Dodgers' Grandal (2 3R HRs) tops players for Thursday, May 7; A-Rod hits 661st HR, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees earned Player of the Game honors as he hit his 661st career home run, passing Willie Mays’ mark of 660. Rodriguez also moved up to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 7.  

	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	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Rodriguez, Alex	dh	nyy al	4.5
10	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Grandal hit two three-run homers and drove in eight runs, going 4-for-4 and scoring three times, in the 14-4 win over the Brewers.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Joakim Soria struck out four over the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs or hits and earning the save, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 with two runs in the 7-4 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday since the overall Player of the Day (Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers) was a batter from the NL.

Rankings—Alex Rodriguez rises to ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game in the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Orioles (HR 2-3 R 2BI). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. Rodriguez already has more Box-Toppers points this season than he did in 2013 (3.0) and as many as he had in all of 2012 (4.5). In 2011, he had 4.7 points and in 2010, he had 13.7, the last time he had 10.0 or more in a season.

In the game, Rodriguez moved to fourth place on the all-time home run list with his 661st home run, passing Willie Mays (660). Rodriguez now has 183.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players since record keeping began in 1995 and first among all batters during that time.

Notables—Two players had notable Box-Toppers achievements Thursday:

• Dan Haren of the Marlins became the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Haren (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Giants) also pitched seven innings and picked up the win. It is the third time in his career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting—he last did it June 14, 2014. Haren earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season and 110.2 for his career. With the point, he rises to 49th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, passing Jeff Kent (109.7) on that list.
• Cardinals pitcher John Lackey becomes the 66th player to earn 100 or more Box-Toppers points after he earned Player of the Game honors Thursday (7.2IP R 10K W in the 5-1 win over the Cubs). Lackey earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.8 for his career. He moves to 62nd place among all players (since record keeping began in 1995) and passes four players on that list—Aramis Ramirez (100.8), Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Lackey’s career 100.8 Box-Toppers points ranks 13th among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Rangers pitcher Alex Claudio made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Claudio (1.1IP 0R 0H 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,459th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Grandal earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Soria earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/7	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Dodgers	Yasmani Grandal C	4	3	4	8	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	9.2	Cardinals	John Lackey (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	1	1	1	10
	9.0	Dbacks	Rubby De La Rosa (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	7
AL	5.1	Tigers	Joakim Soria (S, 11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	4
	4.1	`Astros	Collin McHugh	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	2	2	1	7
	3.1	Rangers	Alex Claudio (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	Royals	Eric Hosmer 1B	4	2	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Marlins	Dan Haren P	3	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	Twins	Glen Perkins (S, 10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Pirates	Andrew McCutchen CF	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Alex Rodriguez DH	3	1	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.

Royals' Young tops players for Friday, May 1, A-Rod earns Player of the Game honor with 660th homer

Royals pitcher Chris Young is Friday’s Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees was top player in the game in which he tied Willie Mays’ career home run mark and Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 1.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
5	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
6	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
8	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
9	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	3.7
10	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Young allowed no hits and no runs over five innings, striking out nine, in the 4-1 win over the Tigers.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn struck out 10 over seven innings and allowed one run in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Pirates. Lynn exited the game with the score tied at 1-1 and so did not earn the win, but picked up a no-decision.

National League Batter of the Day—Justin Upton of the Padres went 3-for-4, scored three times and drove in two runs, in the 14-3 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Brett Hayes of the Indians hit a three-run home run in the 9-4 win over the Blue Jays.

Rankings—Matt Harvey rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday (7IP 0R W in the 4-0 win over the Nationals). Harvey earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season.

Notable—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees tied Willie Mays’ career home run mark of 660 Friday and also earned Player of the Game honors (pinch-hit homer in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.5 for the season and moves into 11th place in player rankings, second among AL batters (Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers leads with 3.7). Rodriguez has already eclipsed his 2013 Box-Toppers point total of 3.0.

Rodriguez now has 182.8 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began) and first among all batters.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Mark Canha of the Athletics (HR 2-4 R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 18th career game. He is the 3,454th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Mike Foltynewicz of the Braves is the first pitcher in 2015 to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. In 2014, seven different pitchers earned Player of the Game honors for batting—Madison Bumgarner of the Giants did it twice. Foltynewicz (2B 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Aug. 2, 2014, and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,455th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Young earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lynn earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Upton and Hayes each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/1	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Royals	Chris Young (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	0	0	0	3	9
NL	10.0	`Cardinals	Lance Lynn	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	10
	8.0	Rays	Alex Colome (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	0	6
	7.0	Twins	Kyle Gibson (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	1	4
	7.0	Cubs	Jon Lester (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	4
	4.1	Astros	Josh Fields (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	4
BAT	4.0	Padres	Justin Upton LF	4	3	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mets	Matt Harvey (W, 5-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	3
	3.1	Dodgers	Carlos Frias (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	0	0	1	3
	3.1	`Giants	Chris Heston	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	1	1	1	5
	2.0	Marlins	Marcell Ozuna CF	4	1	4	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Indians	Brett Hayes C	3	1	1	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Alex Rodriguez PH, DH	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Athletics	Mark Canha LF, 1B, LF	4	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Braves	Mike Foltynewicz P	2	0	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.