The Pittsburgh Pirates, the hottest team of the past week, have regained the top spot in Box-Toppers team rankings.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Royals, last week’s leader, fall to second, maintaining their lead among American League teams. And last week’s top National League team, the St. Louis Cardinals, fall from second to sixth place in team rankings.

Team rankings
Here are Box-Toppers' team rankings, through the games of Thursday, Sept. 10. The column BTP shows the number of Box-Toppers points players on the team have accumulated so far this season. The column BTP/wk shows have many points teams have accumulated since the previous report through the games of Thursday, Sept. 3. The column Wk ago shows the team's rank as of Sept. 3.





  
    
    
    
    
    
  

    
9/10
    
Teams
    
BTP
    BTP
/wk
    Wk
ago
  

    1
    Pirates
    114.6
    7.7
    3
  

    2
    Royals
    113.1
    1.5
    1
  

    3
    Dodgers
    111.3
    5.5
    5
  

    4
    Mets
    110.3
    6.2
    6
  

    5
    Blue Jays
    109.9
    3.5
    4
  

    6
    Cardinals
    109.1
    2.0
    2
  

    7
    Astros
    106.5
    3.7
    7
  

    8
    Cubs
    104.2
    7.5
    8
  

    9
    Giants
    97.3
    3.0
    9
  

    10
    Yankees
    89.8
    3.0
    10
  

    11
    Nationals
    89.7
    3.0
    11
  

    12
    Rangers
    87.0
    3.0
    12
  

    13
    Angels
    84.7
    3.0
    13
  

    14
    Orioles
    83.4
    3.0
    14
  

    15
    Twins
    82.5
    3.7
    15
  

    16
    Indians
    82.1
    5.7
    16
  

    17
    Mariners
    78.5
    7.5
    20
  

    18
    White Sox
    78.3
    4.7
    17
  

    19
    Rays
    75.5
    2.0
    18
  

    20
    Padres
    73.6
    2.0
    19
  

    21
    Athletics
    69.1
    2.0
    21
  

    22
    Dbacks
    68.8
    2.0
    22
  

    23
    Red Sox
    62.4
    6.5
    24
  

    24
    Rockies
    61.7
    4.0
    23
  

    25
    Marlins
    58.6
    4.0
    25
  

    26
    Brewers
    56.3
    4.0
    26
  

    27
    Reds
    52.7
    3.7
    28
  

    28
    Tigers
    52.2
    3.0
    27
  

    29
    Braves
    49.9
    2.5
    29
  

    30
    Phillies
    46.3
    0.0
    30
  

Pirates players have accumulated 114.6 Box-Toppers points this season. They are led by pitcher Gerrit Cole (17.0 Box-Toppers points). Top batter is Andrew McCutchen (9.5 points). Twenty-five different Royals players have earned Player of the Game honors this season.

Pirates have baseball’s second-best winning percentage (.597), tied with the Royals and trailing the Cardinals (.629). The Pirates are actually 4.5 games behind St. Louis in the NL Central.

The Pirates picked up 7.7 Box-Toppers points over the past week, more than any other team.

The AL-leading Royals fall from first to second in team rankings with 113.1 Box-Toppers points, picking up only 1.5 points in the past week. The Royals are led by pitcher Johnny Cueto (12.8 Box-Toppers points). Top batter is Eric Hosmer (9.0 Box-Toppers points). Twenty-six different Royals players have earned Player of the Game honors this season.

The Cardinals, last week’s NL-leading team, picked up only 2.0 Box-Toppers points during the past week, giving them 109.1 for the season and fell from second to sixth place among all teams, fourth among NL teams.

The Philadelphia Phillies remain in 30th and last place among all teams for the 13th straight week. The Phillies have 46.3 Box-Toppers points and had the worst week among all teams, picking up 0.0 Box-Toppers points. Twenty-two different Phillies players have earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors this season.

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.

Last week’s team rankings report