Rays’ Rasmussen tops players in Saturday’s opening League Division Series games

Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, leads all Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners Saturday.

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Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, leads all Box-Toppers Player of the Game winners in Saturday’s opening League Division Series playoff games.

Other Player of the Game winners Saturday: White Sox closing pitcher Grant Taylor, Dodgers pitcher Tarik Skubal and Brewers closing pitcher Trevor Megill.

AL Division Series Game 1: Rays 1, Yankees 0

(Rays lead best-of-five series, 1-0)

Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks in a 1-0 victory over New York.

He took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before giving up a two-out double to Austin Wells, who was thrown out trying to extend the hit into a triple.

  • Rasmussen 2026 Regular Season: 15.0 Box-Toppers points (18th overall, eighth among AL pitchers).

  • Game Scores: Rasmussen posted a +15.0 Box-Toppers game score, highest among all Saturday Player of the Game winners. Yankees starter Gerrit Cole posted a +2.0 game score in the loss (5IP 5H R BB 5K L).

Closing pitcher Grant Taylor struck out six over four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks to pick up the save.

AL Division Series Game 1: White Sox 3, Guardians 0

(White Sox lead best-of-five series, 1-0)

Closing pitcher Grant Taylor struck out six over four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and no walks to pick up the save and lead Chicago over Cleveland.

In 96 regular season appearances, Taylor pitched no more than 2.2 innings in any game.

  • Taylor 2026 Regular Season: 4.0 Box-Toppers points (237th overall, 82nd among AL pitchers).

  • Game Scores: Taylor posted a +8.0 Box-Toppers game score. White Sox top batter Munetaka Murakami posted a +1.0 game score (HR 2-4 R 2BI. Guardians starting pitcher Parker Messick posted a +0.1 game score in the loss (4.1IP 4H 2R 2BB 6K L). White Sox starting pitcher Hagen Smith recorded a +3.2 game score (2.2IP 0H 0R 3BB 4K ND) but did not qualify for consideration as Player of the Game because he pitched under three innings without earning the win or save.

Dodgers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in a win over Atlanta.

NL Division Series Game 1: Dodgers 5, Braves 3

(Dodgers lead best-of-five series, 1-0)

Dodgers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run, two hits and two walks, in a win over Atlanta.

  • Skubal 2026 Regular Season: 14.7 Box-Toppers points (19th overall, 11th among NL pitchers). He earned 6.0 of his points since being traded from the Tigers on Aug. 2.

  • Game Scores: Skubal led Dodgers players with a +7.0 Box-Toppers game score. Top Dodgers batter Teoscar Hernández had a +2.0 game score (HR 2-4 2R 2BI). Braves starting pitcher Dylan Dodd had a +5.0 game score (3IP 2H 0R 0BB 4K ND). Braves top batter Ozzie Albies had a +1.0 game score (HR 1-3 R 2BI).

Brewers closing pitcher Trevor Megill struck out two over 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks to earn the save.

NL Division Series Game 1: Brewers 3, Padres 2

(Brewers lead best-of-five series, 1-0)

Brewers closing pitcher Trevor Megill struck out two over 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks to earn the save in Milwaukee’s victory over San Diego.

  • Megill 2026 Regular Season: 4.0 Box-Toppers points (71st among NL pitchers, 7th among NL closing pitchers).

  • Game Scores: Megill posted a +2.1 Box-Toppers game score. Brewers starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski recorded a +1.0 game score (4IP 4H 2R BB 6K ND). Misiorowski leads all players in 2026 Box-Toppers points with 26.1. Top Brewers batter Jackson Chourio had a 0.0 game score (HR 1-4 R 2BI). Padres starting pitcher Robbie Ray posted a -6.8 game score in the loss (2.2IP 4H 2R 2BB K ND).

All of Saturday’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).
10/3 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
  15.0 TB 1, NYY 0 Drew Rasmussen (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   8.0 1 0 0 2 10
  8.0 CHW 3, CLE 0 Grant Taylor (S, 1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   4.0 2 0 0 0 6
  7.0 LAD 5, ATL 3 Tarik Skubal (W, 1‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   6.0 2 1 1 2 7
  2.1 MIL 3, SD 2 Trevor Megill (S, 1) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.1 1 0 0 0 2
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
Skubal, Tarik 4414 pi sp lad nl 14.7 36.8 88.0 88.0 -7.4
Megill, Trevor 4531 pi cp mil nl 4.0 7.0 14.0 14.0 +1.0
Taylor, Grant 5207 pi mr cp chi al 4.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 +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.

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

NLDS Game 2, Brewers lead Padres, 1-0

Padres—Michael King, 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 95th overall, 35th among NL pitchers. King was Player of the Game in Tuesday’s NL Wild Card Game 1 win over the Cubs.

Brewers—Logan Henderson, 10.4 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 37th overall, 19th among NL pitchers.

More details—Previews of NL Division Series

NLDS Game 2, Dodgers lead Braves, 1-0

Braves—Ray Kerr, 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2026, tied for 1,270th overall, tied for 289th among NL pitchers. Kerr ranks outside the 810 players who earned Box-Toppers points in 2026 with his ranking based on the 1.0 Box-Toppers point he earned in 2024.

The Braves are employing Kerr as a one-to-two inning “opener,” as they struggle with starting rotation injuries. They worked this to success Thursday in their NL Wild Card Game 3 win over the Phillies, in which Kerr, as the opener, won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Kerr made nine appearances during the 2026 regular season but did not earn Player of the Game honors in any.

Chris Sale was expected to start Game 2 but also pitched in Thursday’s Wild Card win and so he may start when the series moves to Atlanta Tuesday.

Dodgers—Blake Snell, 4.7 Box-Toppers points in 2026, 197th overall, 63rd among NL pitchers. Snell was limited by injuries in 2026, but recorded 10 or more points in six straight full seasons from 2018 to 2024 (2020 is excluded because it was a pandemic-shortened season). He led all players in 2018 with the Rays with 27.2 points.

More details—Previews of NL Division Series

A Box-Toppers look at Sunday’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
SD King, Michael 4549 7.0 11.4 38.8 38.8
MIL Henderson, Logan 5150 10.4 13.4 13.4 13.4
ATL Kerr, Ray 5002 0.0 0.0 1.0 1.0
LAD Snell, Blake 3688 4.7 11.7 66.6 116.5
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.

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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