Rays pitcher Diego Castillo is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s American League Division Series Game 5.
Castillo struck out four in the final two innings, allowing no runs, no hits, one walk and picking up the win, in the 2-1 win over the Yankees.
The Tampa Bay Rays defeat the New York Yankees in the best-of-five game series, 3-2, and advance to the AL Championship Series beginning Sunday against the Houston Astros.
Castillo had 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, which was eighth among AL closing pitchers. He had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0 Friday, highest among all qualifying Rays players.
Rays top batter Friday was Mike Brosseau, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0, hitting the go-ahead, eighth-inning solo homer (HR 2-2 R BI).
Castillo was one of four Rays pitchers to appear Friday and all had positive Box-Toppers game scores:
Starter Tyler Glasnow, +2.1 (2.1IP 0H 0R 2BB 2K ND).
Reliever Nick Anderson, +0.2 (2.2IP 2H R 0BB 2K ND).
Pete Fairbanks, +2.0 (2IP H 0R BB 3K ND).
Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole had the highest Box-Toppers game score (+9.1) among all players in Friday’s game (5.1IP H R 2BB 9K ND).
The Yankees rank 12th in Box-Toppers team rankings (39.9 Box-Toppers points), while the Rays rank ninth (43.4 points). The Yankees rank seventh among AL teams in Box-Toppers rankings while the Rays rank fifth.
The Yankees finished the season in second place in the AL East, seven games out of first place, and were the fifth-seeded team in the AL playoffs.
The Rays finished the season in first place in the AL East, seven games ahead of the Yankees and are the top-seeded team in the AL playoffs, defeating the eighth-seeded Toronto Blue Jays, two games to zero, in the opening Wild Card round of the playoffs.
The Yankees were Box-Toppers’ preseason favorite to be World Series champions. The Rays were picked to lose to the Yankees in the ALDS.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +5.0 | TB 2, NYY 1 | Diego Castillo, (W 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |