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Marlins pitcher Wei-Yin Chen is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Chen struck out eight over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and no walks, in the 1-0, 10-inning win over the Reds. Chen did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.
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George Springer of the Astros is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.0 |
| 2 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | sf nl | 11.7 |
| 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 |
| 6 | Syndergaard, Noah 3472 | pi sp | nym nl | 10.0 |
| 7 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 9.8 |
| 8 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 |
| 9 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 9.7 |
| 10 | Hamels, Cole 2135 | pi sp | tex al | 9.4 |
Springer hit a grand slam and a triple in the 13-4 win over the Royals. Springer went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five total runs.
National League Player of the Day—Wil Myers of the Padres homered and doubled, going 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 13-4 win over the Reds.
Both Springer and Myers had Box-Toppers game scores Friday of +5.0, but Springer held the tiebreaker to earn overall Player of the Day honors because he hit a homer and a triple, while Myers hit a homer and a double.
Batters of the Day—There are no separate American League or National League Batters of the Day for Friday because both the overall Player of the Day and the NL Player of the Day were batters—Springer and Myers.
Notable—Mariners pitcher Wade LeBlanc earned his first Box-Toppers point in nearly six years after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.
LeBlanc (6IP 3H 0R BB 3K ND in the 4-3 win over the Cardinals) last earned Player of the Game honors and a Box-Toppers point on Aug. 15, 2010, when he was with the Padres.
Commentary—It was the second unremarkable day in a row for Box-Toppers Players of the Games, with no particularly outstanding performances contributing to team wins. Thursday’s Player of the Day had the season’s second-lowest Box-Toppers game score to win that honor; Friday had the third-lowest high score of the season.
And while some of the blame on low scores Thursday was placed on the light schedule (only nine games played), Friday’s scores did not fare much better with a complete slate of 15 games.
It was a rare occurrence Friday when no pitchers earned Box-Toppers bonus points for being overall or league Player of the Day—batters won both spots.
Starting pitchers generally are the players with each day’s highest Box-Toppers game scores, but for the past two days only two starting pitchers have even earned Player of the Game honors (Friday—Wade LeBlanc of the Mariners, Thursday—Wei-Yin Chen of the Marlins. Interestingly, both pitchers earned no decisions.) There have been 12 middle relievers or closers with two or fewer innings pitched who earned Player of the Game honors over the 24 games played Thursday and Friday.
In addition, over the past two days, players earning Player of the Game honors have had relatively fewer season Box-Toppers points. It is as if the big stars have mostly taken the past two days off. Friday’s Player of the Game with the most season Box-Toppers points is Chris Davis of the Orioles (2B 2-4 R 2BI in the 6-3 win over the Rays). Davis earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.5 for the season, 27th among all players and fourth among AL batters.
Interestingly (or not), baseball’s other Khris Davis (of the Athletics) also earned Player of the Game honors Friday in the 7-4 win over the Angels (2-4 R 3BI).
Scoring—Springer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Myers earns 1.7 points for being NL Player 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
| 6/24 | Score | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 5.0 | HOU 13/KC 4 | George Springer, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| NL | 5.0 | SD 13/CIN 4 | Wil Myers, 1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | NYM 8/ATL 6 | James Loney, 1B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 5.0 | `SEA 4/STL 3 | Wade LeBlanc | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | ARI 10/COL 9 | Yasmany Tomas, RF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | NYY 5/MIN 3 | Aroldis Chapman (S,14) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | BOS 8/TEX 7 | Koji Uehara (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.2 | PIT 8/LAD 6 | Neftali Feliz (W,2-0; H,17) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | MIL 5/DC 3 | Carlos Torres (W,1-1) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.1 | CHC 5/MIA 4 | Hector Rondon (S,13) | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | OAK 7/LAA 4 | Khris Davis, LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | SF 5/PHI 4 | Brandon Belt, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | CHW 3/TOR 2 | Nate Jones (W,3-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | BAL 6/TB 3 | Chris Davis, 1B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | CLE 7/DET 4 | Chris Gimenez, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `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 | +/- |
| Davis, Chris 2478 | 1b | bal al | 6.5 | 17.5 | 48.4 | 56.9 | -4.5 |
| Myers, Wil 3228 | 1b | sd nl | 5.7 | 8.7 | 14.2 | 14.2 | 2.7 |
| Springer, George 3337 | rf | hou al | 5.5 | 6.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 4.5 |
| Davis, Khris 3242 | lf | oak al | 4.2 | 8.2 | 14.2 | 14.2 | 0.2 |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | sf nl | 4.0 | 5.5 | 17.5 | 17.5 | 2.5 |
| Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | nyy al | 3.0 | 11.0 | 41.0 | 42.0 | -5.0 |
| Uehara, Koji 2802 | pi cp mr | bos al | 3.0 | 8.0 | 25.0 | 29.0 | -2.0 |
| Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi cp | chi nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 |
| Tomas, Yasmany 3489 | lf rf | ari nl | 2.5 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | -1.0 |
| Jones, Nate 3125 | pi cp mr | chi al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 1.0 |
| Feliz, Neftali 2651 | pi mr cp | pit nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 10.7 | 18.7 | 0.0 |
| Torres, Carlos 2668 | pi mr | mil nl | 1.0 | 2.0 | 8.0 | 9.7 | 0.0 |
| Gimenez, Chris 2870 | ca | cle al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
| Loney, James 2206 | 1b | nym nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 12.0 | 33.4 | 1.0 |
| LeBlanc, Wade 2669 | pi sp | sea al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 |
Gerardo Parra of the Brewers is Saturday’s Player of the Day.
Parra homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-4 win over the Cubs.
American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 6-2 win over the Yankees.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 7.7 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 6.0 |
| 3 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 5.0 |
| 4 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | lf rf | dc nl | 5.0 |
| 5 | Cabrera, Miguel 1776 | 1b | det al | 4.7 |
| 6 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 4.7 |
| 7 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 4.7 |
| 8 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 4.7 |
| 9 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 10 | Rodriguez, Alex | dh | nyy al | 4.5 |
American League Batter of the Day—Steven Souza Jr. of the Rays hit a three-run home run in the 7-2 win over the Rangers.
This was Souza’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Souza made his Major League debut April 13, 2014, and was playing in his 51st career game. He is the 3,461st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday since the overall Player of the Day was an NL batter (Gerardo Parra of the Brewers).
Notable—Torii Hunter of the Twins earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day (and for the third time in eight days) and also rose to 47th place in “all-time” Box-Toppers player rankings.
Hunter (HR 3-5 3R in the 7-4 win over the Indians) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 3.5 for the season (fifth among AL batters this season) and 111.4 for his career.
His 111.4 career points puts him at 47th place among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his point Saturday, he passes Tom Glavine (110.6) and Jon Lester (111.1) on that list. He ranks 15th among all batters since 1995 and fifth among all active batters currently in the AL.
Debut—Padres pitcher Kevin Quackenbush made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Quackenbush (2IP H 0R 3K W in the 6-4 win over the Diamondbacks) made his Major League debut April 25, 2014, and was playing in his 64th career game. He is the 3,462nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Parra earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Chen earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Souza earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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
| 5/9 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.0 | Brewers | Gerardo Parra CF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 6.0 | Orioles | Wei-Yin Chen (W, 1-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 5.0 | Mets | Jon Niese (W, 3-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 5.0 | Mariners | J.A. Happ (W, 3-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 5.0 | `Blue Jays | Liam Hendriks | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rays | Steven Souza Jr. RF | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Padres | Kevin Quackenbush (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | Alexei Ramirez SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Twins | Torii Hunter RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Jose Lobaton C | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Colby Rasmus RF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Donovan Solano 2B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Rob Scahill (W, 1-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Reds | Skip Schumaker DH | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Royals | Alcides Escobar SS | 5 | 2 | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Stanton homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two, in the 8-0 win over the Nationals. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season. He is the overall top-ranked batter and trails only Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, who has 6.0 Box-Toppers points.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 6.0 |
| 2 | Stanton, Giancarlo 2737 | rf | fla nl | 4.5 |
| 3 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 4.0 |
| 4 | Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | oak al | 3.7 |
| 5 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 3.7 |
| 6 | DeSclafani, Anthony 3441 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.7 |
| 7 | Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | cin nl | 3.4 |
| 8 | Harang, Aaron 1599 | pi sp | phi nl | 3.4 |
| 9 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 3.0 |
| 10 | Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.0 |
American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Ernesto Frieri struck out three in an inning of middle relief in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. Frieri had the AL-highest Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +4, which was tied with Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen, who was Player of the Game in the win over the Red Sox. But Frieri won the tiebreaker as AL Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game while Chen earned no decision.
American League Batter of the Day—Jed Lowrie of the Astros doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Athletics.
National League Batter of the Day—Since the top NL player who earned Player of the Game honors was a batter (Stanton) there is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday.
Rankings—Besides Stanton, two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:
Streak—Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons. Burnett was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks (7IP R 4K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
Burnett began the 12-season streak in 2004, the year he earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points with the Marlins and has earned Player of the Game honors at least once in every season since. However, Burnett earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1999 with the Marlins. He did not score any Box-Toppers points in 2003, the only season since 1999 that he had 0.0 points.
Burnett had his best seasons in 2002 and 2005, both with the Marlins, when he scored 13.7 Box-Toppers points. In 2002, he ranked fourth among NL pitchers. In 2005, he ranked ninth among NL pitchers. In 2014, he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies, ranking 37th among NL pitchers.
Burnett has 122.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 33rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks 22nd among all pitchers since 1995. His career point total ranks sixth among active pitchers currently in the NL.
Scoring—Stanton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Frieri earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Lowrie earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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
| 4/25 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 5.0 | Marlins | Giancarlo Stanton RF | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | `Cardinals | Adam Wainwright | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | Mets | Matt Harvey (W, 4-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 4.0 | Dodgers | Andre Ethier RF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| AL | 4.0 | Rays | Ernesto Frieri (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4.0 | `Orioles | Wei-Yin Chen | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Astros | Jed Lowrie SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | `Pirates | A.J. Burnett | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Joakim Soria (S, 6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.0 | Braves | Jason Grilli (S, 7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Twins | Eduardo Nunez LF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Angels | Grant Green 2B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Giants | Joe Panik 2B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Rain was Monday’s Player of the Day, postponing the American League Championship Series Game 3 in Kansas City with the Orioles against the Royals.
There are two league championship series games Tuesday:
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Cardinals: John Lackey, 10.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 50th among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.
Giants: Tim Hudson, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 71st among all players, 34th among NL pitchers.
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Orioles: Wei-Yin Chen, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 131st among all players, 50th among AL pitchers.
Royals: Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 113rd among all players, 40th among AL pitchers.
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.
Oscar Taveras hit a pinch-hit, seventh-inning homer for the Cardinals to tie the National League Championship Series Game 2 against the Giants at 3-3 and is Box-Toppers.com Player of the Day for Sunday.
The Cardinals went on to win the game 5-4 on a walk-off homer by Kolten Wong in the bottom of the ninth, tying the best-of-seven game series with the Giants, 1-1.
Taveras hit the solo home run in his only at bat, going 1-for-1 with a run and an RBI, giving him a Box-Toppers game score of +2, the highest of any Cardinals player.
During the regular season he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point, ranking 719th among all players, 173rd among NL batters.
Wong, who hit the walk-off homer, had a Box-Toppers game score of 0—he went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
The series resumes Tuesday in San Francisco.
Coming Monday:
The pitching matchup Monday:
Orioles: Wei-Yin Chen, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 131st among all players, 50th among AL pitchers.
Royals: Jeremy Guthrie, 7.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 113rd among all players, 40th among AL pitchers.
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.
Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 1012 | Score | Team | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 2.0 | Cardinals | Oscar Taveras PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Nelson Cruz led the Orioles offense to a Game 1 win in the American League Division Series win over the Tigers and is Thursday’s Player of the Day.
Cruz homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Tigers to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Cruz had the Orioles’ high Box-Toppers game score of +3.
During the regular season, Cruz earned 8.5 Box-Toppers points, 77th among all players and sixth among AL batters.
Max Scherzer, Box-Toppers' fifth-ranked player this season, started the game for the Tigers and picked up the loss. Scherzer (7.1 IP 7H 5R 6K) had a Box-Toppers game score of -4.9. He has 22.1 Box-Toppers points on the season, ranked second among AL pitchers.
Royals pitcher Greg Holland is Player of the Game in the other AL Division Series Game 1. Holland closed out the Angels in the bottom of the 11th, pitching one scoreless inning, striking out two and earning the save, in the 3-2 win over the Angels. The Royals take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.
Holland had the Royals’ high Box-Toppers game score of +3. While both of Thursday’s Players of the Game had Box-Toppers game scores of +3, Cruz edged out Holland as overall Player of the Day because in a tie-breaker, batters beat pitchers when Box-Toppers game scores are tied.
Holland earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 106th among all players, 37th among all AL pitchers and fourth among AL closing pitchers.
Coming Friday:
The pitching matchup Friday:
Tigers: Justin Verlander, 4.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 237th among all players, 68th among AL pitchers.
Orioles: Wei-Yen Chen, 6.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 131st among all players, 50th among AL pitchers.
The Nationals have an edge in Box-Toppers team rankings. Nationals players have accumulated 115.5 Box-Toppers points this season, ranking fourth among all teams. The Giants rank eighth with 110.8 points. The Nationals also had the hottest final 10 days of the season of any team, picking up 11.5 Box-Toppers points over that period. The Giants picked up 4.5 during the same period.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Giants: Jake Peavy, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 165th among all players, 58th among NL pitchers.
Nationals: Stephen Strasburg, 16.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 10th among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.
The Dodgers have the edge in Box-Toppers team rankings. Dodgers players have accumulated 123.2 Box-Toppers points this season, second among all teams and first among NL teams. The Cardinals have 114.8 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among all teams
The pitching match up Friday:
Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, 18.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
Dodgers: Clayton Kershaw, 31.5 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players.
The pitching match up Friday:
Royals: Yordano Ventura, 8.7 Box-Toppers points, rank 75th among all players, 33rd among AL pitchers.
Angels: Matt Shoemaker, 11.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 38th among all players, 22nd among AL pitchers.
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.
Players of the Game (POG) listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 1002 | Score | Team | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | 3.0 | Orioles | Nelson Cruz DH | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| POG | 3.0 | Royals | Greg Holland (S, 1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong is Friday’s Player of the Day, while Jose Abreu of the White Sox extends his Box-Toppers points lead among American League batters.
Vogelsong pitched a complete game two-hitter, allowing one run, in the 5-1 win over the Mets.
Abreu rose to 11th place among all players in Box-Toppers rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. Abreu (3-3 2R BI in the 10-8 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season, extending his lead among AL batters. Second place Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers has 8.5 Box-Toppers points.
Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen is AL Player of the Day. Chen struck out eight over 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Mariners.
Tommy Medica of the Padres is National League Batter of the Day. Medica hit two home runs and went 5-for-5, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 10-1 win over the Braves.
David Murphy of the Indians is AL Batter of the Day. Murphy doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 12-2 win over the Rangers.
Vogelsong receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Chen receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Medica and Murphy each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Friday’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 Friday, 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
| 801 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 9.0 | Giants | Ryan Vogelsong (W, 6-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| BAT | 8.0 | Padres | Tommy Medica 1B | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 7.1 | Orioles | Wei-Yin Chen (W, 12-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |
| 7.0 | Royals | Jeremy Guthrie (W, 7-9) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Indians | David Murphy RF | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Phillies | Roberto Hernandez (W, 6-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 3.1 | `Astros | Collin McHugh | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 3.0 | Brewers | Jonathan Lucroy C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | White Sox | Jose Abreu 1B | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Tigers | Rajai Davis CF, LF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Pirates | Jordy Mercer SS | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Koji Uehara (S, 22) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | Angels | Mike Trout CF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Reds | Chris Heisey PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
` 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.