Also Thursday, Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Ross struck out 12 over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks, in the 6-1 win over the Orioles.
American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. Struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two hits, one run and two walks, in the 6-1 win over the Royals. McCullers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited with the score tied, 1-1.
McCullers earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to seventh place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
National League Batter of the Day—Chris Iannetta of the Diamondbacks homered, doubled twice and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in seven runs, in the 15-3 win over the Padres.
American League Batter of the Day—Derek Norris of the Rays hit two homers and went 2-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 7-5 win over the White Sox.
Debut—Austin Slater of the Giants made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Slater (HR 1-2 2R BI in the 9-5, 10-inning win over the Brewers) made his Major League debut June 2 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,818th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Ross earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCullers earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Iannetta and Norris each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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