Astros pitcher Gerrit Cole is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s American League Division Series Game 5 win over the Rays.
Cole struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks in the 6-1 win, as the Astros win the best-of-five game series, 3-2, and advance to the AL Championship Series beginning Saturday against the Yankees.
Cole had 32.2 Box-Toppers points in the regular season, first among all players and first among AL pitchers. It was also the fourth-highest single-season Box-Toppers point total since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began.
This was the second time this postseason Cole has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors. He was also Player of the Game Saturday in the ALDS Game 2 win over the Rays.
Cole had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +12.0, highest among all Astros players. Second baseman Jose Altuve had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+2.0) among Astros batters (HR 2-4 2R 2BI).
Rays starter Tyler Glasnow had a Box-Toppers game score of -7.8 (2.2IP 5H 4R 0BB 3K L).
The Astros finished the regular season in first place in Box-Toppers team rankings (158.1 Box-Toppers points), while the Rays ranked sixth (123.2 points).
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)| BTG | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +12.0 | HOU 6, TB 1 | Gerrit Cole (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.