Rasmussen tops players as Rays take 3-2 lead over Guardians Sunday in ALCS Game 5

Drew Rasmussen is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Sunday’s American League Championship Series Game 5.

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Drew Rasmussen is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Sunday’s American League Championship Series Game 5 as the Tampa Bay Rays take a 3-2 series lead over the Cleveland Guardians.

AL Championship Series Game 5: Rays 3, Guardians 1

(Rays lead best-of-seven series, 3-2)

Drew Rasmussen struck out six over seven innings, allowing one run, four hits and one walk, as the Rays took control of the series over the Guardians.

This was Rasmussen’s second Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor of the 2026 postseason. He also did it Oct. 3 in the ALDS Game 1 win over the Yankees.

Rasmussen joins three other players who have also won Player of the Game honors twice this postseason:

Rasmussen 2026 Regular Season

Rasmussen earned 15.0 Box-Toppers points, 18th overall, 8th among AL pitchers.

Liam Hicks is Box-Toppers’ top-ranked Rays batter in Sunday’s ALCS Game 5 with a 0.0 game score (2-3 0R BI).

Notable Box-Toppers Game Scores

  • Drew Rasmussen (+6.0)—Player of the Game winner with a game-high score (7IP 4H R BB 6K W).

  • Bryan Baker (0.0)—Rays closing pitcher (1IP 0H 0R BB 0K Sv).

  • Liam Hicks (0.0)—Rays top batter (2-3 0R BI).

  • Parker Messick (-6.0)—Guardians starting pitcher who recorded a game-low score in the loss (2IP 5H 2R 2BB 3K L).

All of Sunday’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).
10/18 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  6.0 TB 3, CLE 1 Drew Rasmussen (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   7.0 4 1 1 1 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.

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 +/‑
Rasmussen, Drew 4547 pi sp tb al 15.0 24.7 46.2 46.2 +5.3
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.

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

AL Championship Series Game 6, Rays lead Guardians, 3-2.

Guardians—No starter was announced as of Monday morning. The Guardians are expected to use a bullpen game.

Rays—Freddy Peralta, 5.7 Box-Toppers points in 2026 (148th overall, 57th among AL pitchers).

He was Player of the Game Oct. 13 in the ALCS Game 2 win over the Guardians. He also pitched 0.2 innings of relief Oct. 17 in the ALCS Game 4 win.

A Box-Toppers look at Monday’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
CLE Undecided 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
TB Peralta, Freddy 3965 5.7 20.4 71.6 90.3
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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