Dodgers’ Ohtani, Mariners’ Suárez top players in Friday’s LCS games

Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s National League Championship Series Game 4.

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Dodgers pitcher Shohei Ohtani and Eugenio Suárez of the Mariners are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Friday’s league championship series games.

Ohtani, the 10-strikeout pitcher, beat Ohtani, the three home-run hitter, for Player of the Game honors in the National League Championship Series Game 4 win, as the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the Milwaukee Brewers in a four-game series sweep. Suárez hit a pair of homers, including a grand slam, as the Seattle Mariners won Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, taking a 3-2 series lead over the Toronto Blue Jays.

NL Championship Series Game 4: Dodgers 5, Brewers 1

Shohei Ohtani had a game for the ages.

He struck out 10 over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks.

He also hit three solo home runs, going 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in three runs.

However, Ohtani the pitcher beat Ohtani the batter for Box-Toppers Player of the Game. He had a +11.0 Box-Toppers game score as a pitcher. Separately, he had a +6.0 game score as a batter, second-best among all Dodgers, behind only himself.

Combining game scores for players who both pitch and bat—which would give Ohtani a +17.0 game score in this instance—is something Box-Toppers doesn’t do. Even before 2022, when the National League adopted the designated hitter and pitchers would bat in games, we kept the batting and pitching game scores separate when determining Player of the Game honors. For example, in the 2021 season, the year before the NL DH adoption, there were four instances of NL pitchers earning Player of the Game honors based solely on their batting game score.

The Los Angeles Dodgers sweep the Milwaukee Brewers in the best-of-seven-game NL Championship Series, 4-0, to advance to the World Series.

Ohtani earned 5.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 171st overall and 55th among NL pitchers.

Though Ohtani is an NL Most Valuable Player favorite, he does not rank among Box-Toppers’ top pitchers or batters in 2025. He has 3.5 Box-Toppers points as a batter and 2.0 as a pitcher during the regular season. He’s qualified to rank among both pitchers and batters and his 5.5 combined points ranks 27th among NL batters.

Ohtani hit 55 home runs and started 14 games as a pitcher, but had a drop-off season in Box-Toppers points. He earned 11.0 points in 2024 (hitting 54 homers and driving in 130 runs), to lead NL batters. But in 2025, he had only half that many Box-Toppers points because other Dodgers players frequently beat him for Player of the Game honors in team wins. Ohtani earned his 3.5 points as a batter on June 27 and before and earned his 2.0 points as a pitcher on July 12 and later.

Ohtani only made his 2025 pitching debut on June 16, after rehabbing from 2023 elbow surgery. He started pitching just one inning per game, but was slowly ramped up to five innings or more in three of his last four regular-season starts.

This is Ohtani’s second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the 2025 postseason and both have come as a pitcher. He also did it in the NLDS Game 1 win over the Phillies on Oct. 4, his only other postseason appearance as a pitcher.

Ohtani is the sixth player to earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors at least twice this postseason, joining Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell (who’s done it three times) and these four players who done it twice each: Jorge Polanco of the Mariners, Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow.

Ohtani had the two best Box-Toppers game scores in the game, +11.0 as a pitcher and +6.0 as a batter. No other Dodgers batter had a positive game score. Only one other Dodgers pitcher had a positive game score (+1.0), Alex Vesia (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K ND), but he did not initially qualify for consideration as Player of the Game because he did not pitch at least three innings or earn the win or save. Brewers starting pitcher Jose Quintana recorded a -10.0 game score in the loss (2IP 6H 3R BB K L). Brewers reliever Chad Patrick recorded a +6.0 game score (4IP H R 0BB 5K ND), the only other player in the game with a positive game score. No Brewers batters had game scores above 0.0.

The Dodgers advance to the World Series to defend their 2024 title beginning Friday against either the Seattle Mariners or Toronto Blue Jays. 

The Dodgers were the third-seeded NL playoff team but rank higher than the Brewers, the top NL playoff seed, in final 2025 Box-Toppers team rankings. The Dodgers are fifth place overall with their players accumulating 117.9 Box-Toppers points during the season, third among NL teams and most among surviving postseason teams. Brewers players have a combined 112.6 Box-Toppers points in 2025, ninth among all teams and fifth among NL teams.

While Box-Toppers favored the Brewers in the series based on players’ in-season statistics advantages, we also noted the Dodgers’ experience as defending World Series champions and that manager Dave Roberts seemed to have a fresher pitching staff at whom he was waving his conducting baton to crescendo to fortissimo and allegro at just this moment in the postseason. (Translation: The Dodgers seemed to be peaking at just the right moment.)

Eugenio Suárez of the Mariners is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s American League Championship Series Game 5.

AL Championship Series Game 5: Mariners 6, Blue Jays 2

Eugenio Suárez of the Mariners hit two home runs, including a go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam. He went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs.

The Seattle Mariners take a 3-2 lead over the Toronto Blue Jays in the best-of-seven game series.

Suárez earned 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 89th among all players, 11th among AL batters and third among AL third basemen. He started the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he earned 6.5 of his points, before being traded to the Mariners on July 31.

He recorded a +6.0 Box-Toppers game score on Friday to lead Mariners players. Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller recorded a 0.0 game score (4IP 4H R 2BB 4K ND). Mariners relief pitcher Gabe Speier, who picked up the win, had a +1.0 game score (1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K W). Bryan Woo, who leads the Mariners in 2025 Box-Toppers points (18.0, fifth overall and third among AL pitchers), came on in relief, recording a -3.0 game score (2IP 2H R BB 0K ND). It was Woo’s first postseason appearance after being left off the Mariners’ ALDS roster due to pectoral inflammation, which he sustained during a game Sept. 19.

Blue Jays starting pitcher Kevin Gausman recorded a +1.2 Box-Toppers game score in the loss (5.2IP 3H R 3BB 4K ND). Blue Jays reliever Brendon Little, who picked up the loss, recorded a -9.0 game score (0IP H 3R 2BB 0K L).

The series takes a day off Saturday before resuming with Game 6 Sunday in Toronto.

All of Friday’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).
10/17 BTG Game Player of the Game AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  +11.0 LAD 5, MIL 1 Shohei Ohtani (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 0 0 3 10
  +6.0 SEA 6, TOR 2 Eugenio Suárez 3B 3 2 2 5   0.0 ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
Separately, Ohtani had a +6.0 Box-Toppers game score as a batter (3HR 3-3 3R 3BI), but in this game, Ohtani the pitcher with a +11.0 game score beat Ohtani the batter for Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.
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 +/‑
Suarez, Eugenio 3355 3b sea al 7.5 16.0 29.5 60.5 -1.0
Ohtani, Shohei 3933 dh pi sp lad nl 5.5 16.5 76.7 91.2 -5.5
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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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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