Mariners' Christian Bergman tops players for Wednesday, May 17; Kershaw regains Box-Toppers points lead

Mariners pitcher Christian Bergman is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, making his Box-Toppers debut with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of May 17:  

	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	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	6.0
6	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	5.4
8	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	5.4
9	Triggs, Andrew 3723	pi sp	oak al	5.4
10	Darvish, Yu 3003	pi sp	tex al	5.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Wednesday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.

Player of the Day—Bergman struck out nine over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 4-0 win over the Athletics.

This was Bergman’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bergman made his Major League debut June 9, 2014, and was playing in his 58th career game. He is the 3,799th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Player of the Day—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Giants.

2017 lead changes

Here are the season’s lead changes among players in Box-Toppers points. Chart shows the date and the player’s Box-Toppers point (BTP) total when they took the lead.  

Date	Player	Team	BTP
4/2	Carlos Martinez	stl nl	2.0
4/3	Clayton Kershaw	lad nl	2.0
4/9	Noah Syndergaard	nym nl	3.0
4/14	Clayton Kershaw	lad nl	4.0
4/15	Ervin Santana	min al	4.7
4/19	Clayton Kershaw	lad nl	5.0
5/2	Chris Sale	bos al	6.7
5/6	Clayton Kershaw	lad nl	7.0
5/12	Ervin Santana	min al	7.7
5/13	Chris Sale	bos al	8.4
5/17	Clayton Kershaw	lad nl	8.7

Kershaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, rising from third to first place in season player rankings, passing previous leader, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (8.4 Box-Toppers points). Kershaw maintains his lead in Box-Toppers points among NL pitchers. This is the fifth time this season Kershaw has led Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Kershaw also now has 192.4 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails third-ranked player Curt Schilling (194.1). Kershaw ranks first in career points among active players.

American League Batter of the Day—Jared Hoying of the Rangers homered, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times an driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Phillies.

Hoying had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0, tied with Tyler Collins of the Tigers, Player of the Game in the 5-4 win over the Orioles (2HR 2B 3-4 2R 4BI). But Hoying won AL Batter of the Day over Collins on a tiebreaker—Hoying had more hits (four vs. three).

This was Hoying’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hoying made his Major League debut May 23, 2016, and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,800th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Kurt Suzuki of the Braves homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-4 win over the Blue Jays.

Scoring—Bergman 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. Hoying and Suzuki 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.

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 

5/17	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.1	SEA 4, OAK 0	Christian Bergman (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		7.1	2	0	0	2	9
NL	9.0	LAD 6, SF 1	Clayton Kershaw (W,7-2)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	0	5
BAT	5.0	TEX 9, PHI 3	Jared Hoying, CF	4	3	4	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	DET 5, BAL 4	Tyler Collins, CF	4	2	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	ATL 8, TOR 4	Kurt Suzuki, C	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	HOU 3, MIA 0	Lance McCullers Jr. (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	3
	3.0	LAA 12, CHW 8	Danny Espinosa, 2B	3	3	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	PIT 6, WSH 1	Gerrit Cole (W,2-4)	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	2	3
	3.0	`CHC 7, CIN 5	Carl Edwards Jr. (H,5)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	NYY 11, KC 7	Starlin Castro, 2B	4	2	3	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	TB 7, CLE 4	Jesus Sucre, C	4	2	2	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	BOS 5, STL 4 (F/13)	Fernando Abad (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	1	1
	2.0	MIL 3, SD 1	Corey Knebel (S,2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	2
	1.0	ARI 5, NYM 4 (F/11)	Jake Lamb, 3B	3	1	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	8.7	33.1	132.8	192.4	-15.7
McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	hou al	5.0	11.1	17.8	17.8	-1.1
Castro, Starlin 2767	2b	nyy al	3.0	10.0	18.5	28.5	-4.0
Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	3.0	9.5	38.9	38.9	-3.5
Suzuki, Kurt 2344	ca	atl nl	2.5	4.0	15.0	34.5	1.0
Collins, Tyler 3302	cf	det al	2.5	2.5	5.5	5.5	2.5
Knebel, Corey 3757	pi mr cp	mil nl	2.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	1.0
Bergman, Christian 3799	pi sp	sea al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Edwards, Carl Jr. 3775	pi mr	chi nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Sucre, Jesus 3794	ca	tb al	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Hoying, Jared 3800	cf	tex al	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Lamb, Jake 3517	3b	ari nl	1.0	5.0	6.0	6.0	-3.0
Espinosa, Danny 2804	2b	ana al	1.0	4.2	10.7	17.9	-2.2
Abad, Fernando 3653	pi mr	bos al	1.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	-1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Dbacks' Taijuan Walker tops players for Thursday, April 27; Yankees' Tanaka tops AL players

Diamondbacks pitcher Taijuan Walker is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Walker struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing two runs on four hits, in the 6-2 win over the Padres.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of April 27:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	6.0
2	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	5.7
3	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	5.0
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	4.7
5	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	4.0
6	Paxton, James 3280	pi sp	sea al	4.0
7	Harper, Bryce 3011	rf	dc nl	4.0
8	Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	col nl	4.0
9	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	3.7
10	Chacin, Jhoulys 2711	pi mr sp	sd nl	3.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season, most among the 11 Thursday who earned Player of the Game honors. Walker rises to 17th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka pitched a complete-game, three-hit, shutout in the 3-0 win over the Red Sox. Tanaka struck out three and walked none.

National League Batter of the Day—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals hit a two-run, ninth-inning homer to tie the game, in the 8-4, 11-inning win over the Blue Jays. Grichuk went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in three runs.

American League Batter of the Day—Yan Gomes of the Indians doubled and went 1-for-1, scoring a run, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.

Streaks—Two players extended their streaks of 10 or more consecutive seasons earning Box-Toppers points after both earned Player of the Game honors Thursday:

• Kurt Suzuki of the Braves (HR 1-3 2R 3BI in the 7-5 win over the Mets) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2007 with the Athletics and has 33.0 career points, fourth among active NL catchers. His best season was 2009 with the Athletics when he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL catchers. In 2016, he had 1.5 points with the Twins.
• Angels pitcher Ricky Nolasco (5.2IP 3H R 2BB 4K W in the 2-1 win over the Athletics) has now earned Box-Toppers points in 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Marlins, but his 10-year streak began in 2008 with the Marlins (he earned no points in 2007). Nolasco has 88.2 career points, 11th among active AL pitchers. His best seasons were 2008 and 2009, both the the Marlins—he earned 16.7 points each season. In 2008, he ranked fourth among NL pitchers and in 2009, he ranked third among NL pitchers. In 2016, he had 11.4 points with the Twins and the Angels, 14th among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Tanaka earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Grichuk and Gomes 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.

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 

4/27	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	ARI 6, SD 2	Taijuan Walker (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	2	2	0	11
AL	9.0	NYY 3, BOS 0	Masahiro Tanaka (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	STL 8, TOR 4 (F/11)	Randal Grichuk, RF	2	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	`SEA 2, DET 1	Hisashi Iwakuma	-	-	-	-		5.2	3	1	0	1	3
	3.0	WSH 16, COL 5	Daniel Murphy, 2B	6	3	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	ATL 7, NYM 5	Kurt Suzuki, C	3	2	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	LAD 5, SF 1 (F/10)	Kenley Jansen (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	`PHI 3, MIA 2	Joaquin Benoit (H,6)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	STL 6, TOR 4	Trevor Rosenthal (S,2)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	LAA 2, OAK 1	Ricky Nolasco (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-		5.2	3	1	1	2	4
BAT	1.0	CLE 4, HOU 3	Yan Gomes, C	1	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

MLB—Overall Box-Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box-Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` 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 (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Walker, Taijuan 3453	pi sp	ari nl	3.0	10.7	24.4	24.4	-4.7
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	dc nl	2.0	9.5	30.5	34.5	-5.5
Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	nyy al	1.7	15.8	36.5	36.5	-12.4
Grichuk, Randal 3474	rf	stl nl	1.5	2.5	12.0	12.0	0.5
Gomes, Yan 3177	ca	cle al	1.5	2.5	10.7	10.7	0.5
Nolasco, Ricky 2125	pi sp	ana al	1.0	12.4	29.1	88.2	-10.4
Iwakuma, Hisashi 3048	pi sp	sea al	1.0	7.0	55.2	55.2	-5.0
Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp mr	lad nl	1.0	7.0	32.7	37.4	-5.0
Rosenthal, Trevor 3124	pi cp	stl nl	1.0	5.0	23.0	23.0	-3.0
Suzuki, Kurt 2344	ca	atl nl	1.0	2.5	13.5	33.0	-0.5
Benoit, Joaquin 1663	pi mr	phi nl	1.0	2.0	9.0	30.5	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Indians' Kluber tops players for Tuesday, June 21; Giants' Cueto rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to lead American League pitchers 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 21:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	20.0
2	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7
2	Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	11.7
3	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	10.7
4	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
6	Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	nym nl	10.0
7	Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	9.7
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7
10	Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	9.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Tuesday, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto rises to second in Box-Toppers player rankings and White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to ninth after both earned Player of the Game honors.

Player of the Day—Kluber pitched a complete game shutout, striking out nine and allowing three hits and two walks, in the 6-0 win over the Rays.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.8 for the season, rising to seventh among all players in season rankings. Kluber also passes teammate Danny Salazar (8.8 points) to take the season points lead among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto allowed one run over 6 2/3 innings, striking out six and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 15-4 win over the Pirates.

Cueto earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season and rising to second in season player rankings. Cueto still trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (20.0) by a significant 8.3-point margin.

American League Batter of the Day—Kurt Suzuki of the Twins homered and hit two doubles, going 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 14-10 win over the Phillies.

Suzuki has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 10 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2007 with the Athletics and has 32.0 career Box-Toppers points, third among active AL catchers. His best season was 2009 with the Athletics when he had 6.0 points, fourth among AL catchers. In 2015, he had 1.5 points with the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Jay Bruce of the Reds hit a three-run homer and a double, going 3-for-4 and driving in four total runs, in the 8-2 win over the Rangers.

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Sale (7IP 4H R BB 9K W in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers.

Debut—Andrew Romine of the Tigers made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Romine (pinch run in the 4-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut Sept. 24, 2010, and was playing in his 323rd career game. He is the 3,666th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cueto earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Suzuki and Bruce each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

6/21	Score	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	CLE 6/TB 0	Corey Kluber (W,7-7)	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	2	9
	9.0	CHW 3/BOS 1	Chris Sale (W,12-2)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	9
BAT	7.0	MIN 14/PHI 10	Kurt Suzuki, C	5	2	4	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
NL	5.2	SF 15/PIT 4	Johnny Cueto (W,11-1)	-	-	-	-		6.2	4	1	1	1	6
BAT	4.0	CIN 8/TEX 2	Jay Bruce, RF	4	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	COL 8/NYY 4	Nolan Arenado, 3B	4	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`HOU 3/LAA 2	Collin McHugh	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	1	6
	3.0	`SD 10/BAL 7	Brad Hand (H,3)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.2	ATL 3/MIA 2	Chris Withrow (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	OAK 5/MIL 3	Marcus Semien, SS	4	0	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	LAD 3/DC 2	Yasmani Grandal, C	3	1	1	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	NYM 2/KC 1	Jeurys Familia (S,23)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	`ARI 4/TOR 2	Tyler Clippard (H,10)	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	DET 4/SEA 2	Andrew Romine, PR-DH	0	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	STL 4/CHC 3	Trevor Rosenthal (S,14)	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	1	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	+/-
Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	11.7	24.5	75.7	95.1	-1.1
Kluber, Corey 3200	pi sp	cle al	9.8	23.2	54.0	54.0	-3.6
Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	9.7	28.5	80.7	82.7	-9.1
Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	cin nl	5.0	8.2	28.2	55.3	1.8
Arenado, Nolan 3306	3b	col nl	4.5	13.0	14.5	14.5	-4.0
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	hou al	4.0	13.7	25.5	25.5	-5.7
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	nym nl	3.0	11.0	11.0	11.0	-5.0
Rosenthal, Trevor 3124	pi cp	stl nl	3.0	9.0	21.0	21.0	-3.0
Hand, Brad 2907	pi mr sp	sd nl	2.0	3.0	7.0	7.0	1.0
Clippard, Tyler 2291	pi mr	ari nl	2.0	3.0	18.0	29.4	1.0
Withrow, Chris 3273	pi cp mr	atl nl	2.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	2.0
Suzuki, Kurt 2344	ca	min al	1.5	3.0	16.0	32.0	0.0
Grandal, Yasmani 3058	ca	lad nl	1.0	3.0	11.0	11.0	-1.0
Semien, Marcus 3302	ss	oak al	1.0	1.0	4.5	4.5	1.0
Romine, Andrew 3666	dh pr	det al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rays' Chris Archer tops players for Thursday, April 16, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Archer pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 11 in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Archer rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 3.0 for the season. Overall leader, Athletics pitcher Scott Kazmir, has 3.7 Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 16.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
3	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
4	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
5	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	2.5
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	2.0
7	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	2.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	2.0
9	Odorizzi, Jake 3291	pi sp	tb al	2.0
10	Gonzalez, Miguel 3062	pi sp	bal al	2.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher John Lackey pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out eight in the 4-0 win over the Brewers.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks hit a three-run homer and scored two runs in the 7-6 win over the Giants.

American League Batter of the Day—Kurt Suzuki of the Twins hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4 in the 8-5 win over the Royals.

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

• Mets pitcher Jeurys Familia (1IP 0R K Sv in the 7-5 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut Sept. 4, 2012, and was playing in his 99th career game. He is the 3,446th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Michael Taylor of the Nationals (1-2 HR in the 5-2 win over the Phillies) made his Major League debut Aug. 12, 2014, and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,447th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lackey earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Goldschmidt and Suzuki each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/16	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	Rays	Chris Archer (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	2	11
NL	9.0	Cardinals	John Lackey (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	8
	2.0	Mets	Jeurys Familia (S, 4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
BAT	1.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt 1B	5	2	1	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	1.0	Twins	Kurt Suzuki C	4	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Nationals	Michael Taylor CF	2	1	1	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Bailey, though pitching Tuesday, is top player for Wednesday, April 17

Reds pitcher Homer Bailey is Wednesday's Player of the Day, even though he did not pitch on Wednesday and even though he did not pick up an official win in the 1-0 win over the Phillies.

On Tuesday, Bailey pitched eight innings, struck out 10 and gave up two hits, no runs and no walks in the game that was suspended at 0-0 in the ninth inning. Since the game was tied when Bailey left the mound, he was not eligible for the win. And since Box-Toppers stats are counted for the day the game concludes, Bailey (though he pitched Tuesday) is Wednesday's top player. The game took nine minutes to finish Wednesday, with Jay Bruce's RBI single.

Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer is American League Player of the Day. Scherzer struck out 12 over eight innings in the 2-1 win over the Mariners. Scherzer, like Bailey, was named Player of the Game even though he did pick not up an official win or save. When he left, the game was tied 1-1. The Tigers scored in the top of the 14th inning to win.

James Loney of the Rays is AL Batter of the Day. Loney went 3-for-3 in the 6-2 win over Baltimore.​

Kurt Suzuki of the Nationals is NL Batter of the Day. Suzuki went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly and a homer in the 6-1 win over the Marlins.​

Bailey receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Scherzer receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Loney receives 1.5 points for AL Batter of the Day. Suzuki receives 1.5 points for NL Batter of the Day.

All of Wednesday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive one Box-Toppers point:

417	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	16.0	`Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Homer Bailey	8.0	2	0	0	0	10
	14.0	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			A.J. Burnett (W, 1-2)	7.0	1	0	0	0	8
AL	11.0	`Tigers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Max Scherzer	8.0	6	1	1	1	12
	11.0	Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Mike Leake (W, 1-0)	7.0	3	0	0	0	7
	9.0	Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Wade Davis (W, 2-0)	7.0	5	0	0	0	7
	6.2	White Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jose Quintana (W, 1-0)	6.2	5	0	0	2	7
	6.0	`Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Junichi Tazawa (H, 3)	2.0	0	0	0	0	4
BAT	4.0	Rays	James Loney 1B	3	1	3	3	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	3.0	Nationals	Kurt Suzuki C	3	2	2	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Bartolo Colon (W, 2-0)	6.0	4	1	1	0	3
	2.0	Padres	Everth Cabrera SS	4	2	3	1	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Brewers	Yuniesky Betancourt 1B	2	1	1	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Yankees	Travis Hafner PH, DH	1	1	1	1	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.