Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, pitching his second no-hitter of the season, is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in player rankings.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Oct. 3.| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | chi nl | 29.1 |
| 2 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 24.7 |
| 3 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 21.4 |
| 4 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 21.4 |
| 5 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | tor al | 21.1 |
| 6 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 21.0 |
| 7 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.7 |
| 8 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 19.4 |
| 9 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 19.0 |
| 10 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 18.8 |
Also Saturday, Scherzer and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the sixth and seventh players this season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. Plus, Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader.
Player of the Day—Scherzer had a perfect game into the sixth inning, when a batter reached on an error, the only baserunner of the game. Scherzer struck out 17 and walked none in the 2-0 win over the Mets.
Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising to sixth place in player rankings and fourth among National League pitchers. It is the second straight season Scherzer has earned 20 or more points in season. Last season, he had 22.1 with the Tigers.
Scherzer also had the highest Box-Toppers game score of the season Saturday of +26, beating the previous high of +25, set by Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP H 0R 18K) on May 13. Scherzer also has the third-highest score of +23 on June 14 (CG H 0R 16K). It is the eighth time this season a player has achieved a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more. In Scherzer’s previous no-hitter this season, on June 20, he had a Box-Toppers game score of +19 (CG 0H 0R 0 BB 10K)—the only baserunner allowed was on a hit-by-pitch.
Scherzer also rises to 57th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. Scherzer has 106.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list. He trails 56th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2).
American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in the 2-0 win over the Red Sox.
Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season and ranking 21st among all players, 10th among AL pitchers. In 2014, he led all AL pitchers with 25.8 Box-Toppers points.
American League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Orioles doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Yankees.
Doubleheader Players of the Game
Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader. Here are all 11 players who have achieved that distinction since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.| Date | Player | Team | Pos |
| 7/15/98 | Albert Belle | White Sox | lf |
| 8/13/99 | Rondell White | Expos | lf |
| 8/30/99 | Edgar Martinez | Mariners | dh |
| 4/13/00 | Shawn Green | Dodgers | rf |
| 6/24/02 | Alex Rodriguez | Rangers | ss |
| 5/28/04 | Rob Mackowiak | Pirates | cf 3b |
| 9/2/05 | Chad Cordero | Nationals | pi cp |
| 5/25/08 | Jorge Cantu | Marlins | 3b |
| 7/21/09 | Erick Aybar | Angels | ss |
| 4/28/11 | Ben Zobrist | Rays | 2b |
| 10/3/15 | Christian Yelich | Marlins | cf lf |
National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 7-6 win over the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader.
Yelich was also Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader (3-4 2R BI in the 5-2 win over the Phillies. He is only the 11th player in 21 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping to earn Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and 1.0 point for being Player of the Game, giving him 2.5 points for the day, which were also his first points of the season. (Yelich had 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, ninth among NL batters.)
It is the first time a player has earned Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader since April 28, 2011, when it was done by Ben Zobrist of the Rays.
Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the seventh player of the season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Greinke (8IP 4H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.7 for the season. He actually slips from sixth to seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings as he was passed by Scherzer. Greinke ranks fifth among NL pitchers.
This is the second season Greinke has earned 20 or more Box-Toppers points in a season. In 2009, he had 21.5 Box-Toppers points with the Royals, his best season.
Greinke ranks 21st among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. He has 146.4 career Box-Toppers points and trails 20th-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).
Notable—Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura (7IP 4H R 11K W in the 5-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 30th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Parra and Yelich each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day (Yelich earns an extra 1.0 point for being Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader). 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.
Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 10/3 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 26.0 | Nationals | Max Scherzer (W,14-12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | |
| 13.0 | Cubs | Kyle Hendricks (W,8-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| AL | 12.0 | Indians | Corey Kluber (W,9-16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | |
| 9.0 | Dodgers | Zack Greinke (W,19-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 9.0 | Royals | Yordano Ventura (W,13-8) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11 | ||
| 7.0 | `Nationals | Gio Gonzalez | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | ||
| 6.0 | Athletics | Pat Venditte (MR) (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 5.0 | Reds | Brandon Finnegan (W,5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 4.0 | Astros | Collin McHugh (W,19-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Orioles | Gerardo Parra, RF | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Orioles | T.J. McFarland (MR) (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 2.1 | `Giants | Sergio Romo (MR) (H,33) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, CF | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | Angels | Johnny Giavotella, 2B | 5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Marlins | Christian Yelich, LF | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | J.B. Shuck, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Alex Colome (W,8-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||