Braves pitcher Max Fried and Rays pitcher Charlie Morton are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Monday’s two league championship series games.
NL Championship Series Game 1: Braves 5, Dodgers 1
Fried struck out nine over six innings, allowing one run, four hits and two walks. He did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was tied, 1-1, when he exited.
Fried had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +7.0, highest among Braves players. Ozzie Albies had the highest Box-Toppers game score (0.0) among Braves batters (HR 2-5 R 2BI). Closing pitcher Will M. Smith had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (1IP 0H 0R 0BB K W).
Fried earned 5.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 26th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers. This is his second Player of the Game honor of the 2020 postseason in three appearances. He was Player of the Game in the NL Wild Card Game 1 win against the Reds on Sept. 30. He also started in the NL Division Series Game 1 win against the Marlins on Oct. 6.
Fried joins four other players who have earned Player of the Game honors twice this postseason—Rays closing pitcher Diego Castillo, Carlos Correa of the Astros, Dodgers pitcher Julio Urias and Braves pitcher Ian Anderson.
Dodgers top player Monday was starting pitcher Walker Buehler, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (5IP 3H R 5BB 7K ND). Dodgers top batter, Enrique Hernandez, had a game score of 0.0 (HR 1-3 R BI).
The Braves take a 1-0 lead over the Dodgers in the best-of-seven game series, which resumes Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.
AL Championship Series Game 2: Rays 4, Astros 2
Morton struck out five over five scoreless innings, allowing five hits and one walk, earning the win.
Morton had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of +4.0, highest among Rays players. Manuel Margot had the highest game score (+2.0) among Rays batters (HR 1-3 R 3BI). Rays middle reliever Pete Fairbanks also had a game score of +2.0 (2IP H R 0BB 3K ND). Rays closer Nick Anderson fared less well with a game score of -6.0, still picking up the save (1IP 3H R 2BB 0K Sv).
Morton earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2020, 149th among all players and 44th among AL pitchers. This was his second postseason appearance of 2020. He also started in the AL Division Series Game 3 win against the Yankees on Oct. 7.
Astros top player Monday was starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who had the game’s highest Box-Toppers game score of +9.0 (7IP 4H 4R ER 0BB 11K L). Astros top batter Yuli Gurriel had a game score of 0.0 (2-3 R 0BI).
The Rays take a 2-0 lead over the Astros in the best-of-seven game series, which resumes Tuesday in San Diego.
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +7.0 | `ATL 5, LAD 1 | Max Fried | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| +4.0 | TB 4, HOU 2 | Charlie Morton (W, 2‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
Coming Tuesday:
NL Championship Series Game 1: Braves lead Dodgers, 1-0
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Braves—Ian Anderson, 2.7 Box-Toppers points, 126th among all players, 41st among NL pitchers.
Anderson is one of five players who has earned Player of the Game honors twice so far this postseason. He was top player in both the NL Wild Card Game 2 win against the Reds on Oct. 1 and in the NL Division Series Game 2 win against the Marlins on Oct. 7. Tuesday will be his third 2020 postseason start.
Dodgers—Tony Gonsolin, 4.7 Box-Toppers points, 36th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers.
This is Gonsolin’s first postseason appearance.
Previously, Clayton Kershaw was scheduled to start this game, but was scratched after having back spasms. (Kershaw had 7.7 Box-Toppers points in 2020, ninth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers. He’s has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors once in two 2020 postseason starts. He was top player Oct. 1 in the NL Wild Card Game 2 win against the Brewers. He also started Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series Game 2 win against the Padres.)
Box-Toppers preview of the NLCS from Oct. 12.
AL Championship Series Game 3: Rays vs. Astros
The pitching matchup Tuesday:
Rays—Ryan Yarbrough, 3.0 Box-Toppers points, 83rd among all players, 28th among AL pitchers.
This is his second 2020 postseason appearance and his first start. On Oct. 8, he pitched five innings of relief in the AL Division Series Game 4 loss to the Yankees.
Astros—Jose Urquidy, 2.0 Box-Toppers points, 191st among all players, 53rd among AL pitchers.
This is his third postseason appearance of 2020; he did not earn Player of the Game honor in either previous appearance. On Sept. 30, he started the AL Wild Card Game 2 win over the Twins. On Oct. 7 he started the AL Division Series Game 3 loss to the Athletics.
Box-Toppers preview of the ALCS from Oct. 11.
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.
Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.