Yankees’ Fried tops players Wednesday as 3 teams complete Wild Card Series sweeps

Max Fried leads all Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s Wild Card playoff games.

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Max Fried leads all Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s Wild Card playoff games.

Other Player of the Game winners in Wednesday’s Wild Card games: Chase Meidroth of the White Sox, Gavin Sheets of the Padres and Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter.

Three teams completed two-game sweeps Wednesday to advance to the League Division Series: the New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and San Diego Padres. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies forced a deciding Game 3 against the Atlanta Braves.

The Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, and Chicago Cubs were eliminated.

AL Wild Card Game 2: Yankees 9, Red Sox 2

(Yankees win best-of-three series, 2-0)

Yankees pitcher Max Fried struck out six over six innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk in a 9-2 victory over Boston.

  • Fried 2026 Regular Season: 12.0 Box-Toppers points (24th overall, 11th among AL pitchers).

  • Game Scores: Fried posted a +6.0 Box-Toppers game score, highest among all Wednesday Player of the Game winners. Top Yankees batter Cody Bellinger had a +2.0 game score (HR 2-5 R 4BI). Red Sox starter Sonny Gray had a -0.8 game score in the loss (4.2IP 6H 2R 0BB 5K L). Willson Contreras had a +2.0 game score (HR 2-2 R BI), highest game score among Red Sox players.

  • Season Recap: The Yankees finished 2026 ranked 3rd overall in Box-Toppers team rankings (120.1 points, 1st in AL) as the 4th AL playoff seed. The Red Sox finished 10th overall (105.1 points, 5th in AL) as the 5th AL seed.

  • What’s Next: The Yankees face the top-seeded Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday in Tampa Bay.

Infielder Chase Meidroth hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBIs to lead Chicago over Houston.

AL Wild Card Game 2: White Sox 7, Astros 3

(White Sox win best-of-three series, 2-0)

Infielder Chase Meidroth hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3 with a run scored and three RBIs to lead Chicago over Houston.

  • Meidroth 2026 Regular Season: Earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2026 (on June 12), his only career point across two MLB seasons (154 games played in 2026).

  • Game Scores: Meidroth posted a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score. White Sox starter Sean Burke recorded a +2.0 game score (4IP 4H 3R 0BB 8K ND). Astros starter Hunter Brown recorded a -10.8 game score (0.2IP 5H 4R 3ER BB 2K L), lowest among all players on both teams.

  • Season Recap: The White Sox finished 14th overall in Box-Toppers team rankings (100.9 points, 7th in AL) as the 6th AL seed. The Astros ranked 19th overall (84.2 points, 10th in AL) as the 3rd AL seed, entering the postseason as Box-Toppers' lowest-ranked playoff team behind seven non-qualifying clubs.

  • What’s Next: The White Sox face the 2nd-seeded Cleveland Guardians in the AL Division Series beginning Saturday in Cleveland.

Pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets delivered a two-run homerin San Diego's series-clinching win.

NL Wild Card Game 2: Padres 4, Cubs 1

(Padres win best-of-three series, 2-0)

Pinch-hitter Gavin Sheets delivered a two-run homer in the fourth inning, going 1-for-1 with a run scored and two RBIs in San Diego's series-clinching win.

  • Sheets 2026 Regular Season: 2.5 Box-Toppers points (88th among NL batters).

  • Game Scores: Sheets led Padres players with a +3.0 Box-Toppers game score. Padres starting pitcher Nick Pivetta posted a +0.1 game score (3.1IP 3H R 2BB 4K ND). Padres reliever Bradgley Rodriguez had a +2.2 game score (1.2IP 0H 0R BB 2K W). Cubs starting pitcher Kevin Gausman had a -6.9 game score in the loss (3.1IP 5H 3R 0BB K L). Two notable Cubs batters—Pete Crow-Armstrong and Alex Bregman—both went 0-for-4 with a strikeout—recording -4.0 game scores.

  • Season Recap: The Padres finished 11th overall in Box-Toppers team rankings (104.5 points, 6th in NL) as the 4th NL seed. The Cubs ranked 8th overall (111.2 points, 5th in NL) as the 5th NL seed.

  • What’s Next: The Padres face the top-seeded Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Division Series beginning Saturday in Milwaukee.

Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter struck out three over three scoreless relief innings to earn the victory in extra innings.

NL Wild Card Game 2: Phillies 4, Braves 3 (F/10)

(Phillies tie best-of-three series, 1-1)

Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter struck out three over three scoreless relief innings, allowing three hits and one walk to earn the victory in extra innings. Normally a starter (23 starts, 2 relief appearances in 2026), the rookie pitched the final three frames to force Game 3.

  • Painter 2026 Regular Season: 3.7 Box-Toppers points (82nd among NL pitchers).

  • Game Scores: Painter posted a +2.0 Box-Toppers game score. Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez recorded a -4.8 game score (6.2IP 6H 3R 5BB 6K ND). Top Phillies batter Bryce Harper had a 0.0 game score (HR 2-5 R 2BI). Braves starter Tyler Mahle recorded a +4.0 game score in the loss (7IP 6H R BB 6K ND), highest among all players on both teams.

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).
9/30 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  6.0 NYY 9, BOS 2 Max Fried (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 3 1 1 1 6
  3.0 CHW 7, HOU 3 Chase Meidroth 2B 3 1 2 3   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  3.0 SD 4, CHC 1 Gavin Sheets PH‑DH 1 1 1 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  2.0 PHI 4, ATL 3 (F/10) Andrew Painter (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   3.0 3 0 0 1 3
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.

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 2026 (’26). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’25-26), the period 2021-2026 (’21-26) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2026 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2025 total (+/-).
Player of the Game Pos Team ’26 ’25‑26 ’21‑26 Career +/‑
Fried, Max 4011 pi sp nyy al 12.0 26.4 76.6 93.3 -2.4
Painter, Andrew 5302 pi sp phi nl 3.7 3.7 3.7 3.7 +3.7
Sheets, Gavin 4457 lf dh sd nl 2.5 9.0 20.5 20.5 -4.0
Meidroth, Chase 5382 2b chi al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
What are those numbers after players' names?
About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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 view.

Thursday’s pitching matchups (for more, see matchups chart below):

NL Wild Card Game 3, Phillies at Braves, series tied, 1-1

Neither team had announced a starter as of Thursday morning.

Phillies—Likely starter is Aaron Nola, 6.7 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 107th overall, 40th among NL pitchers. Nola last pitched Saturday, putting him at four days’ rest. Zack Wheeler has been mentioned as a possible starter, but he last pitched Sunday, putting him on three days’ rest. Wheeler’s 18.7 Box-Toppers points are fifth overall, third among NL pitchers.

Braves—Likely starter is Grant Holmes, 5.7 Box-Toppers points, 152nd overall, 49th among NL pitchers. Holmes last pitched on Friday.

More details—Previews of all four Wild Card series

A Box-Toppers look at Thursday’s 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 2026 ('26), this year and last year ('25-26), over six years ('21-26), and their career point total.
Game Starter ’26 ’25‑26 ’21‑26 Career
PHI Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
ATL Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
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.

About Box-Toppers

Box-Toppers tracks who contributes most to their team’s victory. Using standard box score statistics, we identify the Player of the Game for every MLB contest. In the regular season, winners earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point, with bonus points awarded to the top overall and league-specific players of the day. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.) More on how Box-Toppers works.

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