Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Friday, June 2, maintaining first place in Box-Toppers player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, maintaining his spot atop season player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2017 season as of June 2:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.7
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	10.0
3	Santana, Ervin 2005	pi sp	min al	9.4
4	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	bos al	8.4
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	ari nl	7.7
6	Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	7.4
7	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	7.4
8	Ray, Robbie 3502	pi sp	ari nl	7.0
9	Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	lad nl	7.0
10	Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	7.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Friday, three other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel and Royals pitcher Jason Vargas.

Player of the Day—Kershaw struck out 14 over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and one walk, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Brewers. Kershaw did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because the Dodgers trailed 1-0 when he exited.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, maintaining his first place spot in season player rankings, ahead of second-place player, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer (10.0).

Kershaw also now has 196.4 career Box-Toppers points, third among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He trails second-place player Pedro Martinez (244.8). Kershaw leads all active players in career points.

American League Player of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Mariners homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 12-4 win over the Rays.

National League Batter of the Day—Elias Diaz of the Pirates hit a three-run homer and doubled in the 12-7 win over the Mets. Diaz went 2-for-5, driving in six runs.

This was Diaz’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Diaz made his Major League debut Sept. 12, 2015, and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,813rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Friday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Danny Valencia.

Rankings—Three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rise in Box-Toppers season player rankings:

• Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg (7IP 4H 2R 3BB 7K W in the 13-3 win over the Athletics) rises to sixth place (from ninth) with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

• Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (6IP 3H 0R 2BB 7K W in the 7-1 win over the Rangers) rises to seventh place with 7.4 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

• Royals pitcher Jason Vargas (CG 7H 0R BB 3K W in the 4-0 win over the Indians) rises to 10th place with 7.0 season Box-Toppers points. He ranks fourth among AL pitchers.

Notable—In addition to Kershaw, two other players with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers (2-2B 3-3 R 4BI in the 15-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 146.9 career points. Cabrera rises to 22nd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began, passing Jim Thome (146.7) on the “all-time” list. Cabrera now trails 21st-ranked player Javier Vazquez (148.3). Cabrera now rises to sixth place among all batters since 1995 in career Box-Toppers points. He has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

• Cubs pitcher John Lackey (7IP 4H 2R 2BB 6K ND in the 3-2 win over the Cardinals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 124.2 career points, rising to 38th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. With his point Friday, he passes Gary Sheffield (124.1) on the “all-time” list and now trails 37th-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4). Lackey has 3.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Valencia earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Diaz earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Box-Toppers strives for accuracy. See a mistake in a post? A wrong name, wrong team, grammar error, spelling goof, etc.? Thanks for pointing it out! Contact Box-Toppers here. Let's fix it and make it right.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score 

6/2	Score	Game	Player of the Game	AB	R	H	BI		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	16.0	`LAD 2, MIL 1 (F/12)	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	1	14
AL	8.0	SEA 12, TB 4	Danny Valencia, 1B	3	3	3	5		-	-	-	-	-	-
	8.0	HOU 7, TEX 1	Dallas Keuchel (W,9-0)	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	7
	6.0	SF 10, PHI 0	Ty Blach (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-		9.0	7	0	0	0	4
	5.0	DET 15, CHW 5	Miguel Cabrera, 1B	3	1	3	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.1	BAL 3, BOS 2	Alec Asher (W,2-3)	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	2	2	0	5
BAT	4.0	PIT 12, NYM 7	Elias Diaz, C	5	1	2	6		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	TOR 7, NYY 5	Justin Smoak, 1B	3	2	2	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	KC 4, CLE 0	Jason Vargas (W,7-3)	-	-	-	-		9.0	7	0	0	1	3
	3.0	MIN 11, LAA 5	Joe Mauer, 1B	5	1	4	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	MIA 7, ARI 5	Giancarlo Stanton, RF	3	3	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	WSH 13, OAK 3	Stephen Strasburg (W,7-1)	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	3	7
	3.0	`CHC 3, STL 2	John Lackey	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	2	6
	2.0	SD 8, COL 5	Allen Cordoba, LF	4	1	3	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	CIN 3, ATL 2 (F/10)	Devin Mesoraco, C	1	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-

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.

Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (’17). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (’16-17), the period 2012-2017 (’12-17) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2017 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2016 total (+/-).  

Player of the Game	Pos	Team	’17	’16-17	’12-17	Career	+/-
Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	12.7	37.1	136.8	196.4	-11.7
Strasburg, Stephen 2736	pi sp	dc nl	7.4	22.5	81.6	90.3	-7.7
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	7.4	14.4	50.2	50.2	0.4
Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	kc al	7.0	8.0	33.4	54.2	6.0
Smoak, Justin 2731	1b	tor al	5.5	9.0	22.2	28.4	2.0
Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	chi nl	3.0	16.4	42.8	124.2	-10.4
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	2.0	14.0	59.8	146.9	-10.0
Blach, Ty 3754	pi sp	sf nl	2.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	0.0
Mauer, Joe 1869	1b	min al	2.0	3.5	25.0	72.6	0.5
Cordoba, Allen 3780	lf pr	sd nl	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	2.0
Valencia, Danny 2772	1b 3b	sea al	1.7	6.2	10.7	14.7	-2.8
Diaz, Elias 3813	ca	pit nl	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	1.0	7.5	31.7	40.2	-5.5
Asher, Alec 3735	pi sp	bal al	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Mesoraco, Devin 3037	ca	cin nl	1.0	1.0	13.5	13.5	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Cole tops players for Sunday, May 15; Beltran becomes 69th player to 100 career Box-Toppers points

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2016 season as of May 15:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	9.0
2	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	7.7
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	6.7
4	Machado, Manny 3087	3b ss	bal al	6.7
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	sf nl	6.0
6	Quintana, Jose 3040	pi sp	chi al	5.7
7	De La Rosa, Rubby 3342	pi sp	ari nl	5.7
8	Nola, Aaron 3569	pi sp	phi nl	5.7
9	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	5.5
10	Santiago, Hector 3109	pi sp	ana al	5.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Carlos Beltran of the Yankees becomes the 69th player with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points (since player tracking began in 1995).

Player of the Day—Cole struck out seven over eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 2-1 win over the Cubs.

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Hector Santiago pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 3-0 win over the Mariners.

Santiago earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 5.4 for the season, rising to 10th place in season player rankings. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Athletics hit three home runs, including a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth, in the 7-6 win over the Rays. Valencia went 3-for-5 with five total RBIs.

National League Batter of the Day—Jay Bruce of the Reds doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times, in the 9-4 win over the Phillies.

Notable—Carlos Beltran of the Yankees becomes the 69th player—and 26th batter—with 100 or more career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Beltran (HR 1-3 2R 3BI in the 7-5 win over the White Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.9 for his career. He rises to 66th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when player tracking began), passing three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). Beltran now trails 65th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2). Beltran has 2.0 Box-Toppers points for the season.

Debut—Tigers pitcher Warwick Saupold made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday with his first career Player of the Game honor.

Saupold (2.2IP 2H 0R 4K W in the 6-5 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut May 14 and was playing in his second career game. He is the 3,636th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He is the only player among the 3,636 to be named “Warwick.”

Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Santiago earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Valencia and Bruce each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Sunday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/15	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	0	7
AL	10.0	Angels	Hector Santiago (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	1	5
	9.0	Marlins	Jose Fernandez (W,5-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	3	11
BAT	6.0	Athletics	Danny Valencia, 3B	5	3	3	5	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Twins	Tyler Duffey (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	1	6
	5.1	`Brewers	Zach Davies	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	3	2	2	0	6
	5.0	Red Sox	Ryan Hanigan, C	4	2	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`Royals	Danny Duffy	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	2	5
	3.0	Rangers	Ian Desmond, CF	4	1	2	4	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Reds	Jay Bruce, RF	3	3	3	0	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Yankees	Carlos Beltran, DH	3	2	1	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Ryan Raburn, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	Tigers	Warwick Saupold (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.2	2	0	0	2	4
	2.0	Cardinals	Yadier Molina, PH-C	2	1	1	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Giants	Hunter Strickland (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	0
		`Denotes that the 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 top players

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Players of the Game. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total for the current season (16). Also shown are each players’ Box-Toppers point total for this season and last (15-16), the period 2011-2016 (11-16) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2016 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2015 total (+/-).  

Player	Pos	Team	16	15-16	11-16	Career	+/-
Santiago, Hector 3109	pi sp	ana al	5.4	13.4	25.8	25.8	-2.6
Fernandez, Jose 3147	pi sp	fla nl	5.0	9.7	35.7	35.7	0.3
Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	3.0	22.0	32.4	32.4	-16.0
Desmond, Ian 2673	cf lf	tex al	3.0	4.0	19.7	26.2	2.0
Valencia, Danny 2772	3b	oak al	2.5	6.0	8.0	11.0	-1.0
Bruce, Jay 2453	rf	cin nl	2.5	5.7	25.7	52.8	-0.7
Beltran, Carlos 1194	rf dh	nyy al	2.0	5.5	22.9	100.9	-1.5
Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	kc al	1.0	5.0	20.0	20.0	-3.0
Duffey, Tyler 3558	pi sp	min al	1.0	5.0	5.0	5.0	-3.0
Davies, Zach 3581	pi sp	mil nl	1.0	4.0	4.0	4.0	-2.0
Raburn, Ryan 2340	dh rf ph	col nl	1.0	3.0	18.7	36.7	-1.0
Hanigan, Ryan 2708	ca	bos al	1.0	2.5	8.0	11.0	-0.5
Molina, Yadier 1967	ca	stl nl	1.0	2.0	14.7	31.7	0.0
Strickland, Hunter 3546	pi mr	sf nl	1.0	2.0	2.0	2.0	0.0
Saupold, Warwick 3636	pi mr	det al	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Cubs' Starlin Castro (2HR 6RBI) tops players for Friday, Sept. 18; 4 top 10 pitchers fail to earn Box-Toppers points

Starlin Castro of the Cubs is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also, despite four top 10 pitchers from Box-Toppers player rankings starting Friday, none of them earned Player of the Game honors.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 18.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	23.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
4	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	20.1
5	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
6	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
7	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	19.4
8	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
9	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	17.0
10	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	17.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Castro hit a three-run homer and a two-run homer, going 3-for-3 and driving in six runs, in the 8-3 win over the Cardinals.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out seven over 8 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 5-4, 12-inning win over the Royals. Verlander did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision because the Royals tied the game after he exited with a 3-2 lead.

Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 124.6 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 33rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Friday, Verlander passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jered Weaver (123.1) and Gary Sheffield (124.1). (Sheffield, who started his career in 1988, seven years prior to the start of Box-Toppers record keeping, would likely have about 150 career Box-Toppers points based on rough projections, if his entire career were tracked.) Verlander now trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

Among Friday’s 14 Players of the Game, Verlander has the most Box-Toppers points this season—6.4, ranking 111th among all players and 43rd among AL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Danny Valencia of the Athletics hit two homers and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 4-3 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day Friday because the overall Player of the Day was batter Starlin Castro.

Notable—Four pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Friday but none of them earned Player of the Game honors:

• Fifth-ranked Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, 19.7 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Dodgers beat the Pirates 6-2. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 3K W) had a Box-Toppers game score of 0. Justin Ruggiano of the Dodgers (2-3 R BI) won Player of the Game honors with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.
• Eighth-ranked White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, 17.1 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 12-1 loss to the Indians. Sale (7IP 8H 7R 9K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3. Player of the Game was Carlos Santana of the Indians (1-4 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.
• Ninth-ranked Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors in the 2-0 loss to the Diamondbacks. Bumgarner (8IP 5H 2R 7K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Player of the Game was Diamondbacks pitcher Rubby De La Rosa (5.2IP H 0R 5K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.2.
• Tenth-ranked Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, 17.0 Box-Toppers points, did not earn Player of the Game honors, though the Nationals beat the Marlins, 5-4 in 10 innings. Scherzer (7IP 5H 2R 6K ND) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Nationals closing pitcher Casey Janssen (0.2IP 0H 0R K W) with a Box-Toppers game score of +1.2.

Scoring—Castro earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Valencia earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

9/18	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	Cubs	Starlin Castro, 2B	3	2	3	6	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.2	Dbacks	Rubby De La Rosa (W,13-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	1	0	0	4	5
AL	5.2	`Tigers	Justin Verlander	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.2	5	2	2	1	7
BAT	5.0	Athletics	Danny Valencia, 3B	3	2	3	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Rockies	Chad Bettis (W,8-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	1	1	1	6
	3.0	Mets	Juan Uribe, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Braves	Arodys Vizcaino (S,5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	3
	3.0	Mariners	Tom Wilhelmsen (S,12)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Rays	Grady Sizemore, LF	4	1	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Indians	Carlos Santana, 1B	4	1	1	4	1	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.2	Nationals	Casey Janssen (W,2-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.2	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Blue Jays	Justin Smoak, 1B	4	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Dodgers	Justin Ruggiano, LF	3	1	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Reds	Brandon Finnegan (W,4-0)	5	3	1	1	2	4		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Brewers' Jungmann tops players for Saturday, July 11; White Sox' Sale rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Brewers pitcher Taylor Jungmann is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, A.J. Burnett of the Pirates became the fifth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting and rose to 30th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 11.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	14.4
2	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
3	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	13.4
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	13.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	13.1
6	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	12.0
7	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
8	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	11.7
9	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	11.0
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	10.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Jungmann pitched a complete game, allowing one run on three hits and striking out seven, in the 7-1 win over the Dodgers.

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out six, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.

Jungmann and Iwakuma both had Box-Toppers game scores of 9.0 Saturday, but Jungmann earned overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he pitched nine innings, while Iwakuma pitched eight.

National League Batter of the Day—J.T. Realmuto of the Marlins homered, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 14-3 win over the Reds.

Realmuto had a Box-Toppers game score of 4.0, tied with Yangervis Solarte of the Padres, Player of the Game in the 6-5 win over the Rangers, but Solarte earned NL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he had more at bats (five vs. three).

American League Batter of the Day—Josh Reddick of the Athletics doubled and went 2-for-2, scoring twice and driving in a run, in the 5-4 win over the Indians.

Reddick had a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0, tied with Danny Valencia of the Blue Jays, who was Player of the Game in the 6-2 win over the Royals, but Reddick earned AL Batter of the Day honors on a tiebreaker—he had more hits (two vs. one).

Rankings—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rose to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Sale (7IP 6H R 10K W in the 5-1 win over the Cubs) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind overall leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (14.4 Box-Toppers points).

Notable—A.J. Burnett of the Pirates became the fifth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Burnett (HR 1-1 R BI in the 6-5, 14-inning win over the Cardinals) also rose to 30th place among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his 1.0 Box-Toppers point earned Saturday, Burnett has 127.8 career points and passes Roy Oswalt (127.2 Box-Toppers points) on the “all-time” list. He trails 29th-place player, Vladimir Guerrero (128.3). Burnett has 6.0 Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 22nd among NL pitchers.

Saturday was the first time in Burnett’s career he earned Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors for batting. He made his Box-Toppers debut in 1999 and pitched for NL teams (where he was more likely to bat) all but six seasons.

Also notable—Mets pitcher Matt Harvey became the 11th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors. Harvey (7IP 5H 2R 9K W in the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players, sixth among NL pitchers. (Harvey also hit his first career home run in the win Saturday.)

Scoring—Jungmann earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Iwakuma earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Realmuto and Reddick each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/11	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Brewers	Taylor Jungmann (W,4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	1	1	2	7
AL	9.0	Mariners	Hisashi Iwakuma (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	2	6
	8.0	White Sox	Chris Sale (W,8-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	1	10
	5.2	Rays	Jake Odorizzi (W,5-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	2	0	0	3	5
BAT	4.0	Marlins	J.T. Realmuto, C	5	2	3	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Padres	Yangervis Solarte, 3B	3	3	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Nationals	Danny Espinosa, 2B	4	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Athletics	Josh Reddick, RF	2	2	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Blue Jays	Danny Valencia, 3B	2	1	1	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Mets	Matt Harvey (W,8-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	4	9
	3.0	`Rockies	Jorge De La Rosa	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	2	7
	2.0	Giants	Brandon Crawford, SS	4	2	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Twins	Aaron Hicks, CF	3	1	2	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Pirates	A.J. Burnett, P	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Red Sox	Koji Uehara (S,22)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.