Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez is Thursday's Player of the Day. Gonzalez allowed only one unearned run over seven innings in the 3-2 win over the Blue Jays.
Padres pitcher Robbie Erlin is National League Player of the Day. Erlin struck out seven over seven innings and picked up a no-decision (he left after the seventh with the game tied) in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Diamondbacks.
Jason Heyward of the Braves is NL Batter of the Day. Heyward homered and went 5-for-5 in the 7-1 win over the Phillies.
Yan Gomes of the Indians is American League Batter of the Day. Gomes homered and went 3-for-4 in the 6-5 win over the Indians.
Notable: Rays pitcher Alex Cobb has the most Box-Toppers points among Thursday's nine players who earned Player of the Game honors. Cobb (7IP 0R in 4-0 win vs. Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.7 for the season, putting him in 54th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Coming Friday: Two pitchers in the top 10 of Box-Toppers player rankings are scheduled to make their final regular season start Friday:
- Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers is scheduled to start against the Rockies. Kershaw is ranked first, the Box-Toppers points leader for the season, with 20.7 points. If Kershaw earns at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point Friday, he would clinch the season Box-Toppers point lead among players, with 21.7. His nearest competitor, teammate Zack Greinke has 19.4 Box-Toppers points, and would only be able to muster 21.4 points if he earns the maximum 2.0 points in his final start.
- Patrick Corbin of the Diamondbacks is scheduled to start against the Nationals. Corbin is ranked sixth in player rankings with 17.4 Box-Toppers points. Since Corbin trails Kershaw by 3.3 Box-Toppers points, he will not be able to take the Box-Toppers points lead, because the most he can earn is 2.0 points.
Box-Toppers Weekly Reports update: The weekly Box-Toppers Team Power Rankings and Player Rankings reports, which usually come on Friday, will come on Monday this week, after the conclusion of the season's final games Sunday.
Gonzalez receives 2.0 Box-Toppers
points for being Player of the Day. Erlin receives 1.7 for NL Player
of the Day. Heyward and Gomes each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Thursday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 926 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 8.0 | Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Miguel Gonzalez (W, 11-8) | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6.0 | Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Alex Cobb (W, 11-3) | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | |||
| NL | 6.0 | `Padres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Robbie Erlin | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Braves | Jason Heyward CF | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Indians | Yan Gomes C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | David Lough RF | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 3.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Nathan (W, 6-2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 3.0 | `Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Brandon Kintzler (H, 25) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 1.0 | Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Santiago Casilla (W, 7-2) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.