Guardians’ Williams tops players for Sunday, Aug. 2, rising to 9th in player rankings

Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.

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Guardians pitcher Gavin Williams is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to ninth place in season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in 2026 Box-Toppers points (BTP) earned in the regular season through Sunday, Aug. 2.
  Player Pos Team BTP
1 Jacob Misiorowski pi sp Brewers 17.7
2 Dylan Cease pi sp Blue Jays 17.4
3 Cristopher Sánchez pi sp Phillies 15.7
4 Cam Schlittler pi sp Yankees 15.7
5 Braxton Ashcraft pi sp Pirates 14.4
6 Jesús Luzardo pi sp Phillies 14.0
7 Shohei Ohtani pi sp dh Dodgers 13.7
8 Zack Wheeler pi sp Phillies 13.0
9 Gavin Williams pi sp Guardians 12.7
10 Taj Bradley pi sp Twins 12.4
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Other Player of the Game winners Sunday include Cardinals pitcher Matthew Liberatore, Reds pitcher Chase Burns, Gleyber Torres of the Tigers and Justin Crawford of the Phillies.

Player of the Day: Gavin Williams, Guardians

Williams struck out 10 over 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 5-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

Williams carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before giving up a leadoff single to Tim Tawa. His outing was ended by rain after 89 pitches in the sixth.

Williams earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, ninth among all players and third among American League pitchers, behind Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays (17.4 points) and Cam Schlittler of the Yankees (15.7 points).

NL Player of the Day: Matthew Liberatore, Cardinals

Liberatore struck out seven over six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and one walk, in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jays. He picked up a no-decision after Toronto tied the game following his exit.

Liberatore earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points as National League Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, 16th among NL pitchers.

NL Player of the Day: Matthew Liberatore, Cardinals.

AL Batter of the Day: Gleyber Torres, Tigers

Torres went 1-for-2, drawing four walks, scoring three times and driving in two runs.

AL Batter of the Day: Gleyber Torres, Tigers.

NL Batter of the Day: Justin Crawford, Phillies

Crawford doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-0, six-inning win over the Orioles.

This was Crawford’s Box-Toppers debut, his first career Player of the Game honor. Crawford made his Major League debut March 26 and was playing in his 102nd career game.

NL Batter of the Day: Justin Crawford, Phillies.

Notable: Chase Burns, Reds

Burns becomes the 22nd player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2026 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday (6IP 2H R 2BB 9K W in the 10-2 win over the Pirates).

Burns earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season, 22nd among all players and 12th among NL pitchers. It is his first season with 10 or more points in his first season earning points. He earned no points in his 2025 rookie season with the Reds, appearing in 13 games.

Chase Burns, Reds, becomes the 22nd player to reach 10 Box-Toppers points in 2026 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Debut

Everson Pereira of the White Sox also made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor (HR 2B 2-4 R 4BI in the 9-1 win over the Rays).

Pereira made his Major League debut Aug. 22, 2023, and was playing in his 77th career game.

Scoring

  • Williams earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points as Player of the Day.

  • Liberatore earns 1.7 points as NL Player of the Day.

  • Torres and Crawford each earn 1.5 points as their league’s Batter of the Day.

  • All of Sunday’s other Player of the Game winners (listed in the chart) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

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. More on how Box-Toppers works.

Help us stay accurate! Spot a mistake? Contact Box-Toppers here so we can fix it.

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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).
8/2 BTG Game Player AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
MLB +13.2 CLE 5, ARI 0 Gavin Williams (W, 11‑6)   5.2 1 0 0 1 10
NL +11.0 `STL 5, TOR 1 Matthew Liberatore   6.0 1 0 0 1 7
  +9.0 CIN 10, PIT 2 Chase Burns (W, 13‑1)   6.0 2 1 1 2 9
  +8.0 COL 8, KC 1 Kyle Freeland (W, 3‑10)   9.0 5 1 1 2 8
  +7.0 LAA 3, MIL 0 Walbert Ureña (W, 7‑7)   6.0 3 0 0 3 7
  +5.0 MIA 2, NYM 0 Sandy Alcantara (W, 12‑6)   6.0 4 0 0 2 5
  +4.2 `HOU 7, TEX 3 Peter Lambert   5.2 3 2 2 2 8
  +4.1 SD 5, SF 4 Adrian Morejon (S, 2)   1.1 0 0 0 0 3
BAT +4.0 DET 11, ATH 0 Gleyber Torres 2B 2 3 1 2  
  +4.0 `SEA 7, MIN 6 George Kirby   7.0 5 0 0 1 3
  +3.0 CHW 9, TB 1 Everson Pereira RF 4 1 2 4  
BAT +3.0 PHI 8, BAL 0 (F/6) Justin Crawford CF 3 2 2 2  
  +2.0 NYY 2, CHC 1 Jose Caballero SS 3 1 2 2  
  +2.0 ATL 4, WSH 2 Mike Yastrzemski RF 2 1 1 2  
  +1.0 BOS 8, LAD 4 Masataka Yoshida DH 4 1 2 2  
MLB—Overall Box‑Toppers Player of the Day, worth 2.0 total Box‑Toppers points.
AL—Overall American League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box‑Toppers points.
NL—Overall National League Player of the Day, worth 1.7 total Box‑Toppers points.
BAT—Top AL or NL Batter of the Day, worth 1.5 total Box‑Toppers points.
All other players listed here earn Player of the Game honors, worth 1.0 Box‑Toppers point.
` Pitcher had a no‑decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
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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 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 (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’26 ’25‑26 ’21‑26 Career +/‑
Williams, Gavin 4865 pi sp cle al 12.7 24.4 32.1 32.1 +1.0
Burns, Chase 5301 pi sp cin nl 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 +10.0
Alcantara, Sandy 4061 pi sp fla nl 8.7 16.7 54.5 63.9 +0.7
Liberatore, Matthew 4662 pi sp stl nl 7.7 13.7 20.7 20.7 +1.7
Lambert, Peter 4155 pi sp hou al 6.7 6.7 11.7 13.7 +6.7
Yastrzemski, Mike 4203 rf lf atl nl 6.0 10.0 19.5 21.5 +2.0
Kirby, George 4595 pi sp sea al 5.0 16.0 56.5 56.5 -6.0
Morejon, Adrian 4298 pi mr sd nl 5.0 11.0 13.0 15.0 -1.0
Ureña, Walbert 5350 pi sp ana al 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 +5.0
Torres, Gleyber 3972 2b det al 4.0 7.0 16.0 29.5 +1.0
Freeland, Kyle 3763 pi sp col nl 3.7 7.7 28.4 48.8 -0.3
Crawford, Justin 5425 cf phi nl 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 +1.5
Caballero, Jose 4968 ss rf 3b 2b nyy al 1.0 3.0 5.0 5.0 -1.0
Yoshida, Masataka 4763 dh bos al 1.0 1.0 8.0 8.0 +1.0
Pereira, Everson 5424 rf chi al 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 +1.0
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About Box-Toppers’ team abbreviations
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