Mariners' Seth Smith tops players for Sunday, Sept. 18; Cardinals' Reyes tops NL players

Seth Smith of the Mariners is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Smith hit two homers—a solo homer and a three-run shot—and went 2-for-2, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 7-3 win over the Astros.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Sept. 18:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	23.7
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	21.0
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

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Alex Reyes pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits, two walks and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Giants.

National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Drury of the Diamondbacks hit a game-winning, 12th-inning single in the 10-9 win over the Dodgers. Drury also homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs.

This was Drury’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Drury made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2015, and was playing in his 141st career game. He is the 3,744th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall Player of the Day was AL batter Seth Smith.

Notable—Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox has the highest season Box-Toppers point total among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Ramirez (2HR 3-4 2R 4BI in the 5-4 win over the Yankees) has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, 107th among all players and 22nd among AL batters.

Debuts—In addition to Drury, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut with their first career Player of the Game honors:

• Angels pitcher Alex Meyer (5IP 2H 0R 3BB 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut June 26, 2015, and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,742nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Mets pitcher Gabriel Ynoa (4.2IP 4H R BB 8K ND in the 3-2 win over the Twins) made his Major League debut Aug. 13 and was playing in his seventh career game. He is the 3,743rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Smith earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Reyes earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Drury earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/18	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	SEA 7, HOU 3	Seth Smith, RF	2	3	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	7.0	STL 3, SF 0	Alex Reyes (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	6
	7.0	LAA 4, TOR 0	Alex Meyer (W,1-3)	-	-	-	-		5.0	2	0	0	3	7
	5.2	`NYM 3, MIN 2	Gabriel Ynoa	-	-	-	-		4.2	4	1	1	1	8
	5.0	BOS 5, NYY 4	Hanley Ramirez, DH	4	2	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`BAL 2, TB 1	Wade Miley	-	-	-	-		4.0	1	0	0	1	3
BAT	4.0	ARI 10, LAD 9 (12)	Brandon Drury, LF	5	3	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	CIN 7, PIT 4	Tucker Barnhart, C	1	0	1	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	KC 10, CHW 3	Kendrys Morales, DH	5	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	DET 9, CLE 5	J.D. Martinez, RF	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ATL 6, WSH 2 (7)	Adonis Garcia, 3B	4	1	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	OAK 5, TEX 2	Khris Davis, DH	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	COL 6, SD 3	Mark Reynolds, 1B	2	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	MIL 3, CHC 1	Tyler Thornburg (S,11)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	2
	1.0	MIA 5, PHI 4	Derek Dietrich, 3B	3	1	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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	+/-
Ramirez, Hanley 2119	1b	bos al	7.0	7.0	29.7	57.6	7.0
Davis, Khris 3242	lf dh	oak al	6.7	10.7	16.7	16.7	2.7
Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	kc al	6.5	11.2	21.2	37.2	1.8
Thornburg, Tyler 3195	pi cp	mil nl	6.0	6.0	12.0	12.0	6.0
Martinez, J.D. 2922	rf	det al	5.5	7.2	17.2	17.2	3.8
Miley, Wade 3006	pi sp	bal al	5.0	12.0	35.4	35.4	-2.0
Smith, Seth 2489	rf lf	sea al	5.0	6.0	24.0	38.2	4.0
Reynolds, Mark 2297	1b	col nl	4.0	8.0	28.2	51.4	0.0
Garcia, Adonis 3613	3b	atl nl	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	4.0
Reyes, Alex 3706	pi mr sp	stl nl	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7	2.7
Dietrich, Derek 3199	2b 3b	fla nl	2.0	3.0	5.0	5.0	1.0
Barnhart, Tucker 3519	ca	cin nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Drury, Brandon 3744	lf	ari nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Meyer, Alex 3742	pi sp	ana al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Ynoa, Gabriel 3743	pi sp	nym nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Reds' Homer Bailey tops players for Friday, Aug. 12; Rangers' Lucroy tops AL players

Reds pitcher Homer Bailey is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of Aug. 12:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	18.7
3	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
4	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	16.2
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	14.4
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	14.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	14.1
8	Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	chi nl	13.4
9	Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	tor al	12.7
10	Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	hou al	12.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Bailey struck out 11 over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 7-4 win over the Brewers.

American League Player of the Day—Jonathan Lucroy of the Rangers hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-5 win over the Tigers.

Lucroy earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.7 for the season, most among the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Friday. Lucroy ranks 110th among all players, 20th among AL batters and third among AL catchers (behind Russell Martin of the Blue Jays and Matt Wieters of the Orioles, both of whom have 7.0 Box-Toppers points).

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Szczur of the Cubs hit two homers, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 13-2 win over the Cardinals.

This was Szczur’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Szczur made his Major League debut Aug. 17, 2014, and was playing in his 156th career game. He is the 3,704th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Jonathan Lucroy.

Notable—Four batters Friday had Box-Toppers game scores of +6.0—Lucroy, Szczur, Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox and Ryan Schimpf of the Padres.

Lucroy and Szczur ranked ahead of Ramirez and Schmipf because they both had three hits, while the other two had two hits. And Lucroy ranked ahead of Szczur because he had more RBIs—five vs. three.

Debut—Astros pitcher Joe Musgrove made his Box-Toppers debut Friday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Musgrove (7IP 6H 2R BB 7K W in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Aug. 2 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,705th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

A-Rod—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees played in the apparent final game of his career Friday, a 6-3 win over the Rays.

Rodriguez doubled and went 1-for-4, driving in a run, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of −2.0. Player of the Game for the Yankees was closer Delin Betances (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K Sv).

If that truly is the end for Rodriguez, 41, he exits with 187.0 career Box-Toppers points, which as of Friday, was the highest total for any active player, the most points earned by any batter since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) and the fourth-highest total of any player since 1995.

However, Rodriguez did not earn any Box-Toppers points in 2016. He earned 7.7 points in 2015, the year after he returned from a 2014 yearlong suspension for violating baseball’s performance enhancing drug policy. More on Rodriguez’s career through a Box-Toppers perspective here.

Scoring—Bailey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lucroy earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Szczur earns 1.5 points for being NL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

8/12	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	CIN 7, MIL 4	Homer Bailey (W,2-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	1	11
AL	6.0	TEX 8, DET 5	Jonathan Lucroy, C	4	2	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	6.0	CHC 13, STL 2	Matt Szczur, CF	4	4	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	BOS 9, ARI 4	Hanley Ramirez, 1B	4	2	2	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	SD 8, NYM 6	Ryan Schimpf, 2B	4	2	2	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	PHI 10, COL 6	Ryan Howard, 1B	5	2	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	CLE 13, LAA 3	Brandon Guyer, LF	4	1	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	ATL 8, WSH 5	Freddie Freeman, 1B	3	2	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	KC 7, MIN 3	Yordano Ventura (W,8-9)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	3	3	1	9
	4.0	NYY 6, TB 3	Dellin Betances (S,4)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.1	`CHW 4, MIA 2	Nate Jones (H,23)	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	HOU 5, TOR 3	Joe Musgrove (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	2	2	1	7
	3.0	BAL 5, SF 2	Zach Britton (S,36)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	OAK 6, SEA 3	Marcus Semien, SS	4	2	4	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	PIT 5, LAD 1	Andrew McCutchen, CF	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player of Game	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Lucroy, Jonathan 2744	ca	tex al	5.7	7.4	26.3	27.3	4.0
Ventura, Yordano 3294	pi sp	kc al	5.0	16.7	26.4	26.4	-6.7
Freeman, Freddie 2887	1b	atl nl	5.0	8.0	36.2	36.2	2.0
Ramirez, Hanley 2119	1b	bos al	5.0	5.0	27.7	55.6	5.0
Semien, Marcus 3302	ss	oak al	4.5	4.5	8.0	8.0	4.5
Britton, Zach 2835	pi cp	bal al	4.0	12.7	32.1	32.1	-4.7
Jones, Nate 3125	pi mr	chi al	4.0	5.0	12.0	12.0	3.0
McCutchen, Andrew 2637	cf	pit nl	3.5	14.0	44.7	50.4	-7.0
Schimpf, Ryan 3686	3b 2b	sd nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Howard, Ryan 2040	1b	phi nl	2.0	7.5	32.4	98.7	-3.5
Betances, Dellin 3333	pi mr cp	nyy al	2.0	6.0	10.7	10.7	-2.0
Bailey, Homer 2324	pi sp	cin nl	2.0	2.0	36.4	47.1	2.0
Szczur, Matt 3704	cf	chi nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Guyer, Brandon 3363	lf	cle al	1.0	2.0	4.5	4.5	0.0
Musgrove, Joe 3705	pi sp	hou al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Phillies' Jeremy Hellickson tops players for Wednesday, July 20; Indians' Carrasco tops AL players

Phillies pitcher Jeremy Hellickson is Wednesday’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 July 20:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	16.4
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	13.4
5	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	12.5
6	Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	tex al	12.1
7	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	11.4
8	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	11.0
9	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	11.0
10	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hellickson struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Marlins.

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit, two walks and striking out six, in the 11-4 win over the Royals.

Carrasco earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 8.4 for the season, most of any of the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. Carrasco ranks 26th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, 10th among AL pitchers.

Both Hellickson and Carrasco had Box-Toppers game scores Wednesday of +9.0, but Hellickson won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—eight vs. six.

American League Batter of the Day—Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox hit three home runs and went 3-for-4, driving in six runs, in the 11-7 win over the Giants.

National League Batter of the Day—Jedd Gyorko of the Cardinals hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 3-2 win over the Padres.

Debüts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Mariners pitcher Edwin Diaz (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 3K ND in the 6-5, 11-inning win over the White Sox) made his Major League debut June 6 and was playing in his 20th career game. He is the 3,690th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Jose Peraza of the Reds (2-4 R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut Aug. 10, 2015, and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,691st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Hellickson earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Carrasco earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Gyorko each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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

7/20	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	PHI 4, MIA 1	Jeremy Hellickson (W,7-7)	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	1	0	8
AL	9.0	CLE 11, KC 4	Carlos Carrasco (W,7-3)	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	0	0	2	6
BAT	8.0	BOS 11, SF 7	Hanley Ramirez, 1B	4	3	3	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	TB 11, COL 3	Chris Archer (W,5-13)	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	2	11
	7.0	NYY 5, BAL 0	Michael Pineda (W,4-9)	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	2	8
	6.0	HOU 7, OAK 0	Doug Fister (W,10-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	5
	5.1	CHC 6, NYM 2	Kyle Hendricks (W,9-6)	-	-	-	-		6.1	7	0	0	1	7
	5.0	WSH 8, LAD 1	Gio Gonzalez (W,6-8)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	2	6
BAT	4.0	STL 3, SD 2	Jedd Gyorko, 3B	4	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	TOR 10, ARI 4	Marcus Stroman (W,8-4)	-	-	-	-		8.0	8	1	1	0	6
	4.0	`SEA 6, CHW 5 (11)	Edwin Diaz	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.0	STL 4, SD 2	Carlos Martinez (W,9-6)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	1	5
	2.0	MIL 9, PIT 5	Jonathan Lucroy, C	3	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	LAA 7, TEX 4	Jefry Marte, 1B	3	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	CIN 6, ATL 3	Jose Peraza, LF	4	1	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	MIN 4, DET 1	Danny Santana, DH	0	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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	+/-
Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	8.4	26.4	42.5	42.5	-9.6
Hellickson, Jeremy 2778	pi sp	phi nl	7.4	12.4	36.1	39.1	2.4
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	chi nl	7.0	16.7	21.7	21.7	-2.7
Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	5.7	19.4	20.4	20.4	-8.0
Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0	21.0	45.1	45.1	-11.0
Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	tor al	4.7	7.4	21.1	21.1	2.0
Pineda, Michael 2841	pi sp	nyy al	4.0	14.7	32.1	32.1	-6.7
Gonzalez, Gio 2626	pi sp	dc nl	3.0	12.7	69.8	83.5	-6.7
Lucroy, Jonathan 2744	ca	mil nl	3.0	4.7	23.6	24.6	1.3
Ramirez, Hanley 2119	1b ss	bos al	3.0	3.0	25.7	53.6	3.0
Fister, Doug 2688	pi sp	hou al	2.0	4.0	49.5	53.2	0.0
Gyorko, Jedd 3164	3b 2b	stl nl	1.5	5.0	14.2	14.2	-2.0
Marte, Jefry 3529	1b	ana al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Santana, Danny 3350	dh cf	min al	1.0	1.0	4.5	4.5	1.0
Diaz, Edwin 3690	pi mr	sea al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Peraza, Jose 3691	lf	cin nl	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Mets' Syndergaard tops players for Wednesday, June 15; Kershaw extends dominant season Box-Toppers lead

Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of June 15:

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0
5	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
6	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4
7	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	9.0
8	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	8.8
9	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	8.7
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	8.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extended his dominant lead in season player rankings and Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to fourth in player rankings.

Player of the Day—Syndergaard struck out 11 over 8 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, five hits and no walks, in the 11-2 win over the Pirates.

Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season, becoming the fourth player this season with 10 or more points. It is the second straight year Syndergaard has reached 10 points—in 2015, he had 10.4.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Drew Smyly struck out 12 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, four hits and no walks, in the 3-2, 13-inning win over the Mariners. Smyly did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied when he exited.

National League Batter of the Day—Melvin Upton of the Padres homered and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 6-3 win over the Marlins.

Upton had a Box-Toppers game score of +4, the same as DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies, who was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Yankees. While both players also had similar batting lines (3-3 2R 2BI), Upton won NL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker because he hit a home run.

American League Batter of the Day—Hanley Ramirez of the Red Sox hit a three-run homer, going 2-for-3 and scoring twice, in the 6-4 win over the Orioles.

Kershaw—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw extends his dominant lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Kershaw (7.1IP 5H 2R BB 11K W in the 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 18.0 for the season. He now leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (11.7) by 6.3 points, meaning Fernandez would need at least four starts to have a chance of catching Kershaw.

Kershaw also now has 177.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of sixth place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began (see homepage for updated list of “all-time” top 20 players in career points). Kershaw trails fifth-ranked player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (182.0).

Rankings—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Cueto (7IP 7H R BB 9K W in the 10-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the fifth player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. It is the fifth season Cueto has reached 10 points, the third straight season.

Notable—With the rise of Syndergaard and Cueto in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, the only batter—Manny Machado of the Orioles—has slipped off the top 10 list. Machado, who leads AL batters with 8.7 Box-Toppers points, now ranks 11th among all players. Machado had been in the top 10 overall rankings since May 8. 

The top NL batter, Eugenio Suarez of the Reds (7.0), ranks 20th among all players. 

Also, with Machado sliding out of the top 10, eight of the top 10 players are now from the NL. The only two from the AL are Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (8.8 points, eighth place) and White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (8.7 points, 10th place).

Debut—Tim Anderson of the White Sox made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Anderson (3B 3-5 3R in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut June 10 and was playing in his sixth career game. He is the 3,659th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Syndergaard earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Smyly earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Upton and Ramirez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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

6/15	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.1	NYM 11/PIT 2	Noah Syndergaard (W,7-2)	-	-	-	-		8.1	5	2	1	0	11
AL	10.2	`TB 3/SEA 2	Drew Smyly	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	2	2	0	12
	8.1	LAD 3/ARI 2	Clayton Kershaw (W,10-1)	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	2	2	1	11
	6.0	SF 10/MIL 1	Johnny Cueto (W,10-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	1	1	1	9
	6.0	`DC 5/CHC 4	Stephen Strasburg	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	1	8
	5.0	LAA 10/MIN 2	Hector Santiago (W,4-4)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	2	5
BAT	4.0	SD 6/MIA 3	Melvin Upton, LF	3	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	COL 6/NYY 3	DJ LeMahieu, 2B	3	2	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	BOS 6/BAL 4	Hanley Ramirez, 1B	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	TEX 7/OAK 5	Rougned Odor, 2B	4	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	TOR 7/PHI 2	Marco Estrada (W,5-2)	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	2	2	1	5
	1.2	`HOU 4/STL 1	Collin McHugh	-	-	-	-		6.2	7	1	1	2	6
	1.0	CHW 5/DET 3	Tim Anderson, SS	5	3	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	KC 9/CLE 4	Eric Hosmer, 1B	5	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	`ATL 9/CIN 8	Bud Norris	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	3	3	2	7
		`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	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	18.0	43.7	143.8	177.3	-7.7
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	10.0	22.8	74.0	93.4	-2.8
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0	20.4	20.4	20.4	-0.4
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	8.4	22.4	68.5	76.2	-5.6
Santiago, Hector 3109	pi sp	ana al	6.4	14.4	26.8	26.8	-1.6
Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	tor al	6.0	14.0	38.1	38.1	-2.0
Smyly, Drew 3009	pi sp	tb al	4.7	10.7	32.8	32.8	-1.3
LeMahieu, DJ 3091	2b	col nl	4.5	11.5	17.5	17.5	-2.5
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	3.0	12.7	24.5	24.5	-6.7
Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	kc al	3.0	12.0	25.5	25.5	-6.0
Odor, Rougned 3336	2b	tex al	3.0	6.0	7.5	7.5	0.0
Norris, Bud 2638	pi sp	atl nl	2.0	3.0	33.4	42.4	1.0
Ramirez, Hanley 2119	1b ss	bos al	1.5	1.5	24.2	52.1	1.5
Upton, Melvin 1922	lf	sd nl	1.5	1.5	14.5	36.2	1.5
Anderson, Tim 3659	ss	chi al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?