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Rockies pitcher Ty Blach is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Nelson Cruz of the Nationals has now has earned Box-Toppers points in 17 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2022. It’s the third-longest active streak.
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Jayson Werth of the Nationals is top player in Monday’s three league division series playoff games.
Other Players of the Game Monday:
Werth homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs to earn Player of the Game.
Werth had 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked 165th among all players and 23rd among NL batters.
Werth had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 Monday to lead all Nationals players.
The Nationals now lead the Dodgers in the best-of-five game series, 2-1, which resumes Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Giants middle reliever Derek Law pitched two scoreless innings—the sixth and seventh—and allowed no hits, one walk and struck out two.
So how did Law earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game? Under Box-Toppers rules, pitchers can qualify to earn Player of the Game honors if they pitch a minimum of three innings or earn the win or save. Law did not meet any of those requirements. However, pitchers can also earn Player of the Game honors if their Box-Toppers game score is higher than the pitcher who otherwise would have earned Player of the Game—if they have the same or more innings pitched. Closer Ty Blach (2IP 2H 0R 0BB K W) was in line to earn Player of the Game based on the fact that he earned the decision and had the highest Box-Toppers game score of qualifying pitchers (+1.0). But since Law pitched the same number of innings and had a higher Box-Toppers game score (+3.0), he wins Player of the Game.
Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner would have qualified to earn Player of the Game honors (because he had more than three innings pitched) but he had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of −5.0 (5IP 7H 3R BB 4K ND). Giants top batter was catcher Buster Posey (3-5 R BI) who had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0.
Law has 2.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.
Cubs starting pitcher Jake Arrieta (15.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked ninth among all players) had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of 0.0 in the loss (6IP 6H 2R BB 5K ND).
The Giants now trail the Cubs in the best-of-five game series, 2-1, which resumes Tuesday in San Francisco.
Coco Crisp of the Indians hit a sixth-inning two-run homer to earn Player of the Game honors as the Indians swept the Red Sox to advance to the AL Championship Series.
Crisp went 1-for-2 and had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
During the regular season, Crisp had 3.0 Box-Toppers points.
The Indians sweep the Red Sox in the NL Division Series in three games and now face the Blue Jays in the AL Championship Series beginning Friday in Cleveland.
The Red Sox ranked first among all AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings with 128.3 Box-Toppers points (ranking second overall behind the Cubs). The Indians ranked fourth with 123.7, second among AL teams.
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
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 3.0 | WSH 8, LAD 3 | Jayson Werth, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `SF 6, CHC 5 (13) | Derek Law | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2.0 | CLE 4, BOS 3 | Coco Crisp, LF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| `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 | |||||||||||||
Coming Tuesday, the NL Division Series playoff games resume:
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Nationals—Joe Ross, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 173rd among all players, 50th among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Cubs—John Lackey, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 16th, ninth among NL pitchers.
Giants—Matt Moore, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 31st, 16th among NL pitchers.
Giants pitcher Ty Blach is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| 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 Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer secured Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors for 2016 after Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw failed to earn Box-Toppers points in his team’s loss Saturday against the Giants. Scherzer, who starts Sunday, has 25.7 Box-Toppers points. Kershaw finishes second with 24.4.
In addition Saturday, Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Blach pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, one walk and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Dodgers.
This was Blach’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Blach made his Major League debut Sept. 5 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,754th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, three hits and no walks, in the 4-1 win over the Rangers.
American League Batter of the Day—Joey Wendle of the Athletics doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-8, 10-inning win over the Mariners.
This was Wendle’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Wendle made his Major League debut Aug. 31 and was playing in his 27th career game. He is the 3,756th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Eugenio Suarez of the Reds hit a two-run homer and went 1-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cubs.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw had a chance to take the Box-Toppers season points lead on the next-to-last day of the season Saturday if he earned NL Player of the Day or overall Player of the Day. But Kershaw did not earn points as the Dodgers lost to the Giants, 3-0.
Kershaw (7IP 6H 3R BB 4K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −1.0. Player of the Game was overall Player of the Day, Giants pitcher Ty Blach.
Kershaw finishes the season with 24.4 Box-Toppers points, the second year in a row he finishes second. In 2015, he had 25.7 points, behind leader Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (29.1). Previously, Kershaw led NL pitchers for four straight seasons (2011-2014) and led all players in three seasons (2011, 2013 and 2014).
Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, who took the season lead from Kershaw on Aug. 25, will end the season atop Box-Toppers season player rankings for the first time in his career. He has 25.7 Box-Toppers points and has a chance to earn up to 2.0 more Sunday in his start against the Marlins.
This will be the second time Scherzer has ended the season as a Box-Toppers category leader. In 2013, Scherzer, then with the Tigers, led AL pitchers in points with 18.1. (He finished fifth in 2013 in overall points when Kershaw led with 21.7.)
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Randy Johnson | pi sp | retired | 278.8 |
| 2 | Pedro Martinez | pi sp | retired | 244.8 |
| 3 | Curt Schilling | pi sp | retired | 194.1 |
| 4 | Alex Rodriguez | dh | released | 187.0 |
| 5 | CC Sabathia | pi sp | nyy al | 185.0 |
| 6 | Clayton Kershaw | pi sp | lad nl | 183.7 |
| 7 | Albert Pujols | 1b dh | ana al | 182.3 |
| 8 | Roy Halladay | pi sp | retired | 170.7 |
| 9 | Felix Hernandez | pi sp | sea al | 168.7 |
| 10 | Manny Ramirez | lf dh | retired | 167.2 |
| 11 | Johan Santana | pi sp | free agent | 166.6 |
| 12 | Roger Clemens | pi sp | retired | 164.8 |
| 13 | John Smoltz | pi sp | retired | 160.9 |
| 14 | Tim Hudson | pi sp | retired | 157.0 |
| 15 | Zack Greinke | pi sp | ari nl | 156.1 |
| 16 | Mike Mussina | pi sp | retired | 155.6 |
| 17 | Barry Bonds | lf | retired | 153.2 |
| 18 | Greg Maddux | pi sp | retired | 151.7 |
| 19 | Chipper Jones | 3b | retired | 149.0 |
| 20 | Bartolo Colon | pi sp | nym nl | 148.5 |
Notable—Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 20th place in career Box-Toppers points (since tracking began in 1995) after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Colon (5IP 5H 2R 0BB 6K W in the 5-3 win over the Phillies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 148.5 for his career. He passes Javier Vazquez (148.3) on the “all-time” list and now trails Chipper Jones (149.0).
Colon now has 8.4 Box-Toppers points on the season, 27th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Two players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Debut—Braves pitcher Aaron Blair also made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Blair (6IP 4H 2R BB 10K W in the 5-3 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut April 24 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,755th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Blach earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Wendle and Suarez 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.
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
| 10/1 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | SF 3, LAD 0 | Ty Blach (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| AL | 9.0 | TB 4, TEX 1 | Jake Odorizzi (W,10-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | |
| 8.2 | HOU 3, LAA 0 | Collin McHugh (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 7.0 | ARI 9, SD 5 | Archie Bradley (W,8-9) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 7.0 | ATL 5, DET 3 | Aaron Blair (W,2-7) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 6.1 | MIN 6, CHW 0 | Hector Santiago (W,13-10) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | `MIL 4, COL 3 (10) | Wily Peralta | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | `STL 4, PIT 3 | Trevor Rosenthal | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | OAK 9, SEA 8 (10) | Joey Wendle, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 3.0 | CIN 7, CHC 4 | Eugenio Suarez, 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | `CLE 6, KC 3 | Andrew Miller (H,25) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | WSH 2, MIA 1 | Mark Melancon (S,46) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | TOR 4, BOS 3 | Kevin Pillar, CF | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYY 7, BAL 3 | Chase Headley, 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | NYM 5, PHI 3 | Bartolo Colon (W,15-8) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | min al | 11.4 | 19.4 | 31.8 | 31.8 | 3.4 |
| McHugh, Collin 3316 | pi sp | hou al | 10.7 | 20.4 | 32.2 | 32.2 | 1.0 |
| Suarez, Eugenio 3355 | 3b | cin nl | 8.5 | 11.5 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 5.5 |
| Colon, Bartolo | pi sp | nym nl | 8.4 | 15.1 | 57.0 | 148.5 | 1.7 |
| Miller, Andrew 2436 | pi cp mr | cle al | 8.0 | 12.0 | 16.0 | 23.0 | 4.0 |
| Odorizzi, Jake 3291 | pi sp | tb al | 6.4 | 15.1 | 26.1 | 26.1 | -2.3 |
| Headley, Chase 2552 | 3b | nyy al | 4.5 | 6.5 | 18.0 | 28.5 | 2.5 |
| Rosenthal, Trevor 3124 | pi cp | stl nl | 4.0 | 10.0 | 22.0 | 22.0 | -2.0 |
| Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | dc nl | 3.0 | 10.0 | 23.0 | 24.0 | -4.0 |
| Bradley, Archie 3438 | pi sp | ari nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| Pillar, Kevin 3486 | cf | tor al | 2.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 5.5 | -1.5 |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | sf nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Wendle, Joey 3756 | 2b | oak al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Peralta, Wily 3123 | pi sp | mil nl | 1.0 | 3.0 | 19.0 | 19.0 | -1.0 |
| Blair, Aaron 3755 | pi sp | atl nl | 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.