Báez, Schwarber top players in Wednesday’s league division series games

Javier Báez of the Tigers tops players in Wednesday’s four League Division Series playoff games.

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Javier Báez of the Tigers tops players in Wednesday’s four League Division Series playoff games.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays advance to the American League Championship Series, eliminating the New York Yankees in four games in the AL Division Series.

Other Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s LDS games:

AL Division Series Game 4: Tigers 9, Mariners 3

Javier Báez of the Tigers homered and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in four runs.

The Tigers tie the best-of-five game series, 2-2.

Báez earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 207th among all players and 33rd among American League batters.

Báez recorded a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score Wednesday. Two other Tigers players had +3.0 game scores, both were pitchers. In cases of game score ties, batters beat pitchers, giving Báez the tiebreaking edge. Tigers starting pitcher Casey Mize (3IP 2H R 2BB 6K ND) and reliever Troy Melton (3IP 2H 0R BB K W) both had +3.0 game scores. Mariners starting pitcher Bryce Miller had a -1.9 game score in the loss (4.1IP 4H 2R 0BB 2K ND).

The series takes a day off Thursday’s and concludes with Game 5 in Seattle on Friday.

Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s Game 3 win over the Dodgers.

NL Division Series Game 3: Phillies 8, Dodgers 2

Kyle Schwarber of the Phillies hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs.

The Phillies win their first game of the series and trail the Dodgers in the best-of-five game series, 2-1.

Schwarber earned 12.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025 to lead all NL batters. He ranked 24th among all players.

Schwarber recorded a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score on Wednesday. Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola recorded a higher game score (+4.0) but did not qualify for initial consideration for Player of the Game honors because he did not pitch at least three innings or earn the win or save (2IP H 0R 0BB 3K ND). Ranger Suárez, who came on in long relief for the Phillies, recorded a +1.0 game score (5IP 5H R BB 4K W). Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto recorded a -7.0 game score in the loss (4IP 6H 3R BB 2K L). Clayton Kershaw, who came on in relief for the Dodgers, recorded a -16.0 game score (2IP 6H 5R 4ER 3BB 0K ND). Kershaw, 37, leads active players in career Box-Toppers points (280.8) and is retiring at season’s end.

Cubs relief pitcher Drew Pomeranz is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s Game 3 win over the Brewers.

NL Division Series Game 3: Cubs 4, Brewers 3

Cubs relief pitcher Drew Pomeranz struck out two in one hitless and scoreless inning, walking none and earning the win.

The Cubs win their first game of the series and trail the Brewers in the best-of-five game series, 2-1.

Pomeranz earned no Box-Toppers points in 2025. In fact, he has not earned regular-season Box-Toppers points since July 28, 2020, with the Padres, his only Player of the Game honor that season. Pomeranz earned no points in 27 relief appearances with the Padres in 2021. In August that season, he underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon. He did not appear in the Major Leagues in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He signed with the Cubs in April 2025 and appeared in 57 games this season. Pomeranz, 36, has 35.8 career Box-Toppers points earned from 2012 to 2020, including earning 12.4 in 2016 as a starting pitcher with the Padres and Red Sox, finishing the season 11th among AL pitchers.

Pomeranz recorded a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score Wednesday. Cubs starting pitcher Jameson Taillon had a -3.0 game score (4IP 5H 2R BB 3K ND). Cubs top batter, Kyle Tucker, had a 0.0 game score (2-3 R 0BI). Brewers starting pitcher Quinn Priester had a -11.8 game score in the loss (0.2IP 3H 4R 2BB K ND).

Ernie Clement of the Blue Jays is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Wednesday’s Game 4 win over the Yankees.

AL Division Series Game 4: Blue Jays 5, Yankees 2

Ernie Clement of the Blue Jays went 2-for-3, scoring twice and reaching after being hit by a pitch.

The Blue Jays win the best-of-five game series, 3-1, eliminating the Yankees.

Clement earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2025, 633rd among all players and 159th among AL batters.

Clement recorded a +1.0 Box-Toppers game score Wednesday. Blue Jays starting pitcher Louis Varland had a higher game score (+2.1), but did not qualify for initial consideration as Player of the Game because he did not pitch at least three innings or earn the win or save (1.1IP H 0R 0BB 2K ND). Blue Jays reliever Seranthony Domínguez, who picked up the win, had a +0.2 game score (1.2IP 0H 0R BB 0K W). Blue Jays closer Jeff Hoffman had a -2.9 game score (1.1IP 2H R BB K Sv). Yankees starting pitcher Cam Schlittler had a -5.9 game score (6.1IP 8H 4R 2ER 0BB 2K L).

The Blue Jays advance to the AL Championship Series beginning Sunday in Toronto against either the Detroit Tigers or Seattle Mariners, who play the deciding Game 5 in their series Friday.

The Blue Jays eliminate the Yankees, who were Box-Toppers’ top-ranked AL team, with their players earning 127.1 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, second among all teams, behing the Philadelphia Phillies (131.4). The Blue Jays rank 10th among all teams and fifth among AL teams with 111.7 Box-Toppers points. The Blue Jays are the top AL postseason seed while the Yankees were the fourth seed.

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).
10/8 BTG Game Player of the Game AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  +3.0 DET 9, SEA 3 Javier Báez SS 4 1 2 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 PHI 8, LAD 2 Kyle Schwarber DH 4 2 2 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.0 CHC 4, MIL 3 Drew Pomeranz (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 0 2
  +1.0 TOR 5, NYY 2 Ernie Clement 2B‑3B 3 2 2 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
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 +/‑
Schwarber, Kyle 3536 dh phi nl 12.0 20.5 34.0 52.5 +3.5
Baez, Javier 3395 cf ss det al 5.0 5.0 10.5 34.2 +5.0
Clement, Ernie 4482 2b 3b dh tor al 1.0 2.5 4.5 4.5 -0.5
Pomeranz, Drew 3061 pi cp sp chi nl 0.0 0.0 1.0 35.8 0.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Thursday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):

NL Division Series Game 4: Dodgers lead Phillies, 2-1

Phillies—Cristopher Sánchez, 15.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 11th overall, seventh among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Tyler Glasnow, 5.0 points, 185th among all players, 57th among NL pitchers.

Both Sánchez and Glasnow pitched in Saturday’s NLDS Game 1. Sánchez started and had a +3.2 game score in the loss (5.2IP 4H 2R 2BB 8K ND). Glasnow came on in relief (1.2IP 2H 0R 2BB 2K ND), recording a -0.8 game score.

More details—Previews of NL Division Series.

NL Division Series Game 4: Brewers lead Cubs, 2-1

It’s a rematch of Saturday’s NLDS Game 1, which was won by the Brewers:

Brewers—Freddy Peralta, 14.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 12th among all players, eighth among NL pitchers.

Cubs—Matthew Boyd, 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 40th among all players, 18th among NL pitchers.

Neither pitcher was Player of the Game in Saturday’s NLDS Game 1, a 9-3 win by the Brewers. Peralta had a +3.2 game score (5.2IP 4H 2R BB 9K W). Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd recorded a -11.8 game score (0.2IP 4H 6R 2ER BB K L).

More details—Previews of NL Division Series.

A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’s League Division 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
PHI Sanchez, Cristopher 4850 15.4 26.8 30.8 30.8
LAD Glasnow, Tyler 3948 5.0 16.7 49.8 65.5
MIL Peralta, Freddy 3965 14.7 28.1 67.9 84.6
CHC Boyd, Matthew 3550 10.7 13.7 17.7 42.5
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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