +16.0 (Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score of +8.0). But because the bullpen blew the lead and the Giants lost, Bumgarner earns no Box-Toppers points, despite the impressive performance.
Bumgarner has 13.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 18th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.
Kershaw now has 182.0 career Box-Toppers points, seventh-most among players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails sixth-ranked player Albert Pujols of the Angels (182.0) by just 0.3 points. He trails fifth-ranked player (and active career pitching leader) CC Sabathia of the Yankees (184.0) by just 2.0 points. (See the updated list of the top 20 players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 on the home page.)
National League Batter of the Day—Freddie Freeman of the Braves homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 7-3 win over the Mets.
American League Batter of the Day—Elvis Andrus of the Rangers homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice, in the 3-2 win over the Angels.
Notable—Two other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Monday:
Porcello—Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello earned Player of the Game honors Monday while also picking up his Major League-leading 21st win.
Porcello (CG 4H 2R 0BB 7K W in the 5-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, but still has just 8.0 points for the season. Despite ranking first in wins, he ranks 76th among all players in Box-Toppers points, 26th among AL pitchers. (More on Porcello here: Why does wins leader Rick Porcello have so few Box-Toppers points?)
Porcello had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +8.0, his highest game score during any of his 21 wins. But it still wasn’t enough to earn him his first overall or league Player of the Day honor of the season (he lost Player of the Day Monday to Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays who had a Box-Toppers game score of +11.0). So Porcello still hasn’t earned any Box-Toppers bonus points this season in the eight times he earned Player of the Game honors.
This was also Porcello’s first Player of the Game honor in a month. He last earned Player of the Game on Aug. 19, even though he has earned the win in three more games since then.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kershaw earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Freeman and Andrus each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/19 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | TOR 3, SEA 2 | Marco Estrada (W,9-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 8.0 | BOS 5, BAL 2 | Rick Porcello (W,21-4) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | `LAD 2, SF 1 | Clayton Kershaw | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 7, NYM 3 | Freddie Freeman, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | CHC 5, CIN 2 | Jason Hammel (W,15-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 5, COL 3 | Carlos Martinez, P | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 3, ARI 2 | Brandon Maurer (S,11) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 4, OAK 2 | Ken Giles (S,12) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | TEX 3, LAA 2 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | KC 8, CHW 3 | Kendrys Morales, DH | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIA 4, WSH 3 | Giancarlo Stanton, RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 | 48.4 | 148.5 | 182.0 | -3.0 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 13.0 | 22.7 | 46.1 | 59.2 | 3.3 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.7 | 24.4 | 25.4 | 25.4 | -3.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 10.0 | 18.0 | 42.1 | 42.1 | 2.0 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 9.2 | 9.2 | 16.7 | 19.7 | 9.2 |
| Porcello, Rick 2573 | pi sp | bos al | 8.0 | 12.0 | 33.7 | 42.7 | 4.0 |
| Morales, Kendrys 2142 | dh | kc al | 7.5 | 12.2 | 22.2 | 38.2 | 2.8 |
| Freeman, Freddie 2887 | 1b | atl nl | 7.5 | 10.5 | 38.7 | 38.7 | 4.5 |
| Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 6.5 | 12.0 | 33.7 | 39.2 | 1.0 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi cp mr | hou nl | 3.0 | 6.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.0 |
| Maurer, Brandon 3157 | pi mr cp | sd nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 20.7 |
| 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 |
Martinez struck out 13 over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks, in the 6-5 win over the Brewers. Martinez did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because after he exited, the Brewers went ahead before the Cardinals came back to take the lead in the ninth inning.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Joe Musgrove pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits and three walks, in the 6-0 win over the Athletics.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-2 win over the Reds.
Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.0 points for the season. He becomes the 33rd player—and fifth batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 32nd among all players and third among AL batters, behind Jose Altuve of the Astros (12.5) and Manny Machado of the Orioles (11.7). This is Trout’s second straight 10-point season, his third overall.
Trout had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0 and had an identical line score (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI) with teammate C.J. Cron. But Trout won Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker because he had one walk and Cron had none.
National League Batter of the Day—Jorge Soler of the Cubs homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, driving in two runs, in the 8-7, 13-inning win over the Pirates.
Notable—Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 13 who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.
Bauer (6IP 5H 0R BB 4K ND in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and sixth among AL pitchers.
Also notable—Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark became the 32nd player this season to reach 10 Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Roark (7IP 4H 0R BB 5K W in the 4-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 25th among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.
Additionally notable—Carlos Beltran of the Rangers now has 103.9 career Box-Toppers points—64th-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995—after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Beltran (HR 2B 3-4 2R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Mariners) passes Red Sox pitcher David Price (103.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 63rd-ranked player Jamie Moyer (104.0). Beltran has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season. This was his first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Yankees.
Beltran had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +3.0, tied with AL Batter of the Day Mike Trout. Both Beltran and Trout had identical line scores, but Trout won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he had fewer strikeouts than Beltran—zero vs. one.
Debut—Mets pitcher Josh Smoker made his Box-Toppers debut Monday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Smoker (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Aug. 19 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,725th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Martinez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Musgrove earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Trout and Soler each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 8/29 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | `STL 6, MIL 5 | Carlos Martinez | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 13 | |
| 7.0 | WSH 4, PHI 0 | Tanner Roark (W,14-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | COL 8, LAD 1 | Jon Gray (W,9-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | ||
| AL | 6.1 | HOU 6, OAK 0 | Joe Musgrove (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | |
| 4.0 | TOR 5, BAL 1 | Marco Estrada (W,8-6) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `CLE 1, MIN 0 (10) | Trevor Bauer | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | LAA 9, CIN 2 | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TEX 6, SEA 3 | Carlos Beltran, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | KC 8, NYY 5 | Dillon Gee (W,6-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | NYM 2, MIA 1 (10) | Josh Smoker (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | BOS 9, TB 4 | Travis Shaw, 3B-1B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | CHC 8, PIT 7 (13) | Jorge Soler, LF | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | DET 4, CHW 3 | Francisco Rodriguez (S,37) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 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. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 11.4 | 20.8 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 2.0 |
| Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.7 | 11.7 | 26.7 | 26.7 | 9.7 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 10.0 | 22.0 | 46.5 | 46.5 | -2.0 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 | 23.4 | 24.4 | 24.4 | -4.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 8.0 | 16.0 | 40.1 | 40.1 | 0.0 |
| Shaw, Travis 3544 | 1b 3b | bos al | 5.5 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 9.7 | 1.3 |
| Beltran, Carlos 1194 | dh rf | tex al | 5.0 | 8.5 | 25.9 | 103.9 | 1.5 |
| Gray, Jon 3634 | pi sp | col nl | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Gee, Dillon 2808 | pi sp | kc al | 4.7 | 5.7 | 32.5 | 33.5 | 3.7 |
| Rodriguez, Francisco 1707 | pi cp | det al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 63.4 | 2.0 |
| Musgrove, Joe 3705 | pi sp | hou al | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Soler, Jorge 3403 | lf | chi nl | 2.5 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.7 | -0.7 |
| Smoker, Josh 3725 | pi cp | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 8.7 |
| 6 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 8.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 8.7 |
| 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 8.4 |
| 9 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 7.0 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 6.4 |
Chacin pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out 10, in the 5-1 win over the Twins.
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight, in the 6-0 win over the Brewers.
National League Batter of the Day—Daniel Murphy of the Nationals homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Phillies.
American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Seager of the Mariners homered and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.
Notable—Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy holds the highest spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings among Monday’s Players of the Games.
Kennedy (6IP 3H R 6K ND in the 6-2 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.0 for the season, ranking 16th among all players in 2016, fifth among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Chacin earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Murphy and Seager each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/29 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | LAA 5/DET 1 | Jhoulys Chacin (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |
| NL | 10.0 | STL 6/MIL 0 | Carlos Martinez (W,5-5) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| 10.0 | NYM 1/CHW 0 | Matt Harvey (W,4-7) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | TOR 4/NYY 2 | Marco Estrada (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | CHC 2/LAD 0 | Travis Wood (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | PIT 10/MIA 0 | Jeff Locke (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 5.0 | HOU 8/ARI 3 | Collin McHugh (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | DC 4/PHI 3 | Daniel Murphy, 2B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | SEA 9/SD 3 | Kyle Seager, 3B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | BOS 7/BAL 2 | Steven Wright (W,5-4) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | `KC 6/TB 2 | Ian Kennedy | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | ATL 5/SF 3 | Mike Foltynewicz (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 3/MIN 2 | Ryan Madson (S,12) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 11/COL 8 | Adam Duvall, LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | TEX 9/CLE 2 | Ian Desmond, CF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 | 12.7 | 56.5 | 62.5 | -0.7 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 4.0 | 12.0 | 36.1 | 36.1 | -4.0 |
| Wright, Steven 3224 | pi sp | bos al | 4.0 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 8.7 | 0.3 |
| Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | dc nl | 4.0 | 5.5 | 27.5 | 29.0 | 2.5 |
| Desmond, Ian 2673 | cf lf | tex al | 4.0 | 5.0 | 20.7 | 27.2 | 3.0 |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.7 | 17.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | -10.0 |
| Locke, Jeff 3133 | pi sp | pit nl | 2.7 | 8.7 | 20.1 | 20.1 | -3.3 |
| Seager, Kyle 3031 | 3b | sea al | 2.5 | 7.5 | 21.5 | 21.5 | -2.5 |
| Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 2.0 | 17.4 | 35.4 | 35.4 | -13.4 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 2.0 | 11.7 | 23.5 | 23.5 | -7.7 |
| Foltynewicz, Mike 3455 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.7 | -0.7 |
| Duvall, Adam 3573 | lf | cin nl | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 16.4 | 24.1 | 2.0 |
| Madson, Ryan 1841 | pi cp | oak al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 22.7 | 2.0 |
| Wood, Travis 2777 | pi mr sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 4.0 | 28.7 | 31.7 | -2.0 |
Carlos Sanchez of the White Sox is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Monday.
Sanchez hit two homers and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 11-7 win over the Rockies. Sanchez had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the White Sox.
Sanchez had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +5.0, tied with Whit Merrifield of the Royals, who was Player of the Game in the 11-3 win over the Padres. But Sanchez won Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more runs batted in (4 vs. 3).
National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez allowed one run over six innings, striking out four, in the 3-1 win over the Mets. Martinez had 13.7 Box-Toppers points in 2015, leading all Cardinals players and ranking 11th among NL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Joey Votto of the Reds homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-8, walk-off win over the Brewers. Votto had 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015, most among returning Reds batters in 2016. Votto has 53.7 career Box-Toppers points since 2007, which ranks fourth among active NL first basemen. He has two seasons with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points (2008 and 2009). In 2008, his 11.0 points ranked 10th among NL batters.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall Player of the Day was an AL batter, Carlos Sanchez.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Sanchez would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Martinez would earn 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day and Votto would earn 1.5 points for being NL 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.
Note—Fifteen spring training games were scheduled for Monday—13 are listed below. One game is not included because it ended in a tie (Cubs vs. Dodgers) and one other game was cancelled (Marlins vs. Nationals).
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 3/28 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 5.0 | White Sox | Carlos Sánchez 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Royals | Whit Merrifield LF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | Astros | George Springer RF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| NL | 5.0 | Cardinals | Carlos Martínez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| 5.0 | `Yankees | Luis Cessa | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | Twins | Daniel Palka PH-DH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | `Blue Jays | Marcus Stroman | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Reds | Joey Votto 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Dodgers | Justin Turner 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Mariners | Brock Hebert 2B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Orioles | Nolan Reimold DH | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Dbacks | David Peralta RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Indians | Yan Gomes C | 4 | 1 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, taking a commanding lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and virtually assuring his status as Box-Toppers Player of the Year.
Also Sunday, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 27.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 22.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 19.7 |
| 7 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 8 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 18.0 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 17.8 |
Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 27.1 for the season, cementing his lead atop Box-Toppers season player rankings.
| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | Year | BTP |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2000 | 33.7 |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 33.7 |
| 3 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2000 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 1999 | 31.5 |
| 4 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2014 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 1999 | 31.4 |
| 7 | Randy Johnson | Dbacks | pi sp | 2001 | 29.4 |
| 8 | Pedro Martinez | Red Sox | pi sp | 2002 | 28.8 |
| 9 | Curt Schilling | Dbacks | pi sp | 2002 | 28.4 |
| 10 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1997 | 27.4 |
| 11 | *Jake Arrieta | Cubs | pi sp | 2015 | 27.1 |
| 12 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2004 | 26.8 |
| 13 | Pedro Martinez | Expos | pi sp | 1997 | 26.7 |
| 13 | CC Sabathia | Indians/Brewers | pi sp | 2008 | 26.7 |
| 15 | Randy Johnson | Mariners/Astros | pi sp | 1998 | 26.4 |
| 16 | John Smoltz | Braves | pi sp | 1996 | 26.1 |
| 16 | Clayton Kershaw | Dodgers | pi sp | 2011 | 26.1 |
| 18 | Roger Clemens | Blue Jays | pi sp | 1998 | 25.8 |
| 18 | Corey Kluber | Indians | pi sp | 2014 | 25.8 |
| 20 | Johan Santana | Twins | pi sp | 2006 | 25.7 |
| 21 | Cliff Lee | Phillies | pi sp | 2011 | 25.4 |
| * Current season | |||||
Arrieta also now has the 11th-highest Box-Toppers single-season point total since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began (see Best seasons chart). Only once since 2002 has a player had a higher Box-Toppers point total than Arrieta has in 2015—last season, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw had 31.5, ranked fourth since 1995.
Arrieta’s Box-Toppers points lead for 2015 is all-but insurmountable. He now leads second-place player Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7) by 4.4 Box-Toppers points. Since the most a player can earn in one game is 2.0 Box-Toppers points, that means Kershaw would need at least three starts to pass Arrieta. Kershaw likely only has one start left this season, at most, two.
It would be extremely unlikely, though still mathematically possible, for a player to pass Arrieta in Box-Toppers points. With seven games left in the season, if a player earned Player of the Day honors each day, they could earn up to 14.0 points. But if you consider the players who are now within 14.0 points of Arrieta, that would include the top 19 players, all of whom are starting pitchers and who aren’t likely to pitch every day. But mathematically, it would be possible, for example for Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th) to be Box-Toppers Player of the Day for seven games, earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points each day and ending the season with 27.7 points, passing Arrieta. But that just won’t happen.
In other words, Arrieta on Sunday won Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2015, with a week left to go in the season.
American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Henry Owens pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.
National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-5 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Rays.
Rankings—Two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:
Debuts—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Owens earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado and Smoak each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/27 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W,21-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 11.0 | Astros | Dallas Keuchel (W,19-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 | ||
| AL | 8.2 | Red Sox | Henry Owens (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 8.0 | Mets | Jacob deGrom (W,14-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | Rockies | Nolan Arenado, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | Royals | Chris Young (W,11-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 5.0 | Brewers | Jason Rogers, 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Dbacks | Ender Inciarte, RF | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Blue Jays | Justin Smoak, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Marlins | Justin Bour, 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Mike Morin (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Freddy Galvis, SS | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Byron Buxton, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Luis Severino (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Giants | Santiago Casilla (S,37) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
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.