Tigers pitcher Matthew Boyd is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Top 10 players
Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2018 season through the games of Sept. 8:| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.1 |
| 2 | Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | tb al | 20.8 |
| 3 | Nola, Aaron 3569 | pi sp | phi nl | 20.1 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 19.1 |
| 5 | Kluber, Corey 3200 | pi sp | cle al | 18.7 |
| 6 | Severino, Luis 3567 | pi sp | nyy al | 17.7 |
| 7 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | hou al | 17.0 |
| 8 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 16.4 |
| 9 | Verlander, Justin 2112 | pi sp | hou al | 16.4 |
| 10 | Berrios, Jose 3791 | pi sp | min al | 16.1 |
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Also Saturday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Boyd struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 4-3 win over the Tigers. Boyd picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because the Cardinals tied the game after he exited.
Boyd earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 8.7 for the season, 25th among American League pitchers.
National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Ivan Nova struck out nine over six scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Marlins.
American League Batter of the Day—Mike Trout of the Angels hit two home runs and went 5-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-3 win over the White Sox.
Trout earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season, fifth among AL batters.
National League Batter of the Day—Todd Frazier of the Mets hit a three-run homer and went 1-for-2, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-5 win over the Phillies.
Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer extends his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Scherzer (CG 9H 3R 0BB 11K W in the 10-3 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 23.1 for the season. He leads second-place player, Rays pitcher Blake Snell (20.8) by 2.3 points. He leads second-place NL pitcher Aaron Nola of the Phillies (20.1) by 3.0 points.
Scherzer now has 179.8 career Box-Toppers points, ninth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails eighth-ranked player Alex Rodriguez (187.0). Scherzer ranks fifth among active players in career points.
Notable—Two other players with 10 or more Box-Toppers points on the season earned Player of the Game honors Saturday:
Braves pitcher Julio Teheran (6IP 2H 2R ER 4BB 6K ND in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.7 for the season. He is 21st in Box-Toppers season player rankings, eighth among NL pitchers.
Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland (6IP 4H R 2BB 8K W in the 4-2 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He is 27th in Box-Toppers season player rankings, 11th among NL pitchers.
Also notable—Brewers pitcher Gio Gonzalez now has 102.9 career Box-Toppers points after earning his first Player of the Game honor since being traded from the Nationals.
Gonzalez (5.2IP 3H R 0ER BB 7K W in the 4-3 win over the Giants) rises to 73rd place among all players in career points since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his 1.0 point Saturday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2) and Miguel Tejada (102.3). (It should be noted that Griffey would have an estimated 140 Box-Toppers points if his entire career from 1989 were tracked.) Gonzalez now trails 72nd-ranked player, Giants pitcher Johnny Cueto (103.8).
Gonzalez has 6.7 Box-Toppers points in 2018, 40th among NL pitchers.
One more notable thing—Royals pitcher Jorge Lopez had his perfect game broken up in the ninth inning, but his team held on for the win and he earned Player of the Game honors.
Lopez (8IP H R BB 4K W in the 4-1 win over the Twins) gave up a walk and a hit in the ninth inning after retiring the first 24 Twins batters. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game and now has 2.0 points for the season.
Scoring—Boyd earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Nova earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Trout and Frazier each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. 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.
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Top player from each game
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (BTG)| 9/8 | BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | +13.0 | `DET 4, STL 3 | Matthew Boyd | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | |
| NL | +11.0 | PIT 5, MIA 1 | Ivan Nova (W, 8‑9) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | |
| BAT | +8.0 | LAA 12, CHW 3 | Mike Trout CF | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +8.0 | KC 4, MIN 1 | Jorge Lopez (W, 2‑4) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| +7.2 | MIL 4, SF 3 | Gio Gonzalez (W, 8‑11) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | ||
| +6.0 | COL 4, LAD 2 | Kyle Freeland (W, 14‑7) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| BAT | +5.0 | NYM 10, PHI 5 | Todd Frazier 3B | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | WSH 10, CHC 3 | Max Scherzer (W, 17‑6) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 9.0 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11 | ||
| +5.0 | CIN 7, SD 2 (F/7) | Matt Harvey (W, 7‑8) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| +4.0 | CLE 9, TOR 8 | Roberto Perez C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | WSH 6, CHC 5 | Bryce Harper RF | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +4.0 | `NYY 4, SEA 2 | David Robertson (H, 17) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| +3.0 | TB 10, BAL 5 | Matt Duffy PH‑3B | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ||
| +3.0 | OAK 8, TEX 6 | Blake Treinen (S, 37) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| +3.0 | `ATL 5, ARI 4 (F/10) | Julio Teheran | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | ||
| +1.0 | HOU 5, BOS 3 | Martin Maldonado C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ |
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box-Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box-Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’18). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’17-18), the period 2013-2018 (’13-18) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2018 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2017 total (+/-).| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’18 | ’17‑18 | ’13‑18 | Career | +/‑ |
| Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 23.1 | 48.1 | 135.0 | 179.8 | -1.9 |
| Teheran, Julio 3176 | pi sp | atl nl | 12.7 | 17.7 | 64.2 | 64.2 | +7.7 |
| Freeland, Kyle 3763 | pi sp | col nl | 11.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 | 17.4 | +5.4 |
| Treinen, Blake 3495 | pi cp | oak al | 9.0 | 10.0 | 11.0 | 11.0 | +8.0 |
| Boyd, Matthew 3550 | pi sp | det al | 8.7 | 11.7 | 18.8 | 18.8 | +5.7 |
| Trout, Mike 2949 | cf | ana al | 8.0 | 13.0 | 49.5 | 62.0 | +3.0 |
| Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | cin nl | 7.0 | 8.0 | 41.4 | 44.4 | +6.0 |
| Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | mil nl | 6.7 | 16.4 | 55.8 | 102.9 | -3.0 |
| Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf cf | dc nl | 6.0 | 13.0 | 34.4 | 40.4 | -1.0 |
| Maldonado, Martin 3082 | ca | hou al | 5.5 | 6.5 | 11.0 | 14.0 | +4.5 |
| Frazier, Todd 2929 | 3b | nym nl | 4.0 | 5.5 | 30.6 | 34.6 | +2.5 |
| Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 3.7 | 10.7 | 28.7 | 41.8 | -3.3 |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 3.0 | 9.0 | 30.0 | 35.0 | -3.0 |
| Perez, Roberto 3379 | ca | cle al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | +1.0 |
| Lopez, Jorge 4060 | pi sp | kc al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | +2.0 |
| Duffy, Matt 3504 | 3b ph | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 7.2 | 7.2 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations