Jake Arrieta tops players in World Series Game 2 as Cubs even series with Indians, 1-1

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 2 Wednesday.

The Chicago Cubs win 5-1 to even the best-of-seven series with the Cleveland Indians, 1-1.

Arrieta allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings, allowing two hits, three walks and striking out six. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +4.2, most of any Cubs player Wednesday. It is the first time this postseason he has earned Player of the Game honors.

Arrieta has 15.7 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ninth among all players, sixth among NL pitchers. He led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2015 with 29.1.

Kyle Schwarber had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+1.0) among Cubs batters Wednesday (2-4 R 2BI). Opposing starting pitcher Trevor Bauer of the Indians had a Box-Toppers game score of −6.8 (3.2IP 6H 2R 2BB 2K L).

Thursday is a travel day and the World Series resumes Friday in Chicago with Game 3.

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 Cubs in World Series Game 2: Cubs 5, Indians 1

Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Cubs who played in World Series Game 2 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score.

BTG Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
4.2 * Jake Arrieta (W,1-1) - - - - - - 5.2 2 1 1 3 6
3.0 Mike Montgomery - - - - - - 2.0 2 0 0 1 4
2.1 Aroldis Chapman - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 1 2
1.0 Kyle Schwarber, DH 4 1 2 2 1 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Anthony Rizzo, 1B 3 2 1 1 2 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Ben Zobrist, LF 4 1 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Addison Russell, SS 4 0 1 1 0 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Jorge Soler, RF 2 0 0 0 1 0 - - - - - -
-2.0 Jason Heyward, PR-RF 2 0 0 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-3.0 Kris Bryant, 3B 5 1 1 0 0 1 - - - - - -
-3.0 Willson Contreras, C 3 0 0 0 2 0 - - - - - -
-4.0 Dexter Fowler, CF 5 0 1 0 0 2 - - - - - -
-4.0 Javier Baez, 2B 5 0 1 0 0 2 - - - - - -
* Player of the Game
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Coming Friday in Chicago:

World Series Game 3, Indians at Cubs, series tied, 1-1

The pitching matchup Friday:

Indians—Josh Tomlin, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, 202nd among all players, 63rd among American League pitchers. Tomlin was Player of the Game in the American League Championship Series Game 2 vs. the Blue Jays.

Cubs—Kyle Hendricks, 13.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked 17th among all players, 10th among National League pitchers. Hendricks was Player of the Game in the National League Championship Game 6 vs. the Dodgers.

Box-Toppers World Series preview

Box-Toppers 2016 final team rankings

Box-Toppers 2016 final top 10 player rankings

Box-Toppers point totals of all Cubs players active at season’s end

Box-Toppers point totals of all Indians players active at season’s end

Box-Toppers ALCS Preview

Box-Toppers NLCS Preview

Game 2 narrative via Box-Toppers Twitter feed

Here are real-time tweets from Box-Toppers Wednesday as World Series Game 2 progressed: