Ryan Merritt tops players as Indians eliminate Blue Jays in ALCS; Cubs' Rizzo tops players in NLCS Game 4 win

Pitcher Ryan Merritt led the Indians to a clinching American League Championship Series Game 5 win Wednesday, even though he has never earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors during the regular season.

Also Wednesday, Anthony Rizzo was Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the Cubs’ Game 4 win to even the National League Championship Series with the Dodgers at two games apiece.

American League Championship Series Game 5: Indians 3, Blue Jays 0

Merritt pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, no walks and striking out three, to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

The Indians win the best-of-seven-game series over the Blue Jays, 4-1, and advance to the World Series beginning next Tuesday in Cleveland.

Merritt picked up a no decision because he did not pitch the requisite five innings to earn the win. However, he did pitch at least three innings, enough to qualify to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game.

Merritt had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +5.1, most of any Indians player. Left fielder Coco Crisp had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+1.0) among Indians batters (HR 1-2 R BI).

Opposing pitcher Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (6IP 5H 3R 0BB 7K L).

Merritt had no Box-Toppers points during the regular season and in fact is unranked because he has yet to earn his first career Player of the Game honor during the regular season. Merritt made his Major League debut May 30 and has played in four games, pitching a total of 11 innings.

The Indians ranked higher than the Blue Jays in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Indians ranked fourth with an accumulated 123.7 Box-Toppers points earned by their players in 2016. The Blue Jays ranked ninth with 114.0, the lowest of the five AL teams to qualify for the playoffs.

Yet, the Indians were weakened by the loss of two of their top starting pitchers—Danny Salazar (12.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among AL pitchers) and Carlos Carrasco (12.4 points, ranked 10th among AL pitchers). Both were out with injuries. A third starter, Trevor Bauer (11.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 12th among AL pitchers), was injured during the series—cutting his pinky finger repairing a drone—and could only pitch 2/3 of an inning in Game 3 before having to be removed because he was bleeding so profusely from his drone wound.

Yet, the Indians were able to cobble together four wins with bullpen stars like Andrew Miller (8.0 Box-Toppers points, first among AL middle relievers) and Cody Allen (7.0 Box-Toppers points, fourth among AL closers), plus their ace starter Corey Kluber (21.2 Box-Toppers points, first among AL pitchers).

One final note: In March, Box-Toppers somehow made the correct preseason forecast that the Indians and Blue Jays would face off in the American League Championship Series and the Cubs and Dodgers would face off in the National League Championship Series.

The only problem with that: Box-Toppers picked the Blue Jays to win the ALCS and the World Series. Now, that ain’t gonna happen.

See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.

National League Championship Series Game 4: Cubs 10, Dodgers 2

Rizzo homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

The Cubs now even the best-of-seven-game National League Championship Series with the Dodgers, 2-2.

Rizzo had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of +3.0, most among Cubs players. Cubs starting pitcher John Lackey (13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3.0 (4IP 3H 2R 3BB 3K ND).

Opposing pitcher Julio Urias of the Dodgers had a Box-Toppers game score of −6.8 (3.2IP 4H 4R 2BB 4K L).

Rizzo had 3.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 71st among NL batters and 16th among NL first basemen.

The series resumes Thursday with Game 5 in Los Angeles.

See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.

BTG	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
5.1	`CLE 3, TOR 0	Ryan Merritt	-	-	-	-		4.1	2	0	0	0	3
3.0	CHC 10, LAD 2	Anthony Rizzo, 1B	5	2	3	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

National League Championship Series Game 5, Cubs at Dodgers, series tied, 2-2

The pitching matchup Thursday is a rematch of the Game 1 starters from Saturday. The Cubs won that game, 8-4:

Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Kenta Maeada, 10.0 Box-Toppers points, 54th among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.

See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.

Dodgers' Rich Hill, Blue Jays' Aaron Sanchez top players in Tuesday's League Championship Series games

Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill and Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez are top players in Tuesday’s two League Championship Series games.

In both LCS games Tuesday, the top 10 pitcher was outdueled by a lesser-ranked starter:

• Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (21.2 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among all players and first among AL pitchers) lost against the Blue Jays’ Sanchez (10.7 Box-Toppers points, 45th among all players and 19th among AL pitchers).
• Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (15.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked ninth among all players and sixth among NL pitchers) lost against the Dodgers’ Hill (14.4 Box-Toppers points, 13th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers).

National League Championship Series Game 3: Dodgers 6, Cubs 0

Hill pitched six scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks and striking out six to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. The Dodgers take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series.

Hill had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +8.0, most among Dodgers players. Top Dodgers batter was catcher Yasmani Grandal, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (HR 1-3 R 3BI).

Opposing starting pitcher Jake Arrieta of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score of −4.0 (5IP 6H 4R 0BB 5K L).

The series resumes Wednesday in Los Angeles.

American League Championship Series Game 4: Blue Jays 5, Indians 1

Sanchez allowed one run over six innings, giving up two hits, two walks and striking out five to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. The Blue Jays stave off elimination and now trail the Indians 3-1 in the best-of-seven game series.

Sanchez had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +5.0, most among Blue Jays players. Top Blue Jays batter was first baseman Edwin Encarnacion who had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (2-4 0R 2BI).

Opposing starting pitcher Corey Kluber of the Indians had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (5IP 4H 2R 2BB 7K L).

The series resumes Wednesday in Toronto.

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

BTG	Game	Player of Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
8.0	LAD 6, CHC 0	Rich Hill (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	2	6
5.0	TOR 5, CLE 1	Aaron Sanchez (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	1	1	2	5
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Coming Wednesday\

American League Championship Series Game 5: Indians lead Blue Jays, 3-1

Though the Blue Jays are on the brink of elimination, they hold the distinct advantage in pitching.

The Indians staff depleted by injury, throw a rookie on the mound to start Game 5 who has never earned a Box-Toppers point. Meanwhile, the Indians have already used their one healthy ace Corey Kluber, who leads AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points, twice during this series already. The Blue Jays counter with starter Marco Estrada, who ranks among the top 15 AL pitchers. And with Kluber unavailable for at least a couple of games, the Blue Jays may be able to stave off elimination and possibly make the series competitive.

The pitching matchup Wednesday:

Indians—Ryan Merritt, 0.0 Box-Toppers points, unranked. Merritt made his Major League debut May 30 and has played in four games but has yet to make his Box-Toppers debut—he has never earned Player of the Game honors. 

Blue Jays—Marco Estrada, 11.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 37th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.

See Box-Toppers ALCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.

National League Championship Series Game 4, Dodgers lead Cubs, 2-1

The Cubs lost Game 3 though they had a slight pitching advantage with Arrieta (15.7 Box-Toppers points) over Hill (14.4). They hold a more distinct advantage Wednesday when the higher-ranked and veteran pitcher John Lackey with 24 games of postseason experience takes on the rookie Julio Urias with two innings of postseason experience.

The pitching matchup Wednesday:

Cubs—John Lackey, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Julio Urias, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 179th among all players, 51st among NL pitchers.

See Box-Toppers NLCS series preview with player-by-player matchups.