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Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners.
▪️ Box-Toppers points of the day’s top players.
▪️ A B-T look at today’s pitching matchups.
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Adolis Garcia of the Rangers is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Monday’s American League Championship Series Game 7.
Also Monday, Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in the National League Championship Series Game 6.
AL Championship Series Game 7: Rangers 11, Astros 4
Garcia hit two solo homers and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs.
The Rangers win the best-of-seven game series over the Astros, 4-3, advancing to the World Series beginning Friday.
Garcia earned 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 135th among all players, 25th among AL batters and eighth among AL outfielders.
Garcia had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.0, best of all players in the game. Rangers starting pitcher Max Scherzer had a -5.8 Box-Toppers game score (2.2IP 4H 2R 2BB 2K ND). Jordan Montgomery, who made a rare relief appearance and picked up the win, had a +0.1 game score (2.1IP 3H 0R 0BB K W).
Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier, who only recorded one out in the first inning, had a -10.9 Box-Toppers game score (0.1 4H 3R BB 0K L). Astros reliever J.P. France, who surrendered four runs and didn’t see the Astros through one frame, had the game’s lowest Box-Toppers game score of -12.8 (0.2IP 5H 4R BB K ND).
While Box-Toppers favored the Astros over the Rangers in the series, the Rangers finished the regular season first overall in Box-Toppers team rankings. While that seemed a little inexplicable and frankly, wrong, as the Rangers struggled down the stretch, mostly losing ground on the lead they established by making big trade deadline deals in late July, barely clinging to what seemed like a phantom lead for the final month of the season, it all seems to make perfect, fall-into-place sense now—the Rangers are the top-ranked team, naturally they advance to the World Series.
But the Rangers are really the most unlikely top-ranked team to succeed. Despite the top ranking, the Rangers were bedeviled by injury all season and there was uncertainty whether some of their key players would be available for the championship series and if they were, how much their recent injuries would limit them. They were able to get key players recovered and playing again, though none of them—namely pitchers Max Scherzer and Jon Gray—performed as well as they did in the regular season.
Still, the Rangers persisted and persevered, beating the Astros in four games, with these players as Player of the Game winners in the series:
Game 1—Jordan Montgomery, 10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 43rd overall, 21st among AL pitchers, third among Rangers players.
Game 2—Nathan Eovaldi, 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 56th overall, 30th among AL pitchers, fourth among Rangers players.
Game 6—Mitch Garver, 6.5 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 121st among all players, 19th among AL batters, first among AL catchers, seventh among AL designated hitters, eighth among Rangers players and second among Rangers batters.
Game 7—Adolis García, 6.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 135th among all players, 25th among AL batters, eighth among AL outfielders, 10th among Rangers players and fourth among Rangers batters.
The road team won each game in the series.
Both teams’ paths to ALCS
Source: MLB.com
Both teams finished with identical win-loss records (90-72), but the Astros won the AL West Division while the Rangers finished second on a tiebreaker because the Astros won more head-to-head games between the two during the regular season, going 9-4.
The Rangers became the fifth-seeded AL playoff team, beating the fourth-seed Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card round in a two-game sweep. The Rangers advanced to the AL Division Series, beating the AL top-seeded Baltimore Orioles in a three-game sweep.
The Astros became the second-seeded AL playoff team, receiving a bye to the AL Division Series, where they beat the third-seeded Minnesota Twins, three games to one.
Both teams Box-Toppers team rankings
The Rangers led all teams in Box-Toppers points in 2023 with 128.1. The Astros ranked sixth overall with 118.9, which was fourth among AL teams, behind the Rangers, the Tampa Bay Rays (123.6) and the Baltimore Orioles (119.5).
The Rangers had the advantage in Box-Toppers points mainly because of players they acquired at the August trade deadline. The Rangers notably picked up pitchers Max Scherzer from the Mets and Jordan Montgomery from the Cardinals. They were Box-Toppers’ top two players to change teams at the trade deadline, representing an addition at the time of 17.1 points to the Rangers.
The Rangers led Box-Toppers team rankings for the final nine weekly reports from Aug. 3 until the end of the season. While they built their huge lead on the strength of trade deadline deals, they didn’t perform particularly well after acquiring them, winning only six over 22 games for a stretch in August and September. They still maintained the Box-Toppers lead despite nearly falling out of playoff contention before rebounding at the end of the season.
Their points lead is also inflated by players who performed well and were injured. Pitcher Jacob deGrom earned 7.7 Box-Toppers points in April and was on pace for an astronomical, record-breaking 45-point season (the single-season record is 33.7 by Randy Johnson in both 2000 and 2002). But deGrom had an elbow injury requiring Tommy John surgery, shutting him down for the season.
Later, in mid-September, Max Scherzer, who they’d acquired from the Mets, was out following a shoulder injury and was forecast to be out for the season and postseason. Scherzer, who became the team’s leader in Box-Toppers points with 15.4, 10th overall and sixth among AL pitchers, was not on the Rangers roster for the AL Division Series. But he returned after more than a month’s absence and pitched in two ALCS games, though didn’t perform up to his regular season standards, with negative Box-Toppers game scores in both games.
NL Championship Series Game 6: Diamondbacks 5, Phillies 1
Multiple Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in 2023 postseason
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 24, 2023
3—Nathan Eovaldi TEX
3—Aaron Nola PHI
3—Zack Wheeler PHI
2—Jordan Montgomery TEX
2—Brandon Pfaadt ARI†
2—Ryan Pressly HOU
2—Merrill Kelly ARI*
*Won 2nd Monday
†Starts Tuesdayhttps://t.co/Qnm5axGPXd pic.twitter.com/nNatVHgJjv
Kelly struck out eight over five innings, allowing one run, three hits and three walks.
The Diamondbacks tie the best-of-seven game series with the Phillies, 3-3, sending it to a deciding Game 7 Tuesday.
Kelly earned 13.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 18th overall and seventh among NL pitchers. This was his second Player of the Game honor of the 2023 postseason in his third appearance. He was also Player of the Game Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series game win over the Dodgers.
Kelly had a Box-Toppers game score of +5.0. Diamondbacks top batter Alek Thomas had a 0.0 game score (1-2 R 0BI). Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola had a -7.9 Box-Toppers game score (4.1IP 6H 4R 2BB 4K L).
Details on Monday’s league championship series Player of the Game winners in the chart.
Box‑Toppers Player of the Game winners
Here is the top player from each of the day’s games 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 | TEX 11, HOU 4 | Adolis García RF | 5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | |
| +5.0 | ARI 5, PHI 1 | Merrill Kelly (W, 2‑1) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners
Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2023 (’23). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’22-23), the period 2018-2023 (’18-23) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2023 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2022 total (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelly, Merrill 4143 | pi sp | ari nl | 13.0 | 24.0 | 39.0 | 39.0 | +2.0 |
| Garcia, Adolis 4387 | rf | tex al | 6.0 | 11.0 | 16.0 | 16.0 | +1.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Tuesday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart):
NL Championship Series Game 7: Diamondbacks at Phillies, series tied, 3-3
It’s a rematch of Game 3 of the series won by the Diamondbacks.
Diamondbacks—Brandon Pfaadt, 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 282nd overall, 88th among NL pitchers.
This is his fourth postseason appearance. He has earned Player of the Game honors twice this postseason, on Oct. 11 in the NL Division Series win over the Dodgers and on Oct. 19 in the NL Championship Series Game 3 win over the Phillies.
Phillies—Ranger Suarez, 3.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 275th overall, 83rd among NL pitchers.
This is his fourth postseason appearance. He has earned Player of the Game honors once this postseason, on Oct. 7 in the NL Division Series win over the Braves.
A Box-Toppers look at Tuesday’s Championship Series pitching matchup
A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2023 (’23), over a two-year period (’22-23), over a six-year period (’18-23) and their career point total.Back to top
| Game | Starter | ’23 | ’22‑23 | ’18‑23 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARI | Pfaadt, Brandon 4812 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.7 |
| PHI | Suarez, Ranger 4228 | 3.7 | 8.7 | 18.7 | 18.7 |
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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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. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)
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Previews of all four Wild Card series
Previews of 2023 National League Division Series
Previews of 2023 American League Division Series