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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 MoreMike Piazza has the most Box-Toppers points of any catcher since tracking began in 1995.
Brian McCann leads active catchers in career points. Buster Posey leads catchers in
Box-Toppers points over the past season, past two seasons and past six seasons.
Read MoreA look at top players in Box-Toppers points by position in both leagues over both 2017 and the combined 2016-17 seasons.
Read MoreBox-Toppers projects Nationals to edge Dodgers in NL, Red Sox to beat Indians in the AL. World champion Cubs remain strong but return trip to World Series is not projected.
Read More
Los Angeles Dodgers edge out Washington Nationals as Box-Toppers' top preseason team. Champion Cubs slip to 5th after key player losses. Indians rank 1st among AL teams.
Read MoreMike Piazza leads catchers in career Box-Toppers points. Brian McCann leads active catchers in career points.
Read MoreTwo players who each ranked second among their league's batters—Mike Trout of the Angels and Kris Bryant of the Cubs—win 2016 Most Valuable Player Awards.
Read MoreRookie of the Year finlists Fulmer, Maeda lead newcomers in Box-Toppers points. Cy Young finalists Scherzer, Kluber lead pitchers in points. But Box-Toppers batting leaders Arenado, Machado not among MVP finalists.
Read MoreOnly 6 of 17 Silver Slugger Award winners also led their position in Box-Toppers points in 2016.
Read More
The Baltimore Orioles visit the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League one-game Wild Card playoff game Tuesday.
Starting pitchers are:
Orioles—Chris Tillman, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 30th among AL pitchers, 89th overall.
Blue Jays—Marcus Stroman, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, 43rd among AL pitchers, 112th overall.
Both teams have identical 89-73 records, but the Orioles rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings—they are seventh with 116.6 Box-Toppers points, while the Blue Jays are ninth with 114.0. The Blue Jays are the lowest-ranked AL team to make the postseason.
The Orioles finished the season as one of the hottest teams in baseball. In the final 10 days of the season, they earned 8.5 Box-Toppers points, third-most among all teams. The Blue Jays earned 6.0 points during that period.
Top-ranked player among both teams is Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked third among AL pitchers and 11th among all players. However, Happ started Saturday.
The Blue Jays also feature two players ranked in the top 10 list of AL batters for 2016:
The Orioles top-ranked player is third baseman-shortstop Manny Machado, whose 12.7 Box-Toppers points leads all AL batters. He ranks 21st among all players.
Also in the top 10 among AL batters is Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth, 38th among all players.
The winner of the AL Wild Card game will face the Texas Rangers in the best-of-five AL Division Series beginning Thursday in Texas. The Rangers rank fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings, third among AL teams, with 122.5 Box-Toppers points.
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.
| Baltimore Orioles | Toronto Blue Jays | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | 12.7 | Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | 14.7 | |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | 11.0 | Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | 11.0 | |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | 10.8 | Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | 10.7 | |
| Trumbo, Mark 2851 | rf | 8.2 | Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | 10.5 | |
| Tillman, Chris 2754 | pi sp | 8.0 | Donaldson, Josh 3144 | 3b | 9.7 | |
| Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | 7.5 | Liriano, Francisco 2104 | pi sp | 8.0 | |
| Hardy, J.J. 2071 | ss | 6.2 | Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | 8.0 | |
| Miley, Wade 3006 | pi sp | 6.0 | Dickey, R.A. 1734 | pi sp | 7.0 | |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | 6.0 | Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | 6.7 | |
| Britton, Zach 2835 | pi cp | 5.0 | Saunders, Michael 2768 | lf | 5.2 | |
| Jimenez, Ubaldo 2349 | pi sp | 4.7 | Smoak, Justin 2731 | 1b | 3.5 | |
| Schoop, Jonathan 3307 | 2b | 4.5 | Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Brach, Brad 3374 | pi mr | 3.0 | Upton, Melvin 1922 | lf cf | 2.5 | |
| O’Day, Darren 2577 | pi mr cp | 3.0 | Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | 2.0 | |
| Wilson, Tyler 3608 | pi mr sp | 3.0 | Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Gallardo, Yovani 2333 | pi sp | 2.0 | Goins, Ryan 3478 | 2b | 1.5 | |
| Pearce, Steve 2371 | 1b | 2.0 | Bautista, Jose Antonio 2169 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Bourn, Michael 2505 | rf cf | 2.0 | Tulowitzki, Troy 2308 | ss | 1.0 | |
| Givens, Mychal 3599 | pi mr | 2.0 | Bolsinger, Mike 3318 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Lobstein, Kyle 3406 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | Grilli, Jason 2209 | pi mr cp | 1.0 | |
| Kim, Hyun Soo 3671 | lf | 2.0 | Travis, Devon 3436 | 2b | 1.0 | |
| Jones, Adam 2347 | cf | 1.0 | Benoit, Joaquin 1663 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Alvarez, Pedro 2817 | dh 1b | 1.0 | Cecil, Brett 2566 | pi mr | 1.0 | |
| Wright, Mike 3471 | pi sp | 1.0 | Navarro, Dioner 2087 | dh ca | 1.0 | |
| Hunter, Tommy 2623 | pi cp | 1.0 | ||||
| Reimold, Nolan 2607 | lf | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 116.6 | Totals | 114.0 | |||
Braves pitcher Julio Teheran is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the final day of the 2016 season.
| 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 |
Also Sunday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, Box-Toppers Player of the Year, did not earn Player of the Game honors in his final regular season start. He ends with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, tied for the 20th-best single-season Box-Toppers point total since tracking began in 1995.
Player of the Day—Teheran struck out 12 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 1-0 win over the Tigers.
Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 52nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 43rd among all players and 19th among NL pitchers.
This is Teheran’s third season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. In 2013, he had 13.7 and in 2014, he had 14.4.
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits and one walk, in the 8-1 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—Danny Espinosa of the Nationals hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-1, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-7 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 5-2 win over the Yankees.
Wieters earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season. He becomes the 54th and final player in 2016 with 10 or more Box-Toppers points, the 10th batter. Wieters ranks 38th among all players and fifth among AL batters.
This is Wieter’s first season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. His previous high was 7.0 in 2011.
Notable—Box-Toppers Player of the Year Max Scherzer had a chance to increase his 2016 Box-Toppers point total, but did not earn Player of the Game Sunday in the Nationals’ win.
Scherzer (5IP 9H 5R 2BB 7K W in the 10-7 win over the Marlins) had a Box-Toppers game score of −9.0. Player of the Game Danny Espinosa, who was also NL Batter of the Day, had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0.
Scherzer ends the season with 25.7 Box-Toppers points, a 1.3-point lead over second place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.4), who on Saturday failed to gain Box-Toppers points, which could have propelled him past Scherzer for the lead.
Scherzer’s 25.7 Box-Toppers points is tied for the 20th-best single-season point total in the 22-year history of Box-Toppers tracking. This is the first time he has won overall Player of the Year honors. In 2013, when he was with the Tigers, he led AL pitchers with 18.1 Box-Toppers points.
Also notable—Two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Sunday:
Debut—Brewers pitcher Corey Knebel made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.
Knebel (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv in the 6-4, 10-inning win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut May 24, 2014, and was playing in his 91st career game. He is the 3,757th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Knebel is the 151st and final player to make his Box-Toppers debut in 2016.
Scoring—Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chacin earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Espinosa and Wieters 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/2 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | ATL 1, DET 0 | Julio Teheran (W,7-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | |
| AL | 9.0 | LAA 8, HOU 1 | Jhoulys Chacin (W,6-8) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 7.0 | SF 7, LAD 1 | Matt Moore (W,13-12) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | TOR 2, BOS 1 | Aaron Sanchez (W,15-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | `PHI 5, NYM 2 | Jerad Eickhoff | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | WSH 10, MIA 7 | Danny Espinosa, SS | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | BAL 5, NYY 2 | Matt Wieters, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | STL 10, PIT 4 | Matt Carpenter, 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 7, CIN 4 | Miguel Montero, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | OAK 3, SEA 2 | John Axford (S,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 3, SD 2 | Daniel Hudson (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 6, COL 4 (10) | Corey Knebel (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | TB 6, TEX 4 (10) | Alexei Ramirez, SS | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 6, CHW 3 | Miguel Sano, 3B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CLE 3, KC 2 | Yan Gomes, C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of Game | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | sf nl | 12.4 | 12.4 | 37.9 | 37.9 | 12.4 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 11.0 | 12.0 | 30.0 | 35.7 | 10.0 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 10.7 | 18.4 | 46.5 | 46.5 | 3.0 |
| Sanchez, Aaron 3392 | pi sp | tor al | 10.7 | 12.7 | 14.7 | 14.7 | 8.7 |
| Carpenter, Matt 2987 | 3b 1b 2b | stl nl | 9.5 | 15.0 | 29.5 | 29.5 | 4.0 |
| Eickhoff, Jerad 3566 | pi sp | phi nl | 8.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 3.0 |
| Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | ana al | 5.7 | 5.7 | 20.1 | 27.8 | 5.7 |
| Espinosa, Danny 2804 | ss 2b | dc nl | 3.2 | 6.2 | 14.9 | 16.9 | 0.2 |
| Sano, Miguel 3527 | 3b rf | min al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -3.0 |
| Ramirez, Alexei 2537 | ss | tb al | 2.5 | 4.5 | 23.0 | 35.0 | 0.5 |
| Montero, Miguel 2304 | ca ph | chi nl | 2.0 | 7.5 | 21.7 | 31.9 | -3.5 |
| Axford, John 2726 | pi cp | oak al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 12.0 | 18.0 | -2.0 |
| Hudson, Dan 2776 | pi cp | ari nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 14.0 | 20.0 | -1.0 |
| Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | cle al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 9.2 | 9.2 | 0.0 |
| Knebel, Corey 3757 | pi cp | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 |
| 2 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 20.4 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 4 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.2 |
| 5 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | chi nl | 18.1 |
| 6 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 16.8 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 15.1 |
| 8 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 14.4 |
| 9 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 10 | Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 |
Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka rises to 10th place in player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Player of the Day—Hill pitched seven perfect innings, striking out nine, in the 5-0 win over the Marlins. Despite allowing no base runners for seven innings, he was pulled after 89 pitches to preserve his health—he had spent time recently on the disabled list. While three Dodgers relievers preserved the shutout, they did give up two hits.
Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings. He ranks seventh among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka struck out 10 over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Rays.
Tanaka earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 14.1 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
With the rise of Hill to ninth place and Tanaka to 10th place in season player rankings, two other players were displaced from Box-Toppers top 10 list for the season—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard (14.0) and Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (13.7).
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles hit two homers and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-3 win over the Tigers.
National League Batter of the Day—Hunter Pence of the Giants homered and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in one run, in the 11-3 win over the Diamondbacks. It is the second straight day Pence has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He has 3.5 Box-Toppers points for the season.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer bolstered his first place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Scherzer (6.2IP 4H 0R BB 8K ND in the 3-0 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.7 for the season. He leads second-place player, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (20.4) by 3.3 points.
Scherzer also now has 129.7 career Box-Toppers points, 31st-most since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on the “all-time” list and now trails 30th-ranked Jason Giambi (133.4).
Notable—Three other players with more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season also earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Debut—Twins pitcher J.T. Chargois made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Chargois (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Indians) made his Major League debut June 11 and was playing in his 16th career game. He is the 3,736th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Hill 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. Wieters and Pence 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 9/10 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | LAD 5, MIA 0 | Rich Hill (W,12-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |
| 14.0 | SD 6, COL 3 | Christian Friedrich (W,5-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | ||
| AL | 10.1 | NYY 5, TB 1 | Masahiro Tanaka (W,13-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | |
| 9.2 | `WSH 3, PHI 0 | Max Scherzer | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | BAL 11, DET 3 | Matt Wieters, C | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | SF 11, ARI 3 | Hunter Pence, RF | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | SEA 14, OAK 3 | Nelson Cruz, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | HOU 2, CHC 1 | Collin McHugh (W,10-10) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 5, MIL 1 | Adam Wainwright (W,11-8) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | ||
| 2.0 | CIN 8, PIT 7 | Joey Votto, 1B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 8, LAA 5 | Carlos Gomez, LF | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | KC 6, CHW 5 | Eric Hosmer, 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 3, BOS 2 | J.A. Happ (W,18-4) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 2, CLE 1 (12) | J.T. Chargois (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | ATL 4, NYM 3 (10) | Matt Kemp, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.7 | 44.7 | 109.3 | 129.7 | 2.7 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 38.1 | 10.4 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 14.1 | 22.1 | 34.8 | 34.8 | 6.1 |
| Happ, J.A. 2536 | pi sp | tor al | 13.7 | 26.8 | 42.2 | 50.2 | 0.6 |
| Votto, Joey 2366 | 1b | cin nl | 10.5 | 15.5 | 32.2 | 64.2 | 5.5 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 10.2 | 13.2 | 61.3 | 112.0 | 7.2 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 9.5 | 10.5 | 28.5 | 34.2 | 8.5 |
| Hosmer, Eric 2886 | 1b | kc al | 8.5 | 17.5 | 31.0 | 31.0 | -0.5 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 7.7 | 17.4 | 29.2 | 29.2 | -2.0 |
| Kemp, Matt 2151 | rf lf | atl nl | 6.5 | 12.0 | 36.5 | 58.1 | 1.0 |
| Cruz, Nelson Ramon 2224 | dh | sea al | 5.5 | 7.5 | 33.2 | 52.7 | 3.5 |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | sf nl | 3.5 | 5.5 | 24.5 | 52.2 | 1.5 |
| Friedrich, Christian 3024 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.7 | 2.7 | 6.4 | 6.4 | 2.7 |
| Gomez, Carlos 2397 | cf lf | tex al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 18.5 | 29.5 | -4.0 |
| Chargois, J.T. 3736 | pi cp | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Reds pitcher Homer Bailey is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| 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 |
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.
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. | ||||||||||||||
| 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 |
Braves pitcher Julio Teheran is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| 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 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.0 |
| 5 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 |
| 8 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 9.4 |
| 9 | Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | sf nl | 9.0 |
| 10 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 8.8 |
Teheran pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none, in the 6-0 win over the Mets.
American League Player of the Day—Royals pitcher Chris Young struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 13-inning win over the Tigers. Young did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied 1-1 when he exited.
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no National League Batter of the Day for Sunday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Streak—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers points for 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday, his first of the season.
Weaver (CG 3H 0R BB K W in the 2-0 win over the Athletics) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Angels and has 124.1 points for his career, rising to 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Sunday, he passes one player on the “all-time” list, Gary Sheffield (124.1).
Weaver’s best season was 2011 with the Angels when he had 22.8 Box-Toppers points, second-most among AL pitchers. He had four straight seasons with 15.0 or more points (2009—15.0, 2010—19.4, 2011—22.8, 2012—15.4) all with the Angels. Weaver had 7.7 points in 2015 with the Angels.
Notable—In addition to Weaver, two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Sunday:
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Sunday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Teheran earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Young earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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
| 6/19 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 15.0 | ATL 6/NYM 0 | Julio Teheran (W,3-7) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | CHC 10/PIT 5 | Kyle Hendricks (W,5-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 7.0 | `SF 5/TB 1 | Jake Peavy | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | `KC 2/DET 1 | Chris Young | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| BAT | 6.0 | BAL 11/TOR 6 | Matt Wieters, C | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 6.0 | LAA 2/OAK 0 | Jered Weaver (W,6-6) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 5.2 | HOU 6/CIN 0 | Mike Fiers (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | BOS 2/SEA 1 | David Price (W,8-4) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | ARI 5/PHI 1 | Archie Bradley (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 4.0 | MIN 7/NYY 4 | Max Kepler, RF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | MIA 3/COL 0 | Tom Koehler (W,6-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | SD 6/DC 3 | Fernando Rodney (S,14) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | `LAD 2/MIL 1 | Kenta Maeda | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 3.0 | `CLE 3/CHW 2 | Cody Allen | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | TEX 5/STL 4 | Jurickson Profar, PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 | 27.8 | 83.8 | 100.5 | -14.4 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 6.0 | 7.0 | 25.0 | 30.7 | 5.0 |
| Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | chi nl | 5.0 | 14.7 | 19.7 | 19.7 | -4.7 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 5.0 | 12.7 | 40.8 | 40.8 | -2.7 |
| Peavy, Jake 1635 | pi sp | sf nl | 4.0 | 9.0 | 37.1 | 140.8 | -1.0 |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi mr | cle al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 0.0 |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Young, Chris R. 1933 | pi sp | kc al | 3.7 | 11.7 | 27.8 | 77.8 | -4.3 |
| Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp | sd nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 21.0 | 33.0 | 2.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | hou al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 23.1 | 23.1 | -5.0 |
| Koehler, Tom 3159 | pi sp | fla nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 14.0 | 14.0 | -2.0 |
| Bradley, Archie 3438 | pi sp | ari nl | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Weaver, Jered 2178 | pi sp | ana al | 1.0 | 8.7 | 63.3 | 124.1 | -6.7 |
| Kepler, Max 3664 | rf | min al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Profar, Jurickson 3665 | ph | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
A look at leaders in Box-Toppers points by position and league over both 2016 and 2015-16.
Read MoreKershaw passes Jake Arrieta of the Cubs as Box-Toppers points leader over both 2015-2016, 39.7-37.8. Kershaw also leads players for 2016.
Read More
Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 2 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 8.7 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 8.7 |
| 4 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.0 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | ss 3b | bal al | 7.7 |
| 6 | Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 6.7 |
| 8 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 |
| 9 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 6.1 |
| 10 | Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf | nym nl | 6.0 |
Also Saturday, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets rose to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Fulmer struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 5-4 win over the Rays.
This was Fulmer’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut April 29 and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,640th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mets.
Fernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 6.7 for the season and rising to sixth place in season player rankings. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Eduardo Nunez of the Twins hit a three-run homer and doubled, going 2-for-4, in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays.
Nunez had a Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +2.0, tied with Matt Wieters of the Orioles, who was Player of the Game in the 3-1 win over the Angels. Both Nunez and Wieters also had similar batting lines and Nunez won AL Batter of the Day honors on a low-level tiebreaker—he left fewer runners on base—0 vs. 1.
National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets hit a two-run homer and went 2-for-4, scoring twice, in the 5-4 win over the Brewers. Cespedes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season, rising to 10th place in player rankings. He also extends his lead among NL batters in Box-Toppers points for the season.
Notable—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez now has 164.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday, moving closer to 11th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list.
Hernandez (6IP 4H 0R 5K in the 4-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, maintaining his rank of 12th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since player tracking began in 1995. He trails 11th-place player Roger Clemens (164.8) by only 0.1 point. It should be noted that Clemens’s career began in 1984, before Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, and so he would likely have more Box-Toppers points (rough estimates based on projections would put his career total at about 320 Box-Toppers points).
Hernandez has 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Debut—Rockies pitcher Carlos Estevez made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Estevez (1.1IP 0H 0R 2K W in the 5-1 win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut April 23 and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,641st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Fulmer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fernandez earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Nunez and Cespedes 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/20 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | Tigers | Michael Fulmer (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| 9.2 | Red Sox | Joe Kelly (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | Marlins | Jose Fernandez (W,6-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
| 7.1 | Braves | Williams Perez (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 6.0 | Cardinals | Mike Leake (W,3-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | Rangers | Cesar Ramos (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 5.0 | `Padres | Cesar Vargas | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | Mariners | Felix Hernandez (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.1 | `Royals | Danny Duffy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 2.1 | Rockies | Carlos Estevez (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Twins | Eduardo Nunez, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Orioles | Matt Wieters, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Mets | Yoenis Cespedes, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Yankees | Masahiro Tanaka (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Buster Posey, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Fernandez, Jose 3147 | pi sp | fla nl | 6.7 | 11.4 | 37.4 | 37.4 | 2.0 |
| Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf | nym nl | 6.0 | 16.9 | 37.9 | 37.9 | -4.9 |
| Nunez, Eduardo 2795 | 2b ss lf | min al | 2.5 | 4.5 | 10.5 | 12.0 | 0.5 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 2.5 | 3.5 | 21.5 | 27.2 | 1.5 |
| Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 2.0 | 21.4 | 87.4 | 164.7 | -17.4 |
| Leake, Mike 2709 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.0 | 12.0 | 37.1 | 41.6 | -8.0 |
| Tanaka, Masahiro 3305 | pi sp | nyy al | 2.0 | 10.0 | 22.7 | 22.7 | -6.0 |
| Duffy, Danny 2915 | pi sp | kc al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 21.0 | 21.0 | -2.0 |
| Perez, Williams 3476 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -2.0 |
| Fulmer, Michael 3640 | pi sp | det al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Vargas, Cesar 3624 | pi sp | sd nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | 1b ca | sf nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 26.0 | 30.5 | -3.0 |
| Kelly, Joe 3066 | pi sp | bos al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -1.0 |
| Ramos, Cesar 3168 | pi sp | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Estevez, Carlos 3641 | pi mr | col nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to second place in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.0 |
| 3 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 7.7 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 6.7 |
| 5 | Machado, Manny 3087 | 3b ss | bal al | 6.7 |
| 6 | Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 |
| 7 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 6.1 |
| 8 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 5.7 |
| 10 | Quintana, Jose 3040 | pi sp | chi al | 5.7 |
Cueto pitched a complete game, allowing one run, four hits and striking out eight, in the 2-1 win over the Padres.
Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, rising to second in season player rankings, behind overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (10.0).
American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Nathan Eovaldi allowed one run and one hit over six innings, striking out five, in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Wieters of the Orioles homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Mariners.
Wieters had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 and won AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker over Ian Kinsler of the Tigers, who had an identical game score and nearly identical batting line. Kinsler was Player of the Game in the 6-3 win over the Twins (HR 3-4 2R 2BI). Wieters beat Kinsler because he had two extra base hits (a home run and a double) while Kinsler had one (home run).
National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Wednesday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—In addition to Cueto, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
Notable—Two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also won Player of the Game honors Wednesday:
Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Eovaldi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wieters earns 1.5 points for being AL 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 5/18 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | Giants | Johnny Cueto (W, 6-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | |
| AL | 8.0 | Yankees | Nathan Eovaldi (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6.0 | Athletics | Rich Hill (W,6-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.2 | Braves | Julio Teheran (W,1-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.2 | Cardinals | Adam Wainwright (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.1 | Rays | Alex Colome (S,10) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | Indians | Cody Allen (W,1-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.2 | `Royals | Ian Kennedy | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| 3.1 | Nationals | Gio Gonzalez (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Orioles | Matt Wieters, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Tigers | Ian Kinsler, 2B | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Angels | Mike Trout, CF | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Astros | Jason Castro, C | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | `Cubs | John Lackey | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| 2.1 | Red Sox | David Price (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 2.0 | Phillies | Jeanmar Gomez (S,16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
| Player | Pos | Team | 16 | 15-16 | 11-16 | Career | +/- |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 8.0 | 20.8 | 72.0 | 91.4 | -4.8 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | oak al | 6.4 | 10.4 | 10.4 | 30.1 | 2.4 |
| Price, David 2593 | pi sp | bos al | 5.7 | 26.8 | 82.8 | 99.5 | -15.4 |
| Kennedy, Ian 2723 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 | 11.7 | 55.5 | 61.5 | -1.7 |
| Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | chi nl | 4.7 | 14.4 | 34.1 | 112.5 | -5.0 |
| Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 | pi sp | nyy al | 3.7 | 5.7 | 22.8 | 22.8 | 1.7 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 3.0 | 15.0 | 39.5 | 39.5 | -9.0 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 3.0 | 8.0 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -2.0 |
| Kinsler, Ian 2144 | 2b | det al | 2.5 | 9.0 | 28.2 | 58.6 | -4.0 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.5 | 5.5 | 53.6 | 104.3 | -0.5 |
| Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.0 | 11.7 | 68.8 | 82.5 | -7.7 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 2.0 | 9.7 | 37.8 | 37.8 | -5.7 |
| Gomez, Jeanmar 2759 | pi cp | phi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 | 2.0 |
| Wieters, Matt 2643 | ca | bal al | 1.5 | 2.5 | 20.5 | 26.2 | 0.5 |
| Allen, Cody 3265 | pi mr cp | cle al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -3.0 |
| Castro, Jason 2743 | ca | hou al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.5 | 8.5 | 1.0 |
Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn is Monday’s Player of the Day. Lynn pitched seven scoreless innings and struck out 11 in the 4-0 win over the Brewers.
Athletics pitcher Jesse Chavez is American League Player of the Day. Chavez struck out nine over seven innings in the 3-2 win over the Angels. Chavez earned a no-decision in the game and did not pick up the win because he left the game with the Athletics trailing, 2-1.
Lucas Duda of the Mets is National League Batter of the Day. Duda went 4-for-5 and drove in two runs in the 7-3 win over the Diamondbacks.
Matt Wieters of the Orioles is AL Batter of the Day. Wieters went 3-for-4, drove in one run and scored twice in the 7-1 win over the Rays.
Notable: Braves pitcher Ervin Santana rises to eighth place on Box-Toppers player rankings for the season. Santana (6IP 11K ND) was Player of the Game in the 9-6 win over the Phillies, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. (See updated top 10 player rankings for the season.)
Lynn receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Chavez receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Duda and Wieters each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 414 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 12.0 | Cardinals | Lance Lynn (W, 3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | |
| AL | 9.0 | `Athletics | Jesse Chavez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 9.0 | `Braves | Ervin Santana | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | ||
| 3.0 | Nationals | Jordan Zimmermann (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 2.2 | Mariners | Roenis Elias (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Mets | Lucas Duda 1B, LF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 2.0 | Orioles | Matt Wieters C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Padres | Tommy Medica PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey is Thursday's Player of the Day. Dickey threw six innings, struck out seven and gave up two hits, no runs and one walk in the 3-1 win over the White Sox.
Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin is National League Player of the Day. Corbin pitched seven innings and struck out seven in the 6-2 win over the Yankees. While Corbin left the game with a 2-1 lead, New York tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, leaving Corbin ineligible for the win. But Arizona came back to win the game with four runs in the top of the 12th inning.
Todd Frazier of the Reds is NL Batter of the Day. Frazier went 2-for-3 and homered in the 11-1 win over the Marlins.
Matt Wieters of the Orioles is AL Batter of the Day. Wieters hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning in the 10-6 win over the Rays.
Dickey receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being named Player of the Day. Corbin receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Frazier receives 1.5 points for NL Batter of the Day. Wieters receives 1.5 points for AL Batter of the Day.
All of Thursday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive one Box-Toppers point:
| 418 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 10.0 | Blue Jays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | R.A. Dickey (W, 2-2) | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| NL | 7.0 | `Diamondbacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Patrick Corbin | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Reds | Todd Frazier 3B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4.0 | Cubs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Carlos Villanueva (W, 1-0) | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 4.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yovani Gallardo (W, 1-1) | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 4.0 | `Mariners | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hisashi Iwakuma | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||
| 4.0 | Braves | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Anthony Varvaro (W, 1-0) | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| BAT | 3.0 | Orioles | Matt Wieters C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jon Lester (W, 3-0) | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 2.0 | Rockies | Troy Tulowitzki SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.1 | Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Edward Mujica (S, 1) | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
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.