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Brewers pitcher Brandon Woodruff is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
Woodruff struck out four over two scoreless innings, allowing no hits and no walks, in the 6-5 win over the Dodgers. The Brewers take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Luis Severino is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fifth place in season player rankings.
Meanwhile, Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale had the chance to take the lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings, but did not earn Player of the Game honors Sunday and remains ranked third.
Read More
Dodgers pitcher Rich Hill is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 20.1 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 16.0 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 13.1 |
| 4 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 12.0 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 10.4 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 10.4 |
| 8 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 9 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 9.7 |
| 10 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
Hill struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks. Hill did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited, the game was tied, 1-1.
It is the third straight day that a Dodgers pitcher has earned Box-Toppers overall Player of the Day honors. Clayton Kershaw did it Tuesday. Alex Wood did it Wednesday.
American League Player of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Indians homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring four times and driving in two runs, in the 11-2 win over the Padres.
Encarnacion earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.9 for the season, most among the 12 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. Encarnacion ranks 18th among all players in season Box-Toppers points, third among AL batters, behind Ryon Healy of the Athletics (8.7) and Aaron Judge of the Yankees (8.2).
National League Batter of the Day—Domingo Santana of the Brewers hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 11-2 win over the Cubs.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Edwin Encarnacion.
Streak—Russell Martin of the Blue Jays has now earned Box-Toppers points in 12 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honors of the season Thursday.
Martin (HR 3-5 2R BI in the 7-4 win over the Astros) earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Dodgers and now has 54.0 career points, second among active AL catchers, behind Brian McCann of the Astros (60.4). Martin’s best season was 2016 with the Blue Jays, when he had 10.5 points, sixth among AL batters.
Scoring—Hill earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Encarnacion earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Santana earns 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
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Note—Friday’s usual Box-Toppers team power rankings report and player rankings report will be delayed until the All-Star break on Monday.
| 7/6 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | `LAD 5, ARI 4 | Rich Hill | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| AL | 5.0 | CLE 11, SD 2 | Edwin Encarnacion (1B) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | DET 6, SF 2 | Anibal Sanchez (W, 1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | MIL 11, CHC 2 | Domingo Santana (RF) | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | PIT 6, PHI 3 | Gregory Polanco (RF) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TB 4, BOS 1 | Wilson Ramos (C) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.2 | STL 4, MIA 3 | Michael Wacha (W, 6-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | ||
| 2.0 | ATL 5, WSH 2 | Jim Johnson (S, 19) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1.0 | TOR 7, HOU 4 | Russell Martin (C) | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | MIN 6, BAL 4 | Eduardo Escobar (3B) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | OAK 7, SEA 4 | Khris Davis (LF) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | CIN 6, COL 3 | Zack Cozart (PH) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Encarnacion, Edwin 2098 | dh 1b | cle al | 7.9 | 15.9 | 51.0 | 75.0 | -0.1 |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | lad nl | 6.7 | 21.1 | 25.1 | 44.8 | -7.7 |
| Johnson, Jim 2417 | pi cp | atl nl | 5.0 | 9.0 | 20.0 | 26.7 | 1.0 |
| Davis, Khris 3242 | lf | oak al | 3.5 | 10.2 | 20.2 | 20.2 | -3.2 |
| Santana, Domingo 3507 | rf | mil nl | 3.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 3.5 |
| Polanco, Gregory 3361 | rf lf | pit nl | 3.0 | 8.5 | 15.5 | 15.5 | -2.5 |
| Wacha, Michael 3276 | pi sp | stl nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 22.7 | 22.7 | 1.0 |
| Cozart, Zack 3012 | ss ph | cin nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 0.0 |
| Escobar, Eduardo 3135 | ss 3b | min al | 2.0 | 2.0 | 13.7 | 13.7 | 2.0 |
| Martin, Russell 2202 | ca | tor al | 1.0 | 11.5 | 26.0 | 54.0 | -9.5 |
| Ramos, Wilson 2904 | ca | tb al | 1.0 | 2.5 | 14.0 | 17.0 | -0.5 |
| Sanchez, Anibal 2187 | pi sp | det al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 33.2 | 66.3 | 1.0 |
Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Greinke pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing four hits, in the 1-0 win over the Rangers. Greinke did not earn the win because he left with the score tied 0-0. The Dodgers won the game in the bottom of the ninth inning on a walk-off balk.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Hernandez, Felix 2064 | pi sp | sea al | 13.4 |
| 2 | Cole, Gerrit 3232 | pi sp | pit nl | 12.0 |
| 3 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 11.0 |
| 4 | Archer, Chris 3194 | pi sp | tb al | 11.0 |
| 5 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | chi al | 10.4 |
| 6 | Price, David 2593 | pi sp | det al | 10.1 |
| 7 | deGrom, Jacob 3343 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
| 8 | Martinez, Carlos 3371 | pi sp | stl nl | 9.7 |
| 9 | Harvey, Matt 3075 | pi sp | nym nl | 9.7 |
| 10 | Gray, Sonny 3259 | pi sp | oak al | 9.4 |
Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 132.7 career Box-Toppers points, rising to 26th place among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Greinke passes Jake Peavy (131.8) on the “all-time” list and now trails 25th-place player Miguel Cabrera (132.9). Greinke has 7.0 Box-Toppers points on the season, ranking 16th among all players and eighth among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 7-1 win over the Diamondbacks. Wilson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.4 for the season. Wilson is the season’s highest ranked player of the 14 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday—he ranks 15th among all players and seventh among AL pitchers.
American League Batter of the Day—Domingo Santana of the Astros hit a three-run, pinch-hit home run in the 8-4 win over the Rockies. This was Santana’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut July 1, 2014, and was playing in his eighth career game. He is the 3,507th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.
Streak—Brian McCann of the Yankees has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. McCann was Player of the Game in Thursday’s 9-4 win over the Marlins (3-4 2R BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.
McCann earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2006 with the Braves. His best season was 2009 with the Braves when he had 8.5 Box-Toppers points, first among NL catchers. In 2014, he had 6.5 Box-Toppers points with the Yankees, first among AL catchers.
McCann has 49.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 22nd among active AL batters and first among active AL catchers (second place is Russell Martin of the Blue Jays—38.5 career Box-Toppers points).
Notable—Two pitchers with more than 10.0 Box-Toppers points this season started games on Thursday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Greinke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wilson earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Santana earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/18 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 11.0 | `Dodgers | Zack Greinke | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |
| 7.2 | Giants | Ryan Vogelsong (W, 5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | Angels | C.J. Wilson (W, 5-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | |
| 4.1 | Blue Jays | R.A. Dickey (W, 3-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | ||
| 4.1 | Indians | Zach McAllister (W, 2-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Astros | Domingo Santana PH, RF | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | `Twins | Mike Pelfrey | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.0 | `Phillies | Sean O’Sullivan | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 3.0 | Padres | Ian Kennedy (W, 4-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | Royals | Greg Holland (S, 12) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Koji Uehara (S, 14) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | Pirates | Mark Melancon (S, 23) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Yankees | Brian McCann C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Brad Boxberger (S, 16) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 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. | ||||||||||||||||
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. Players earn Box-Toppers points 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.