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Indians pitcher Eli Morgan is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Rockies pitcher German Marquez maintains fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Brewers pitcher Corbin Burnes rises to ninth in season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreDansby Swanson of the Braves is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Rockies pitcher German Marquez rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Albert Pujols of the Dodgers extends his record streak of earning Box-Toppers points in consecutive seasons to 21 after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2021 Saturday.
Read MoreMariners pitcher Logan Gilbert is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Gilbert struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, in the 4-0 win over the Yankees.
Read MoreGiants pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Marlins pitcher Trevor Rogers rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Shohei Ohtani of the Angels earns Player of the Game honors as a pitcher but does it for batting, becoming apparently the first American League pitcher to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors while batting.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after becoming the sixth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Strasburg is Thursday’s National League Player of the Day.
Plus, Alex Bregman of the Astros rises to lead American League batters in 2019 Box-Toppers points after earning AL Batter of the Day honors Thursday.
Read MoreRoyals pitcher Brad Keller is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Saturday, Cubs pitcher Jon Lester earned Player of the Game honors for batting and rises to 12th place on Box-Toppers “all-time” career points list.
Read MoreBrewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Twins pitcher Jake Odorizzi rises to seventh place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read MoreRays pitcher Blake Snell is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Cody Bellinger of the Dodgers extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors for the third time already in the first week of the season.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Rick Porcello is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, who ranks sixth in Box-Toppers season player rankings, earns Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to eighth place in season player rankings.
Sale struck out 11 over seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 11-0 win over the Yankees.
Read MoreMarlins pitcher Jose Urena is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Urena pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out four, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.
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While batters made modest gains in 2017, earning more Box-Toppers points and Player of the Game honors than in 2016, pitchers were still dominant, earning the most Box-Toppers points and far and away the most Player of the Day honors for the season.
Here's a look at some key statistics in a comprehensive look at all 2,430 Major League Baseball games played and tracked in 2017 by Box-Toppers.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka had the best single-game performance of the 2017 season as measured by Box-Toppers game score.
There were 2,430 games played in 2017. Here are the 10 games in which the Box-Toppers Player of the Game had the highest Box-Toppers game scores.
Read MoreAthletics pitcher Daniel Mengden is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Friday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Diamondbacks pitcher Robbie Ray rises to 10th after both earned Player of the Game honors. Plus, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale failed in his chance to rise to the Box-Toppers points lead after he did not earn Player of the Game honors in his team’s win.
Read MoreRays pitcher Jake Odorizzi is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Tuesday, Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rises to fifth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors. Plus, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke maintains his fourth-place spot in player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreKendrys Morales of the Blue Jays is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, earning the sixth-highest Box-Toppers game score for a batter in 2017.
Also Thursday, Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Greinke rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning National League Player of the Day honors.
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Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 14.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 13.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 10.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 7 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 8.2 |
| 8 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 8.0 |
| 9 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 8.0 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 7.7 |
Carrasco struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and no walks, in the 5-1 win over the Orioles.
Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.4 for the season, rising to sixth place among all players and third among American League pitchers, behind Ervin Santana of the Twins (11.4) and Chris Sale of the Red Sox (10.1).
National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Dan Straily struck out six over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Nationals. Straily picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the Marlins trailed, 1-0, when he exited.
Straily earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, rising to sixth place among NL pitchers, 12th overall.
Opposing pitcher Max Scherzer of the Nationals had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning, but gave up two hits and two unearned runs that inning, picking up the loss. Had the Nationals won, Scherzer (8IP 2H 2R 0ER BB 11K L) would have been overall Player of the Day with a Box-Toppers game score of +14.0, beating out Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco’s Box-Toppers game score of +9.0. But Scherzer picks up no Box-Toppers points in the loss.
Scherzer ranks second in Box-Toppers points on the season with 13.0, behind overall leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (14.4).
National League Batter of the Day—Brandon Drury of the Diamondbacks doubled and went 4-for-6, scoring once and driving in six runs, in the 16-5 win over the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—Salvador Perez of the Royals hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam in the 6-4 win over the Red Sox. Perez also went 3-for-3.
Notable—Craig Stammen of the Padres (2B 1-1 R in the 3-2 win over the Cubs) became the fourth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.
Debuts—Four players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday with their first career Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Straily earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Drury and Perez 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.
| 6/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | CLE 5, BAL 1 | Carlos Carrasco (W,8-3) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| 7.0 | MIN 4, CHW 2 | Jose Berrios (W,7-1) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | `MIA 2, WSH 1 | Dan Straily | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | ARI 16, COL 5 | Brandon Drury, 2B | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 5.0 | KC 6, BOS 4 | Salvador Perez, C | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | LAD 8, NYM 2 | Rich Hill (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | ||
| 3.0 | STL 7, PHI 6 (F/10) | Jose Martinez, PH-RF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 5, OAK 1 | Mike Fiers (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | `ATL 5, SF 3 (F/11) | Sean Newcomb | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.2 | TB 8, CIN 3 | Chase Whitley (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 8, LAA 4 | Austin Romine, C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 4, PIT 3 | Domingo Santana, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 7, TEX 5 | Steve Pearce, LF | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.2 | SEA 7, DET 5 | Tony Zych (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | SD 3, CHC 2 | Craig Stammen, P | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 | 21.8 | 50.5 | 55.9 | -3.0 |
| Straily, Dan 3080 | pi sp | fla nl | 7.7 | 14.7 | 25.4 | 25.4 | 0.7 |
| Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 3.5 | 7.5 | 22.7 | 25.2 | -0.5 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | 2b | ari nl | 3.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 17.4 | 21.4 | 41.1 | -11.4 |
| Whitley, Chase 3352 | pi cp mr | tb al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 3.0 |
| Fiers, Michael 3029 | pi sp | hou al | 2.7 | 7.7 | 28.8 | 28.8 | -2.3 |
| Pearce, Steve 2371 | lf | tor al | 2.0 | 4.0 | 16.0 | 18.0 | 0.0 |
| Santana, Domingo 3507 | rf | mil nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.0 |
| Stammen, Craig 2506 | pi mr | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 13.0 | 1.0 |
| Martinez, Jose 3830 | rf ph | stl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Newcomb, Sean 3831 | pi sp | atl nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Romine, Austin 3832 | ca | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Zych, Tony 3833 | pi mr | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Blue Jays pitcher Marco Estrada is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Estrada struck out 12 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 3-1 win over the Orioles.
| 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 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 6.0 |
| 9 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 10 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 3-2 win over the Braves.
Strasburg earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 4.4 for the season, most among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday. Strasburg ranks 22nd among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.
Strasburg also has the most career Box-Toppers points among the 16 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday with 87.3. That ranks 14th among active NL pitchers and 107th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs homered twice and went 3-for-3, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 13-6 win over the Brewers.
American League Batter of the Day—Yan Gomes of the Indians homered, doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 8-6 win over the Astros.
Notable—Kyle Freeland of the Rockies became the third pitcher this season to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for batting.
Freeland (HR 2B 2-2 2R BI in the 6-4 win over the Reds) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 for batting, best among Rockies players Sunday. He had a Box-Toppers game score of -5.8 for pitching (5.2IP 5H 4R 2BB 3K W).
Previously this season, two Cardinals have earned Player of the Game honors for batting—Adam Wainwright on April 21 and Carlos Martinez on May 8. In 2016, pitchers earned Player of the Game honors for batting eight times.
Scoring—Estrada earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Strasburg earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Bryant and Gomes 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.
| 5/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.2 | TOR 3, BAL 1 | Marco Estrada (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | |
| NL | 8.2 | WSH 3, ATL 2 | Stephen Strasburg (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | |
| 8.0 | SD 5, ARI 1 | Clayton Richard (W,3-5) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | `PIT 1, PHI 0 | Chad Kuhl | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 6.0 | CHC 13, MIL 6 | Kris Bryant, 3B | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 6.0 | CLE 8, HOU 6 | Yan Gomes, C | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | LAD 6, MIA 3 | Brandon McCarthy (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 4.1 | NYY 3, TB 2 | Dellin Betances (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | LAA 12, NYM 5 | Mike Trout, CF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | CHW 8, SEA 1 | Derek Holland (W,4-3) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3.2 | `TEX 5, DET 2 | Sam Dyson (H,3) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | KC 6, MIN 4 | Brandon Moss, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BOS 12, OAK 3 | Hanley Ramirez, DH | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 8, SF 3 | Randal Grichuk, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | COL 6, CIN 4 | Kyle Freeland, P | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIN 8, KC 4 | Robbie Grossman, RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 4.4 | 19.5 | 78.6 | 87.3 | -10.7 |
| Holland, Derek 2634 | pi sp | chi al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 30.1 | 49.8 | 0.0 |
| Richard, Clayton 2584 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.0 | 6.0 | 14.2 | 33.6 | 2.0 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 3.0 | 14.0 | 43.1 | 46.1 | -8.0 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 3.0 | 7.0 | 15.7 | 15.7 | -1.0 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 | 5.7 | 25.4 | 39.5 | 0.3 |
| Gomes, Yan 3177 | ca | cle al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 12.2 | 12.2 | 2.0 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Grichuk, Randal 3474 | rf | stl nl | 2.5 | 3.5 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 1.5 |
| Bryant, Kris 3465 | 3b lf | chi nl | 1.5 | 12.0 | 20.5 | 20.5 | -9.0 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 1.0 | 13.5 | 48.5 | 50.0 | -11.5 |
| Ramirez, Hanley 2119 | dh 1b | bos al | 1.0 | 8.0 | 23.5 | 58.6 | -6.0 |
| Moss, Brandon 2520 | dh rf lf 1b | kc al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 26.0 | 28.0 | -3.0 |
| Grossman, Robbie 3267 | rf | min al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | -1.0 |
| Kuhl, Chad 3687 | pi sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Dyson, Sam 3399 | pi mr | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Monday, Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez rises to 10th place in season Box-Toppers player rankings after becoming the second pitcher of the season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 2 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 6.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 6 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
| 7 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 8 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 5.0 |
| 9 | Judge, Aaron 3767 | rf | nyy al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.5 |
Player of the Day—Wood struck out 11 over five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and one walk, in the 12-1 win over the Pirates.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out eight over seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 6-4 win over the Nationals.
National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 9-4 win over the Marlins.
Martinez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season, rising to 10th in Box-Toppers season player rankings and fifth among NL pitchers.
He also becomes the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright did it on April 21. Not only has the feat been accomplished both times by Cardinals, but both pitchers also earned NL Batter of the Day honors when they did it.
This is the second time in his career Martinez has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. He also did it Sept. 19, 2016. During the 2016 season, pitchers won Player of the Game honors for batting eight times.
Martinez had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, highest among all Cardinals players Monday. He had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 for pitching (6IP 5H 3R 3ER 2BB 7K W).
American League Batter of the Day—Matt Holliday of the Yankees homered and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 10-4 win over the Reds.
Holliday earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 100.8 for his career. He becomes the 77th player to earn 100 Box-Toppers points since 1995, when player tracking began. With his points Monday, he rises to 73rd on the “all-time” player list, passing six players—White Sox pitcher James Shields (99.4), Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (99.8), Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Giants pitcher Matt Cain (100.7). Holliday now trails 72nd-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).
Scoring—Wood earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cahill earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Martinez and Holliday each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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.
| 5/8 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | LAD 12, PIT 1 | Alex Wood (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | |
| 6.1 | SD 5, TEX 1 | Trevor Cahill (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 5.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | ||
| AL | 5.0 | BAL 6, WSH 4 | Kevin Gausman (W,2-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| 4.1 | KC 7, TB 3 | Nate Karns (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 9, MIA 4 | Carlos Martinez, P | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `NYM 4, SF 3 | Jacob deGrom | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 11 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | NYY 10, CIN 4 | Matt Holliday, 1B | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | TOR 4, CLE 2 | Ryan Goins, SS | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | OAK 3, LAA 2 (F/11) | Jed Lowrie, 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.5 | 16.9 | 31.6 | 31.6 | -7.9 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi sp | sd nl | 4.4 | 7.4 | 22.1 | 44.6 | 1.4 |
| Holliday, Matt 1836 | dh 1b lf | nyy al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 36.2 | 100.8 | -3.0 |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp mr | lad nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 22.4 | 22.4 | 2.0 |
| Karns, Nathan 3414 | pi sp | kc al | 2.7 | 5.7 | 11.7 | 11.7 | -0.3 |
| Goins, Ryan 3478 | ss 2b | tor al | 2.0 | 3.5 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 0.5 |
| Gausman, Kevin 3191 | pi sp | bal al | 1.7 | 12.5 | 25.9 | 25.9 | -9.1 |
| deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 10.7 | 46.1 | 46.1 | -8.7 |
| Lowrie, Jed 2437 | 2b ss | oak al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 16.5 | 28.0 | 0.0 |
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Kluber pitched a three-hit, complete-game shutout, striking out nine and walking two, in the 3-0 win over the White Sox.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 2 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 5.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 4.7 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 4.7 |
| 5 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 |
| 6 | Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 |
| 7 | Chacin, Jhoulys 2711 | pi mr sp | sd nl | 3.7 |
| 8 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 3.4 |
| 9 | Morrison, Logan 2794 | 1b | tb al | 3.2 |
| 10 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
Kluber led AL players in Box-Toppers points in 2016 with 21.2. This was Kluber’s first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor for 2017.
National League Player of the Day—Padres pitcher Trevor Cahill allowed one run and three hits over seven innings, striking out six, in the 5-3 win over the Marlins.
National League Batter of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright homered and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in four runs, in the 6-3 win over the Brewers.
This is the first time this season that a pitcher has earned Player of the Game honors for batting. It was done eight times in 2016 (including twice by Wainwright) and seven times in 2015. Wainwright has earned Player of the Game honors four times in his career for batting: July 24, 2012, May 2, 2016 and Sept. 5, 2016. He’s earned NL Batter of the Day three times (the only time he didn’t was Sept. 5, 2016).
Wainwright had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0 for batting, which was the same as his Box-Toppers game score for pitching (5IP 6H 2R 0BB 9K W). But in cases of game score ties, batters beat pitchers, so Wainwright the batter beat out Wainwright the pitcher on the tiebreaker to earn Player of the Game honors.
Wainwright also now has 113.5 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 48th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his points Friday, he passes four players on the “all-time” list: Kevin Brown (112.8), Sammy Sosa (113.2), Dan Haren (113.2) and Chris Carpenter (113.3). He now trails 47th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9).
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Gallo of the Rangers hit two homers, going 2-for-3 and driving in three runs, in the 6-2 win over the Royals.
Rankings—Two players rise into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday:
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cahill earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Wainwright and Gallo each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
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| 4/21 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 13.0 | CLE 3, CHW 0 | Corey Kluber (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| NL | 7.0 | SD 5, MIA 3 | Trevor Cahill (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 5.0 | PHI 4, ATL 3 | Jeremy Hellickson (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | TOR 8, LAA 7 (F/13) | Ryan Tepera (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | STL 6, MIL 3 | Adam Wainwright, P | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | TEX 6, KC 2 | Joey Gallo, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.1 | PIT 6, NYY 3 | Juan Nicasio (W,1-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | ARI 13, LAD 5 | Daniel Descalso, PH-1B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | BAL 2, BOS 0 | Dylan Bundy (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | CHC 6, CIN 5 (F/11) | Carl Edwards Jr. (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 6, TB 3 | Ken Giles (S,4) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | COL 6, SF 5 | Greg Holland (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 4, NYM 3 (F/11) | Bryce Harper, RF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIN 6, DET 3 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 3, SEA 1 | Sean Manaea (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 4.0 | 7.0 | 31.4 | 31.4 | 1.0 |
| Holland, Greg 2906 | pi cp | col nl | 4.0 | 4.0 | 34.0 | 37.0 | 4.0 |
| Bundy, Dylan 3655 | pi sp | bal al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -3.0 |
| Gallo, Joey 3485 | 3b | tex al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
| Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 2.0 | 23.2 | 67.4 | 67.4 | -19.2 |
| Hellickson, Jeremy 2778 | pi sp | phi nl | 2.0 | 15.1 | 36.1 | 46.8 | -11.1 |
| Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi sp mr | sd nl | 1.7 | 4.7 | 19.4 | 41.9 | -1.3 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 1.5 | 11.7 | 62.8 | 113.5 | -8.7 |
| Nicasio, Juan 2888 | pi mr sp | pit nl | 1.0 | 10.0 | 22.4 | 26.4 | -8.0 |
| Manaea, Sean 3637 | pi sp | oak al | 1.0 | 7.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 | -5.7 |
| Giles, Ken 3402 | pi cp mr | hou al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 | -2.0 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -2.0 |
| Descalso, Daniel 2855 | ph 1b | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.7 | 11.2 | 0.0 |
| Edwards, Carl Jr. 3775 | pi mr | chi nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Tepera, Ryan 3774 | pi mr | tor al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
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.