Williams, Romero top players in Thursday LCS games; Brewers advance to World Series

Gavin Williams struck out nine over five innings, allowing two runs, two hits and one walk, as the Guardians took the lead in the series.

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Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams and Brewers’ reliever JoJo Romero earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in Thursday’s League Championship Series games.

Williams earned the win as the Cleveland Guardians edged the Tampa Bay Rays to take a 2-1 series lead in the American League Championship Series. Romero, meanwhile, led the Milwaukee Brewers as they swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series.

AL Championship Series Game 3: Guardians 3, Rays 2

(Guardians lead best-of-seven series, 2-1)

Gavin Williams struck out nine over five innings, allowing two runs, two hits and one walk, as the Guardians took the lead in the series.

This was Williams’ second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the 2026 postseason—he also did it Oct. 10 in ALDS Game 5. He joins two other players who have also won Player of the Game honors twice this postseason:

Williams 2026 Regular Season

Williams earned 17.4 Box-Toppers points in 2026 (9th overall, 4th among AL pitchers). This was his third 2026 postseason appearance. In addition to winning Player of the Game Thursday and Oct. 10, he also started in the ALDS Game 2 loss to the White Sox on Oct. 5.

Notable Box-Toppers Game Scores

  • Gavin Williams (+7.0)—Player of the Game winner with a game-high score (5IP 2H 2R BB 9K W).

  • Cade Smith (+3.1)—Guardians closing pitcher (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K Sv).

  • Petey Halpin (+1.0)—Guardians top batter (HR 1-3 R 2BI).

  • Griffin Jax (-7.0)—Rays starting pitcher in the loss (4IP 5H 3R 2BB 2K L).

  • Chandler Simpson (0.0)—Rays top batter in the game (3B 1-3 0R 2BI).

JoJo Romero struck out three over two innings of scoreless middle relief, allowing one hit and no walks in Brewers NLCS Game 4 win.

NL Championship Series Game 4: Brewers 6, Dodgers 4

(Brewers win best-of-seven series, 4-0)

JoJo Romero struck out three over two innings of scoreless middle relief, allowing one hit and no walks, as the Brewers eliminated the two-time defending champion Dodgers in a four-game sweep.

Romero pitched the fifth and sixth innings, allowing only a sixth-inning double to Kyle Tucker. He was the pitcher of record and earned the win when the Brewers took the lead 5-4 in the top of the sixth, when teammate Garrett Mitchell hit a solo home run.

Romero 2026 Regular Season

Romero earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point (616th overall, 148th among NL pitchers) on Sept. 2. Romero began the season with the Cardinals and was traded to the Brewers on Aug. 3. He made 55 regular season appearances. This was his fourth 2026 postseason outing, the first in which he won Player of the Game honors.

Notable Box-Toppers Game Scores

  • JoJo Romero (+4.0)—Player of the Game winner (2IP H 0R 0BB 3K W).

  • Aaron Ashby (+4.0)—Brewers closing pitcher (3IP 2H 0R 0BB 3K Sv). Though he and Romero both had +4.0 game scores, Romero edged Ashby for Player of the Game honors on a tiebreaker by earning the win in the game while Ashby picked up the save.

  • David Hamilton (+2.0)—Brewers top batter (HR 2-4 2R 2BI).

  • Shane Drohan (-3.0)—Brewers starting pitcher (1IP H R 2BB K ND).

  • Dustin May (-6.0)—Brewers relief pitcher, recording the game’s lowest game score (3IP 4H 3R 0BB K ND).

  • Tyler Glasnow (-2.9)—Dodgers starting pitcher (4.1IP 3H 4R 2BB 6K ND).

  • Tanner Scott (0.0)—Dodgers relief pitcher (1IP H R 0BB 2K L).

  • Edwin Díaz (+2.0)—Dodgers relief pitcher who pitched the final innings (3IP H R 0BB 2K ND).

  • Shohei Ohtani (+1.0)—Dodgers top batter (HR 1-4 R 3BI).

Brewers Advance to World Series

The Brewers eliminate the Dodgers and advance to the World Series. While the Brewers were the NL’s top-seeded playoff team, the Dodgers ranked first overall in Box-Toppers team rankings, just ahead of Milwaukee, a spot they occupied nearly all season.

But despite the Dodgers’ nearly wire-to-wire lead, Box-Toppers favored the Brewers in the series with Box-Toppers points advantages among their key core players and among pitchers.

The Dodgers led Box-Toppers team rankings with its players accumulating 142.7 points while the Brewers accumulated 137.3. (Note: This is corrected from our team rankings post; 1.0 missing point has  since been discovered for the Brewers, which doesn’t change their overall second-place ranking.)

The Brewers return to the World Series for the first time since their only appearance in 1982 (as an American League team), when they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. They are one of five active franchises without a World Series title, along with the Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies and Tampa Bay Rays.

Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers was named National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player.

NLCS MVP: Jake Bauers

Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers was named National League Championship Series Most Valuable Player. While Bauers drove in six runs during the series, he did not earn Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in any of the four NLCS games.

Here are his Box-Toppers game scores in the series:

  • Game 1 (-2.0)—1-3 0R 0BI

  • Game 2 (-2.0)—1-4 0R BI

  • Game 3 (0.0)—HR 1-4 R 2BI

  • Game 4 (+1.0)—2B 1-3 0R 3BI

No Milwaukee player won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors more than once in the NLCS. The four game winners:

The closest any Milwaukee player came to winning multiple honors was reliever Aaron Ashby, who narrowly missed top player honors in Game 4 when Romero won the tiebreaker.

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).
10/15 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  7.0 CLE 3, TB 2 Gavin Williams (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   5.0 2 2 2 1 9
  4.0 MIL 6, LAD 4 JoJo Romero (W, 2‑1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   2.0 1 0 0 0 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 +/‑
Williams, Gavin 4865 pi sp cle al 17.4 29.1 36.8 36.8 +5.7
Romero, JoJo 4878 pi mr cp mil nl 1.0 4.0 8.0 8.0 -2.0
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.

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

AL Championship Series Game 4, Guardians lead Rays, 2-1

Rays—Nick Martinez, 8.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 74th overall, 30th among AL pitchers.

Guardians—No starting pitcher had been announced as of Friday morning. However, if Game 4 is not postponed due to weather, the Guardians were expected to go with a bullpen game, with these three pitchers expected to contribute:

  • Joey Cantillo, 11.7 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 26th overall, 13th among AL pitchers

  • Tanner Bibee, 5.7 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 94th overall, 58th among AL pitchers.

  • Slade Cecconi, 2.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 246th overall, 111th among AL pitchers.

All three were primarily starting pitchers during the regular season, but have been used in relief roles in the postseason.

A Box-Toppers look at Friday’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
TB Martinez, Nick 3430 8.0 14.7 36.8 43.5
CLE 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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