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Today’s key Box-Toppers numbers. Click links to jump to charts elsewhere on this page.▪️ Players of the Game
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Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler tops players in Thursday’s three Wild Card playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s Wild Card series games:
Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon.
Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty.
AL Wild Card Game 3: Yankees 4, Red Sox 0
Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler struck out 12 over eight scoreless innings, allowing five hits and no walks.
The Yankees win the best-of-three series, 2-1.
Schlittler earned 7.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 93rd among all players, 38th among American League pitchers and third among AL rookies.
Schlittler recorded a +15.0 Box-Toppers game score Thursday. Yankees top batter Amed Rosario recorded a 0.0 game score (1-3 R BI). Red Sox starting pitcher Connelly Early had a -4.8 game score in the loss (3.2IP 6H 4R 3DR BB 6K L).
The Yankees were both the higher-seeded AL playoff team (fourth vs. fifth) and are higher in Box-Toppers rankings than the Red Sox. The Yankees, in fact, are the highest-ranked AL teams, with players accumulating 127.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, second overall, behind the Philadelphia Phillies (131.4). The Red Sox rank eighth overall (112.7), fourth among AL teams.
The Yankees will face the Toronto Blue Jays, the top-seeded AL team, in the AL Divisional Series beginning Saturday in Toronto.
NL Wild Card Game 3: Cubs 3, Padres 1
Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon struck out four over four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks. Taillon did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings to earn the win.
The Cubs win the best-of-three series, 2-1.
Taillon earned 10.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 42nd among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.
Taillon recorded a +6.0 Box-Toppers game score Thursday. Cubs top batter Michael Busch recorded a +1.0 game score (HR 3-4 R BI). Padres starting pitcher Yu Darvish recorded a -6.0 game score in the loss (1IP 4H 2R 0BB K L).
While the Cubs were the higher-seed NL playoff team (fourth vs. fifth), the Padres were Box-Toppers’ higher-ranked team, in fourth place overall with their players accumulating 118.6 Box-Toppers points in 2025. The Cubs rank seventh overall with 117.6 Box-Toppers points.
The Cubs will face the Milwaukee Brewers, the top-seeded NL team, in the NL Divisional Series beginning Saturday in Milwaukee.
AL Wild Card Game 3: Tigers 6, Guardians 3
Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty struck out four over 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and two walks. Flaherty did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings to earn the win.
The Tigers win the best-of-three series, 2-1.
Flaherty earned 8.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 70th among all players and 30th among AL pitchers.
Flaherty recorded a +1.2 Box-Toppers game score Thursday. Top Tigers batter was Kerry Carpenter (2B 1-2 R BI) with a +1.0 game score. Guardians starting pitcher Slade Cecconi had a +0.1 game score (2.1IP 2H R BB 3K ND).
Though the Guardians were the higher postseason seed than the Tigers (third vs. sixth), the Tigers ranked higher in Box-Toppers team rankings, in 11th overall with their players accumulating 109.3 points, while the Guardians were 17th with 96.3 points. The Guardians were Box-Toppers’ lowest-ranking team to qualify for the postseason.
The Tigers will face the Seattle Mariners, the second-seeded AL team, in the AL Divisional Series beginning Saturday in Seattle.
All of Thursday’s Player of the Game winners are listed in the chart.
No games Friday
With all four Wild Card series completed, there are no games scheduled for Friday. The four League Division Series begin Saturday. Box-Toppers previews for those series are coming soon.
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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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).| 10/2 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +15.0 | NYY 4, BOS 0 | Cam Schlittler (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| +6.0 | `CHC 3, SD 1 | Jameson Taillon | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| +1.2 | `DET 6, CLE 3 | Jack Flaherty | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 4.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
` 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 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 (+/-).Back to top
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taillon, Jameson 3658 | pi sp | chi nl | 10.1 | 18.1 | 43.2 | 69.6 | +2.1 |
| Flaherty, Jack 3971 | pi sp | det al | 8.4 | 20.4 | 36.1 | 65.7 | -3.6 |
| Schlittler, Cam 5261 | pi sp | nyy al | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 | +7.4 |
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