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Diamondbacks pitcher Patrick Corbin is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.
Corbin struck out nine over 7 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and no walks, in the 6-0 win over the Phillies.
Read MoreAngels pitcher Andrew Heaney is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Heaney struck out 10 over eight innigs, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, in the 2-1 win over the Astros.
Read MoreRed Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his player rankings lead among American League pitchers and becoming the 79th player since 1995 with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points.
Also Friday, Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians rises to first place in Box-Toppers points among AL batters after earning AL Batter of the Day honors.
Read More
Angels pitcher Matt Shoemaker is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 6.7 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
| 8 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
Also Friday, Twins pitcher Ervin Santana regains the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Shoemaker pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits, in the 7-0 win over the Tigers.
Shoemaker had a Box-Toppers game score of +9.0, tied with Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who was Player of the Game in the 5-1 win over the Yankees (6IP 4H 0R 0BB 7K W). But Shoemaker won overall Player of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he allowed one fewer hit than McCullers (three vs. four). Yet, because of that one-hit difference, Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day while McCullers earns only 1.0 point for being Player of the Game.
National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Eddie Butler pitched six scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing two hits, in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler Flowers of the Braves homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-4 win over the Marlins.
| Date | Player | Team | BTP |
| 4/2 | Carlos Martinez | stl nl | 2.0 |
| 4/3 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 2.0 |
| 4/9 | Noah Syndergaard | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 4/14 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 4.0 |
| 4/15 | Ervin Santana | min al | 4.7 |
| 4/19 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 5.0 |
| 5/2 | Chris Sale | bos al | 6.7 |
| 5/6 | Clayton Kershaw | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 5/12 | Ervin Santana | min al | 7.7 |
American League Batter of the Day—There is no AL Batter of the Day for Friday because no AL batters earned Player of the Game honors.
Rankings—Twins pitcher Ervin Santana rises to first place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday in the 1-0 win over the Indians (7IP 2H 0R 4K W).
Santana earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.7 for the season, passing previous leader Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (7.0 Box-Toppers points). It is the second time this season Santana has led players in Box-Toppers points; he previously led from April 15 to 18. Santana also takes the lead in Box-Toppers points among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Chris Sale of the Red Sox (6.7).
Santana also now has 105.0 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 65th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Blue Jays pitcher Francisco Liriano (104.2) on the “all-time” list and now trails 64th-ranked player, Dodgers pitcher Scott Kazmir (105.1).
Streak—Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the 2017 season.
Cueto (8IP 5H 2R 3BB 6K ND in the 3-2, 17-inning win over the Reds) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2008 with the Reds and has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, becoming the 78th player with 100 or more Box-Toppers points since tracking began in 1995.
Cueto ranks 74th among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and Friday passed four players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4), Paul Konerko (100.7) and Giants pitcher Matt Cain (100.7). Cueto now trails 73rd-ranked player Matt Holliday of the Yankees (100.8). Though both Cueto and Holliday both have 100.8 career Box-Toppers points, Holliday ranks higher because he has more 2017 Box-Toppers points than Cueto (3.0 vs. 1.0).
Cueto’s best season was 2014 with the Reds, when he had 22.4 Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players. In 2016, he had 16.4 points with the Giants, eighth among all players.
Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debuts Friday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Shoemaker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Butler earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Flowers 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.
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| 5/12 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 9.0 | LAA 7, DET 0 | Matt Shoemaker (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | HOU 5, NYY 1 | Lance McCullers Jr. (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| NL | 6.0 | CHC 3, STL 2 | Eddie Butler (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | ATL 8, MIA 4 | Tyler Flowers, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIN 1, CLE 0 | Ervin Santana (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | TOR 4, SEA 0 | Joe Biagini (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 7, NYM 4 | Eric Sogard, SS | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 5, OAK 2 | Keone Kela (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | TB 5, BOS 4 | Alex Colome (S,9) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | ARI 11, PIT 4 | Brandon Drury, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SD 6, CHW 3 | Austin Hedges, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | LAD 6, COL 2 | Chase Utley, 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | `SF 3, CIN 2 (F/17) | Johnny Cueto | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1.0 | KC 3, BAL 2 | Joakim Soria (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 | 11.7 | 44.5 | 105.0 | 3.7 |
| McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 4.0 | 10.1 | 16.8 | 16.8 | -2.1 |
| Colome, Alex 3189 | pi cp | tb al | 3.0 | 12.0 | 20.7 | 20.7 | -6.0 |
| Shoemaker, Matt 3290 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 9.0 | 27.4 | 27.4 | -5.0 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi mr cp | kc al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 11.7 | 47.7 | 1.0 |
| Butler, Eddie 3483 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.7 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 0.7 |
| Flowers, Tyler 3101 | ca | atl nl | 1.5 | 4.0 | 12.5 | 12.5 | -1.0 |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 1.0 | 17.4 | 71.0 | 100.8 | -15.4 |
| Biagini, Joe 3646 | pi sp | tor al | 1.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | -1.0 |
| Drury, Brandon 3744 | 2b lf | ari nl | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | -0.5 |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 1b 2b | lad nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 13.0 | 74.1 | 0.0 |
| Sogard, Eric 3174 | ss 2b | mil nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Hedges, Austin 3790 | ca | sd nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Kela, Keone 3789 | pi cp | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Rays pitcher Drew Smyly is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Velasquez, Vince 3611 | pi sp | phi nl | 4.0 |
| 2 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 3.7 |
| 3 | Salazar, Danny 3223 | pi sp | cle al | 3.4 |
| 4 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 3.0 |
| 5 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 3.0 |
| 6 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.0 |
| 7 | Morton, Charlie 2503 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.0 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 2.7 |
| 9 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.7 |
| 10 | Santiago, Hector 3109 | pi sp | ana al | 2.7 |
Smyly struck out 11 over eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, in the 3-0, 10-inning win over the Red Sox. Smyly did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied, 0-0.
National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 7-0 win over the Marlins. Strasburg earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 2.7 for the season, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.
National League Batter of the Day—Tyler Flowers of the Braves went 4-for-4, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 8-1 win over the Dodgers.
American League Batter of the Day—Salvador Perez of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 8-6 win over the Tigers.
Rankings—Besides Strasburg, two other players rose into Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:
Streak—Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel has now earned Box-Toppers points in 11 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday. Hammel (6IP 5H R 6K W in the 2-1 win over the Brewers) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Rays and has 47.2 career points, which ranks 27th among active NL pitchers. His best season was 2014 with the Cubs and the Athletics when he had 10.4 points, 25th among AL pitchers. In 2015, he had 9.7 points with the Cubs, 22nd among NL pitchers.
Debut—Reds pitcher Robert Stephenson made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Stephenson (7IP 3H R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut April 7 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,617th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Smyly 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. Flowers and Perez each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/19 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 16.0 | `Rays | Drew Smyly | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| NL | 13.0 | Nationals | Stephen Strasburg (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | |
| 7.0 | Dbacks | Robbie Ray (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 6.1 | White Sox | Mat Latos (W,3-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 5.0 | Cubs | Jason Hammel (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Braves | Tyler Flowers, C | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| BAT | 4.0 | Royals | Salvador Perez, C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Mets | Yoenis Cespedes, CF-LF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Reds | Robert Stephenson (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Fernando Rodriguez (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | Indians | Carlos Carrasco (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | ||
| 2.1 | Blue Jays | Roberto Osuna (S,5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Padres | Fernando Rodney (S,2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Elvis Andrus, SS | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Brewers | Chris Carter, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 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 | +/- |
| Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | chi al | 3.7 | 7.7 | 44.9 | 63.6 | -0.3 |
| Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 2.7 | 20.7 | 36.8 | 36.8 | -15.3 |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 2.7 | 16.7 | 62.8 | 70.5 | -11.3 |
| Cespedes, Yoenis 3008 | cf lf dh | nym nl | 2.0 | 12.9 | 33.9 | 33.9 | -8.9 |
| Smyly, Drew 3009 | pi sp | tb al | 2.0 | 8.0 | 30.1 | 30.1 | -4.0 |
| Osuna, Roberto 3512 | pi cp | tor al | 2.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -2.0 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 1.5 | 6.0 | 19.2 | 19.2 | -3.0 |
| Flowers, Tyler 3101 | ca | atl nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 0.5 |
| Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | chi nl | 1.0 | 10.7 | 34.1 | 47.2 | -8.7 |
| Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | -3.0 |
| Carter, Chris 2828 | 1b dh | mil nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 19.9 | 20.9 | 0.0 |
| Rodney, Fernando 1803 | pi cp | sd nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 19.0 | 31.0 | 0.0 |
| Rodriguez, Fernando 3537 | pi mr | oak al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.5 | 11.5 | 1.0 |
| Stephenson, Robert 3617 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Angels pitcher Garrett Richards is Monday’s Player of the Day and rises to sixth in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Richards pitched a complete game shutout and struck out nine in the 5-0 win over the Dodgers. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 14.7 for the season, rising to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) He is ranked second among American League pitchers, behind Max Scherzer of the Tigers (18.1 Box-Toppers points).
Giants closing pitcher Santiago Casilla is National League Player of the Day. Casilla pitched a shutout ninth inning and struck out one, earning the save, in the 4-3 win over the Mets. Casilla was the only NL player to earn Player of the Game honors Monday. In the day’s seven games, only five NL teams were active—three lost in interleague games to AL teams—and the Giants were the only team to win.
Tyler Flowers of the White Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Flowers homered, tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 5-3 win over the Rangers.
Notable: Indians pitcher Corey Kluber rose from ninth to seventh place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Kluber (7.1IP R 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Richards receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Casilla receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Flowers receives 1.5 for being AL Batter of the Day.
All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Monday, click here.
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
| 804 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | Angels | Garrett Richards (W, 12-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 5.2 | Yankees | Brandon McCarthy (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 5.0 | White Sox | Tyler Flowers C | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.1 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W, 12-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Caleb Joseph C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Athletics | Ryan Cook (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| NL | 2.0 | Giants | Santiago Casilla (S, 9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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.