Gonzalez allowed one run and two hits over eight innings, striking out five, in the 12-1 win over the Royals. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most of any of Monday’s top players and rises to 13th in season player rankings.
National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke struck out 11 over six innings, allowing one run and six hits, in the 7-6 win over the Padres. Greinke had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, same as overall Player of the Day Gonzalez, but Gonzalez ranks ahead on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched than Greinke, eight vs. six.
Greinke earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 158.8 for his career, 14th-most among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails 13th-ranked player John Smoltz (160.9).
National League Batter of the Day—Eric Thames of the Brewers hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 11-7 win over the Reds.
This was Thames’ first Box-Toppers point in more than four years. He last earned Player of the Game honors on Aug. 1, 2012, when he was with the Mariners. It is only his third career Player of the Game honor—he was also Player of the Game on July 10, 2011, with the Blue Jays and now has 4.0 career Box-Toppers points.
Thames spent 2014, 2015 and 2016 playing in Korea, winning the the Korea Baseball Organization Most Valuable Player award in 2015. He currently leads Major League Baseball in season runs (24) and home runs (10).
American League Batter of the Day—Adam Jones of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Rays.
Jones has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons with his first Player of the Game honor of 2017. He earned his first points in 2007 with the Mariners and has 51.0 career points, fifth among active AL outfielders. His best season was 2014 with the Orioles when he had 11.5 points, third among AL batters. In 2016 with the Orioles, he barely kept the streak alive, earning only 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Streak—Giants pitcher Matt Cain has now earned Box-Toppers points in 13 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.
Cain (6IP 2H 0R BB 3K W in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2005 with the Giants and now has 100.7 career Box-Toppers points, 11th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2010 with the Giants when he had 16.1 points, seventh among NL pitchers. During the last three seasons he barely kept the streak alive earning Player of the Game honors two or fewer times each season. In 2014, he had just 1.0 Box-Toppers point, in 2015, he had 2.0 and in 2016 he had 2.7.
Cain also becomes the 76th player since 1995 to reach 100 career Box-Toppers points (100.7). With his point Monday, he rises to 73rd on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list, passing four players—Johnny Cueto of the Giants (99.8), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7).
Scoring—Gonzalez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Greinke earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Thames and Jones 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.
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