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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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Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal tops players in Tuesday’s four Wild Card playoff games.
Other Player of the Game winners in Tuesday’s Wild Card series games:
Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell
Cubs relief pitcher Daniel Palencia.
AL Wild Card Game 1: Tigers 2, Guardians 1
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal struck out 14 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, three hits and three walks.
The Tigers now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Skubal earned 22.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, first among all players.
Skubal had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +13.2. No Tigers batters had positive game scores. Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams had a +6.0 game score in the loss (6IP 5H R 0ER BB 8K L).
AL Wild Card Game 1: Red Sox 3, Yankees 1
Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run, four hits and no walks.
The Red Sox now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Crochet earned 19.8 Box-Toppers points in 2025, fourth among all players and second among American League pitchers, behind Tarik Skubal of the Tigers (22.1).
Crochet had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +12.2. Masataka Yoshida had the highest game score (+1.0) among Red Sox batters (1-2 0R 2BI). Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried had a +5.1 game score in the loss (6.1IP 4H 0R 3BB 6K ND).
NL Wild Card Game 1: Dodgers 10, Reds 5
Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell struck out nine over seven innings, allowing two runs, four hits and one walk.
The Dodgers now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Snell earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 98th overall and 36th among National League pitchers. He had the most career points among Tuesday’s eight starters—111.8, which is 10th among active NL pitchers.
Snell recorded a +7.0 Box-Toppers game score Tuesday. Teoscar Hernández recorded the highest game score (+4.0) among Dodgers batters (2HR 3-5 2R 4BI). Reds starting pitcher Hunter Greene recorded a -11.0 game score (3IP 6H 5R 2BB 4K L).
NL Wild Card Game 1: Cubs 3, Padres 1
Cubs relief pitcher Daniel Palencia struck out two over 1 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings, walking none and earning the win.
The Cubs now lead the best-of-three series, 1-0.
Palencia earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 1.0 as a middle reliever and 1.0 as a closer.
Palencia recorded a +3.2 Box-Toppers game score, coming in during the fifth inning as the first of four Cubs relievers who pitched a perfect 4 2/3 innings. Nico Hoerner had the highest Box-Toppers game score (0.0) among Cubs batters (SF 2-3 0R BI). Cubs starting pitcher Matthew Boyd had a -0.9 game score (4.1IP 4H R BB 2K ND). Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta had a game-best +7.0 Box-Toppers game score in the loss (5IP 3H 2R 0BB 9K L).
All of Tuesday’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).| 9/30 | BTG | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +13.2 | DET 2, CLE 1 | Tarik Skubal (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 | ||
| +12.2 | BOS 3, NYY 1 | Garrett Crochet (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | ||
| +7.0 | LAD 10, CIN 5 | Blake Snell (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | ||
| +3.2 | CHC 3, SD 1 | Daniel Palencia (W, 1‑0) | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | ‑ | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
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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 | +/‑ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skubal, Tarik 4414 | pi sp | det al | 22.1 | 43.2 | 73.3 | 73.3 | +1.0 |
| Crochet, Garrett 4434 | pi sp | bos al | 19.8 | 30.5 | 31.5 | 31.5 | +9.1 |
| Snell, Blake 3688 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 | 22.7 | 65.6 | 111.8 | -8.7 |
| Palencia, Daniel 4908 | pi mr cp | chi nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | +2.0 |
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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Wednesday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):
AL Wild Card Game 2, Tigers lead Guardians, 1-0
Tigers—Casey Mize, 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 116th among all players, 45th among AL pitchers.
Guardians—Tanner Bibee, 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 99th among all players, 39th among AL pitchers.
More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series
NL Wild Card Game 2, Cubs lead Padres, 1-0
Padres—Dylan Cease, 8.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 61st among all players, 24th among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Andrew Kittredge, 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 484th among all players, 127th among NL pitchers.
More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series
AL Wild Card Game 2, Red Sox lead Yankees, 1-0
Red Sox—Brayan Bello, 7.4 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 92nd among all players, 37th among AL pitchers.
Yankees—Carlos Rodón, 13.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 17th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.
More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series
NL Wild Card Game 2, Dodgers lead Reds, 1-0
Reds—Zack Littell, 6.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 120th among all players, 43rd among NL pitchers.
Dodgers—Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 17.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, seventh among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.
More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series
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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Related
Final 2025 Box-Toppers player rankings: Tigers’ Skubal is 2025 Box-Toppers Player of the Year; Skenes rises to lead NL pitchers
Final 2025 Box-Toppers team rankings: Phillies finish 2025 atop Box-Toppers team rankings; Yankees rise to lead AL teams
A Box-Toppers look at Wednesday’s Wild Card round 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.Back to top
| Game | BOS | ’25 | ’24‑25 | ’20‑25 | Career |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DET | Mize, Casey 4377 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 14.7 | 14.7 |
| CLE | Bibee, Tanner 4792 | 7.0 | 21.0 | 29.7 | 29.7 |
| SD | Cease, Dylan 4231 | 8.7 | 29.8 | 74.6 | 76.6 |
| CHC | Kittredge, Andrew 4417 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
| BOS | Bello, Brayan 4727 | 7.4 | 15.1 | 18.1 | 18.1 |
| NYY | Rodon, Carlos 3494 | 13.7 | 26.4 | 58.9 | 84.0 |
| CIN | Littell, Zack 4533 | 6.7 | 15.1 | 21.1 | 21.1 |
| LAD | Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 | 17.7 | 24.1 | 24.1 | 24.1 |
* 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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