Blue Jays’ Bieber tops players in Wednesday’s ALCS Game 3 win over Mariners

Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s American League Championship Series Game 3.

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Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s American League Championship Series Game 3.

AL Championship Series Game 3: Blue Jays 13, Mariners 4

Bieber struck out eight over six innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk.

The Toronto Blue Jays win their first game of the best-of-seven game series and now trail the Seattle Mariners, 2-1.

Bieber earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 330th overall and 98th among AL pitchers. He began the season with the Guardians, rehabbing from elbow reconstruction surgery. He was traded to the Blue Jays on July 31 and made his season debut Aug. 22, winning Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors.

Before his elbow issues, Bieber earned more than 10 Box-Toppers points in three out of four seasons with Cleveland from 2019 to 2022, including 18.1 in 2019, sixth overall and fourth among AL pitchers. In the 2020 pandemic-shortened season, Bieber led all players with 11.4 points. And in 2022, he had 13.7 points, 13th among AL pitchers.

The elbow issues that led to his April 2024 Tommy John surgery hampered his past three seasons. In 2023, he had 4.0 points. In 2024, he had 2.0 points prior to his April surgery. After recovering and rehabbing for about 16 months, he returned in August 2025 and earned 3.0 points this season.

This was Bieber’s second 2025 postseason start. He also started in the ALDS Game 3 loss to the Yankees on Oct. 7.

He recorded a +5.0 Box-Toppers game score on Wednesday to lead Blue Jays players. Top Blue Jays batter was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. with a +4.0 game score (HR 2-2B 4-4 3R BI). Mariners starter George Kirby recorded a -18.0 Box-Toppers game score in the loss (4IP 8H 8R 2BB 4K L).

All of Wednesday’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).
10/15 BTG Game Player of the Game AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  +5.0 TOR 13, SEA 4 Shane Bieber (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 4 2 2 1 8
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
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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 2025 (’25). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’24-’25), the period 2020-2025 (’20-25) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2025 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2024 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’25 ’24‑25 ’20‑25 Career +/‑
Bieber, Shane 4005 pi sp tor al 3.0 5.0 40.8 65.3 +1.0
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Thursday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):

NL Championship Series Game 3, Dodgers lead Brewers, 2-0

Brewers—Aaron Ashby, 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 482nd among all players and 127th among NL pitchers.

The Brewers are apparently using Ashby as an opener, pitching about one inning, and employing a bullpen strategy, with several pitchers covering the game. Ashby has pitched no more than 3 2/3 innings in a game this season. He started one regular-season game, pitching two innings. He’s appeared five times in the 2025 postseason, including opening two games:

  • NLDS Game 2 win on Oct. 6 against the Cubs, pitching 1 2/3 innings.

  • NLCS Game 1 loss on Oct. 13 against the Dodgers, pitching one inning.

Dodgers—Tyler Glasnow, 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 185th among all players, 57th among NL pitchers.

Glasnow was Player of the Game in the Oct. 9 NLDS Game 4 win over the Phillies. He also pitched in relief on Oct. 4 in the NLDS Game 1 win over the Phillies.

More details—Previews of NL Championship Series.

AL Championship Series Game 4, Mariners lead Blue Jays, 2-1

Blue Jays—Max Scherzer, 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 327th among all players, 97th among AL pitchers.

This is Scherzer’s first appearance in the 2025 postseason and his first appearance since Sept. 24, three weeks ago, in the regular season 7-1 loss to the Red Sox (5IP 10H 4R 0BB 5K L).

Scherzer, 41, has 256.7 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995, second among active players (behind Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw’s 280.8) and first among active AL pitchers (ahead of Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole’s 165.0).

Mariners—Luis Castillo, 16.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, ninth overall, fourth among AL pitchers.

Castillo has made two 2025 postseason appearances but was not Player of the Game in either. He started Oct. 5 in the ALDS Game 2 win over the Tigers and he closed the Oct. 10 ALDS Game 5 win over the Tigers.

More details—Previews of AL Championship Series.

A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’s League Championship Series 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 2025 (’25), this year and last year (’24-25), over a six-year period (’20-25) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’25 ’24‑25 ’20‑25 Career
MIL Ashby, Aaron 4511 2.0 2.0 9.4 9.4
LAD Glasnow, Tyler 3948 5.0 16.7 49.8 65.5
TOR Scherzer, Max 2588 3.0 5.0 59.5 256.7
SEA Castillo, Luis Miguel 3840 16.1 26.8 66.9 97.7
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career 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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