Phillies’ Wheeler tops players in Tuesday’s opening Wild Card round playoff games

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler tops players in Tuesday’s four Wild Card playoff games.

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▪️ 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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Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler tops players in Tuesday’s four Wild Card playoff games:

Other Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s Wild Card series games:

NL Wild Card Game 1: Phillies 4, Marlins 1

Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, five hits and no walks.

The Phillies now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.

Wheeler earned 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 11th among all players, fifth among NL pitchers and first among Phillies players.

Wheeler had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +7.2. Phillies top batter Tuesday was left fielder Cristian Pache with a 0.0 game score (1-2 0R BI). Marlins starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo had a game score of -5.0 (4IP 8H 3R 0BB 5K L).

Rangers pitcher Jordan Montgomery is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s win over the Rays.

AL Wild Card Game 1: Rangers 4, Rays 0

Rangers pitcher Jordan Montgomery struck out five over seven scoreless innings, allowing six hits and no walks.

The Rangers now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.

Montgomery earned 10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 43rd among all players and 21st among AL pitchers. He earned 6.7 of his points with the Cardinals before being traded to the Rangers prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

Montgomery had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +6.0. Rangers top batter Tuesday was left fielder Evan Carter (2B 2-2 R 0BI) with a +1.0 game score. Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow had a game score of -5.0 (5IP 6H 4R 3ER 5BB 8K L).

Royce Lewis of the Twins is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s win over the Blue Jays.

AL Wild Card Game 1: Twins 3, Blue Jays 1

Royce Lewis of the Twins hit two home runs and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs.

The Twins now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.

Lewis earned 4.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 52nd among AL batters and sixth among AL third basemen. He earned 3.0 of his Box-Toppers points in September, winning AL Batter of the Day honors on both Sept. 4 and Sept. 15.

Lewis had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +4.0. Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez had a -0.8 game score (5.2IP 5H R 2BB 3K W) and Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman had a -3.0 game score (4IP 3H R 3BB 5K L).

Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Tuesday’s win over the Brewers.

NL Wild Card Game 1: Diamondbacks 6, Brewers 3

Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs.

The Diamondbacks now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.

Carroll earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2023, 89th among NL batters.

Carroll had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +3.0. Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt had a -7.8 game score (2.2IP 7H 3R BB 4K ND). Brewers starting pitcher Corbin Burnes had a -6.0 Box-Toppers game score (4IP 5H R 2BB 5K L).

All of Tuesday’s Player of the Game winners are listed 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
+7.2 PHI 4, MIA 1 Zack Wheeler (W, 1‑0) 6.2 5 1 1 0 8
+6.0 TEX 4, TB 0 Jordan Montgomery (W, 1‑0) 7.0 6 0 0 0 5
+4.0 MIN 3, TOR 1 Royce Lewis DH 3 2 2 3
+3.0 ARI 6, MIL 3 Corbin Carroll RF 3 2 2 2
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
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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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career +/‑
Wheeler, Zack 3204 pi sp phi nl 14.7 29.1 70.9 83.6 +0.3
Montgomery, Jordan 3814 pi sp tex al 10.4 19.8 30.5 36.5 +1.0
Lewis, Royce 4606 3b dh min al 4.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +3.0
Carroll, Corbin 4818 rf lf ari nl 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.0 +3.0
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Wednesday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):

AL Wild Card Game 2, Rangers lead Rays, 1-0

Rangers—Nathan Eovaldi, 9.7 Box-Toppers points in 2022, 56th overall, 30th among AL pitchers.

Rays—Zach Eflin, 12.0 points, 30th overall and 15th among AL pitchers.

More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series.

AL Wild Card Game 2, Twins lead Blue Jays, 1-0

Blue Jays—Jose Berrios, 10.4 points, 44th overall, 22nd among AL pitchers.

Twins—Sonny Gray, 10.4 points, 42nd overall and 20th among AL pitchers.

More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series.

NL Wild Card Game 2, Diamondbacks lead Brewers, 1-0

Diamondbacks—Zac Gallen, 16.7 points, eighth overall, fourth among NL pitchers.

Brewers—Freddy Peralta, 17.7 points, sixth overall, third among NL pitchers.

More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series.

NL Wild Card Game 2, Phillies lead Marlins, 1-0

Marlins—Braxton Garrett, 12.7 points, 21st overall, ninth among NL pitchers.

Phillies—Aaron Nola, 12.0 points, 27th overall, 12th among NL pitchers.

More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series.

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 points are awarded in postseason games.)

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.

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Box-Toppers 2023 player rankings leaders

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A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’s Wild Card round pitching matchups

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.
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Game Starter ’23 ’22‑23 ’18‑23 Career
TEX Eovaldi, Nathan 2928 9.7 15.7 43.5 69.3
TB Eflin, Zach 3679 12.0 15.7 38.5 43.5
TOR Berrios, Jose 3791 10.4 19.4 60.3 69.3
MIN Gray, Sonny 3259 10.4 22.5 56.7 97.9
ARI Gallen, Zac 4171 16.7 35.4 51.1 51.1
MIL Peralta, Freddy 3965 17.7 25.1 56.5 56.5
MIA Garrett, Braxton 4341 12.7 18.4 20.4 20.4
PHI Nola, Aaron 3569 12.0 28.0 77.2 101.7
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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