Dodgers’ Glasnow, Cubs’ Boyd top players in Thursday’s NLDS playoff games

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s NLDS Game 4 win over the Phillies.

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Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow and Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd are Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Thursday’s two National League Division Series games.

The Los Angeles Dodgers eliminate Box-Toppers’ top-ranked team, the Philadelphia Phillies, in one of the series. The Chicago Cubs meanwhile force a deciding Game 5 Saturday with the Milwaukee Brewers, with a win to tie that series.

NL Division Series Game 4: Dodgers 2, Phillies 1 (F/11)

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Glasnow struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks. Glasnow did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the game was in a scoreless tie when he exited.

The Dodgers win the best-of-five game series, 3-1, eliminating the Phillies.

Glasnow earned 5.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 185th among all players and 57th among NL pitchers.

Glasnow recorded a +9.0 Box-Toppers game score Thursday to lead Dodgers players. Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Vesia, who earned the win, had a +1.0 game score (1IP 0H 0R BB K W). Dodgers top batters Hyeseong Kim and Justin Dean had +1.0 game scores, both serving as pinch runners (0-0 R 0BI). Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez had a -0.9 game score (6.1IP 5H R 0BB 0K ND). Phillies reliever Jesús Luzardo, who picked up the loss, had a +1.2 game score (1.2IP 2H R 0BB 3K L).

The Dodgers advance to the NL Championship Series beginning Monday against either the Chicago Cubs or Milwaukee Brewers, who will play a deciding NLDS Game 5 Saturday.

The Dodgers eliminate the Philles, who were Box-Toppers’ top-ranked overall team to finish 2025, with their players accumulating 131.4 Box-Toppers points. The Phillies led team rankings for the final four weeks of the season. The Dodgers rank fifth overall with 117.9 Box-Toppers points, third among NL teams, behind the Phillies and the San Diego Padres (118.6). They are Box-Toppers’ highest-ranking team remaining in the postseason. The Phillies were the second-seeded NL postseason team while the Dodgers are the third seed.

Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Thursday’s NLDS Game 4 win over the Brewers.

NL Division Series Game 4: Cubs 6, Brewers 0

Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd struck out six over 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and three walks. Boyd did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he did not pitch the required five innings as a starter to earn the win.

The Cubs tie the best-of-five game series, 2-2, forcing a deciding Game 5 Saturday in Milwaukee.

Boyd earned 10.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 40th among all players and 18th among NL pitchers.

He recorded a +5.2 Box-Toppers game score Thursday to lead Cubs players. Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia, who picked up the win, had a +0.1 game score (1.1IP H 0R 0BB 0K W). Cubs top batter Kyle Tucker had a +2.0 game score (HR 2-3 2R BB). Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta had a -1.0 game score in the loss (4IP 3H 3R 2BB 6K L).

All of Thursday’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).
10/9 BTG Game Player of the Game AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  +9.0 `LAD 2, PHI 1 (F/11) Tyler Glasnow ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 0 0 3 8
  +5.2 `CHC 6, MIL 0 Matthew Boyd ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   4.2 2 0 0 3 6
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
` 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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’25 ’24‑25 ’20‑25 Career +/‑
Boyd, Matthew 3550 pi sp chi nl 10.7 13.7 17.7 42.5 +7.7
Glasnow, Tyler 3948 pi sp lad nl 5.0 16.7 49.8 65.5 -6.7
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Friday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):

AL Division Series Game 5: Tigers at Mariners, series tied, 2-2

Tigers—Tarik Skubal, 22.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, first among all players.

Skubal has made two postseason starts in 2025:

  • He was Player of the Game in the AL Wild Card Series Game 1 win over the Guardians on Sept. 30.

  • He started in the AL Division Series Game 2 loss to the Mariners on Oct. 5. Despite the loss, he had a game-high +6.0 Box-Toppers game score (7IP 5H 2R BB 9K ND).

Mariners—George Kirby, 11.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 34th among all players, 19th among AL pitchers.

Kirby started in the ALDS Game 1 against the Tigers on Oct. 4, recording a +2.0 game score in the loss (5IP 6H 2R BB 8K ND).

More details—Previews of AL Division Series.

A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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
DET Skubal, Tarik 4414 22.1 43.2 73.3 73.3
SEA Kirby, George 4595 11.0 26.4 51.5 51.5
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
Chart is sortable. Click a column header to re-sort the chart by the values in that column. Refresh page to restore chart to default, game-by-game view.
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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.)

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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