Randy Arozarena of the Rays is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Saturday’s World Series Game 4.
The Tampa Bay Rays won in a wild, walk-off win, 8-7, in which Arozarena scored the winning run. The Rays tie the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-2 in the best-of-seven game series.
Arozarena homered and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0, highest among all Rays players.
This is only the second time in his career Arozarena has earned Player of the Game honors in the regular season or the postseason. The other time the rookie did it was Sept. 6, in the regular season win over the Marlins. Arozarena was Box-Toppers’ AL Batter of the Day that day, giving him 1.5 Box-Toppers points. Those 1.5 points put him 285th in season player rankings, 64th among AL batters.
Rays starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough had the lowest Box-Toppers game score (-5.9) among Rays players (3.1IP 5H 2R BB K ND). The Rays final pitcher of the game, John Curtiss, had a game score of -0.9 (1.1IP 2H 0R 0BB 0K W).
The Dodgers seemed poised to win the game in the bottom of the ninth and preserve a 7-6 lead. But with one out, Kevin Kiermaier of the Rays hit a single off closer Kenley Jansen. Then with two outs, Arozarena drew a walk off Jansen, putting runners at first and second. Then Brett Phillips, who entered the game as a pinch runner in the eighth inning and played right field in the top of the ninth, came to bat. With two strikes, he swung and hit a bloop single that Dodgers centerfielder Chris Taylor bobbled. Kiermaier scored, tying the game. Taylor gathered himself and threw toward home. First baseman Max Muncy cut off the throw in the infield then turned and fired toward catcher Will Smith at home. Meanwhile, Arozarena, after rounding third, stumbled and tumbled on his way home. Rising, he saw the ball clearly beating him to home, so turned and retreated to third to get caught in a rundown that would seem inevitably to make him the third out. But the ball from Muncy hit off Smith’s glove and ricocheted away. Arozarena turned back to home, diving in head first and slapping home plate in victory as the winning run.
Taylor’s bobble and Smith’s missed catch on the play were ruled errors, the Dodgers only two errors of the game.
Until that final play, Dodgers starting pitchers Julio Urias was poised to be Box-Toppers Player of the Game, just edging out shortstop Corey Seager. Urias had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.2 (4.2IP 4H 2R BB 9K ND). Seager had a game score of +4.0 (HR 4-5 3R 2BI). Both Urias and Seager have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors three times this postseason, tied for the most among all players.
Jansen, who gave up the winning run, had a game score of -4.8 (0.2IP 2H 2R ER BB K L).
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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Top Rays in World Series Game 4: Rays 8, Dodgers 7
Here are the Box-Toppers game scores (BTG) of all Rays who played in World Series Game 4, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Player of the Game (POG) is Randy Arozarena.| 10/24 | BTG | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| POG | +3.0 | Randy Arozarena DH | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +1.2 | Ryan Thompson | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| +1.0 | Kevin Kiermaier CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | Brandon Lowe 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | Brett Phillips PR‑RF | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +1.0 | Ji‑Man Choi PH‑1B | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑0.9 | John Curtiss (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| ‑1.0 | Hunter Renfroe RF‑1B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Mike Brosseau 3B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Joey Wendle PR‑3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑1.0 | Yoshitomo Tsutsugo PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Manuel Margot LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Austin Meadows PH‑LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Mike Zunino C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑2.0 | Pete Fairbanks | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| ‑3.0 | Willy Adames SS | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑3.0 | Yandy Diaz 1B‑3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| ‑3.0 | Diego Castillo | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| ‑3.9 | Nick Anderson | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| ‑4.9 | Aaron Loup | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 0.1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||
| ‑5.9 | Ryan Yarbrough | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 3.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
World Series Game 5, Dodgers vs. Rays, series tied, 2-2
Sunday’s starting pitchers is a rematch of Game 1, won by the Dodgers. It is also a matchup of each team’s top-ranked players in 2020 Box-Toppers season player rankings:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, ninth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers. (Since the start of 2019, Kershaw has 20.4 Box-Toppers points, 13th among all players over 2019-20, sixth among NL pitchers.) Also, Kershaw ranks third in career points (235.2) among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He leads all active players in career points.
Kershaw has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors twice in four 2020 postseason starts. He was top player Oct. 1 in the NL Wild Card Game 2 win against the Brewers and Oct. 20 in the World Series Game 1 win over the Rays. He also started Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series Game 2 win against the Padres and Oct. 15 in the NL Championship Series Game 4 loss to the Braves.
Rays—Tyler Glasnow, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, eighth among all players, fourth among AL pitchers. (Since the start of 2019, Glasnow has 17.7 Box-Toppers points, 22nd among all players over 2019-20, ninth among AL pitchers.)
Glasnow has earned Player of the Game honors once in five previous 2020 postseason appearances—Sept. 30 in the AL Wild Card Game 2 win over the Blue Jays. He also appeared in the AL Division Series Game 2 and Game 5 wins over the Yankees on Oct. 6 and Oct. 9, in the AL Championship Series Game 4 loss to the Astros on Oct. 14 and the World Series Game 1 loss to the Dodgers on Oct. 20.
Related:
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers NL Championship Series preview
Box-Toppers AL Championship Series preview
Box-Toppers 2020 final team rankings
Box-Toppers 2020 final top 10 player rankings