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Athletics pitcher Chris Bassitt is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Thursday, Reds pitcher Luis Castillo rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors. Plus, Joey Gallo of the Rangers rises to lead American League batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreCubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Also Sunday, Rays pitcher Blake Snell maintains his fourth-place spot in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning American League Player of the Day honors.
Read More
Angels pitcher Alex Meyer is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Meyer struck out seven over 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-1 win over the Tigers.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 7.7 |
| 3 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.0 |
| 5 | Vargas, Jason 2055 | pi sp | kc al | 6.0 |
| 6 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 5.4 |
| 7 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 5.4 |
| 8 | Triggs, Andrew 3723 | pi sp | oak al | 5.4 |
| 9 | Kimbrel, Craig 2825 | pi cp | bos al | 5.0 |
| 10 | Nova, Ivan 2796 | pi sp | pit nl | 5.0 |
National League Player of the Day—Patrick Valaika of the Rockies hit two homers and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 9-6 win over the Dodgers.
This was Valaika’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Valaika made his Major League debut Sept. 6, 2016, and was playing in his 33rd career game. He is the 3,793rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
American League Batter of the Day—Jason Kipnis of the Indians homered twice and went 4-for-5, driving in four runs, in the 8-3 win over the Twins.
National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall NL Player of the Day was batter Patrick Valaika.
Notable—Aaron Altherr of the Phillies has the most season Box-Toppers points of any of the 17 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday.
Altherr (HR 2-3 R BI in the 4-3 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. He ranks 19th among all players and third among NL batters.
Debut—Besides Valaika, two other players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday with their first career Player of the Game honor:
Minor oddity—Of the 17 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday, a large majority of them—13—were batters, including five who were catchers, generally the position that generates the lowest Box-Toppers point totals.
Scoring—Meyer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Valaika earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Kipnis earns 1.5 points for being AL 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.
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.
| 5/14 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 6.1 | LAA 4, DET 1 | Alex Meyer (W,2-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | |
| BAT | 5.0 | CLE 8, MIN 3 | Jason Kipnis, 2B | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.2 | `NYY 11, HOU 6 | Chad Green | - | - | - | - | 3.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 4.1 | TOR 3, SEA 2 | Ryan Tepera (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 2.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 4.0 | KC 9, BAL 8 | Drew Butera, C | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| NL | 4.0 | COL 9, LAD 6 | Patrick Valaika, SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | MIA 3, ATL 1 | Tyler Moore, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TEX 6, OAK 4 | Elvis Andrus, SS | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | STL 5, CHC 0 | Yadier Molina, C | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | HOU 10, NYY 7 | George Springer, CF | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | TB 11, BOS 2 | Jesus Sucre, C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SF 8, CIN 3 | Buster Posey, C | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 9, SD 3 | Melky Cabrera, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | MIL 11, NYM 9 | Manny Pina, C | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | PIT 6, ARI 4 (F/10) | Jose Osuna, 1B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | WSH 6, PHI 5 | Matt Albers (S,2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | PHI 4, WSH 3 | Aaron Altherr, CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Altherr, Aaron 3563 | lf rf cf ph | phi nl | 4.5 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.0 |
| Tepera, Ryan 3774 | pi mr | tor al | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | sf nl | 3.0 | 6.5 | 31.5 | 36.0 | -0.5 |
| Pina, Manny 3769 | ca | mil nl | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Meyer, Alex 3742 | pi sp | ana al | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
| Valaika, Patrick 3793 | ss | col nl | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Kipnis, Jason 2933 | 2b | cle al | 1.5 | 1.5 | 20.5 | 23.5 | 1.5 |
| Andrus, Elvis 2582 | ss | tex al | 1.0 | 10.2 | 15.2 | 20.7 | -8.2 |
| Springer, George 3337 | rf | hou al | 1.0 | 7.5 | 11.5 | 11.5 | -5.5 |
| Cabrera, Melky 2143 | lf ph | chi al | 1.0 | 5.0 | 15.0 | 31.5 | -3.0 |
| Molina, Yadier 1967 | ca | stl nl | 1.0 | 5.0 | 14.5 | 35.7 | -3.0 |
| Green, Chad 3675 | pi mr | nyy al | 1.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | -2.0 |
| Butera, Drew 2883 | ca | kc al | 1.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 |
| Moore, Tyler 3045 | lf 1b ph | fla nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 5.5 | 1.0 |
| Osuna, Jose 3795 | 1b | pit nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Sucre, Jesus 3794 | ca | tb al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in World Series Game 4 Saturday.
The Cleveland Indians win 7-2 to take a 3-1 lead over the Chicago Cubs in the best-of-seven game series.
Kluber allowed one run over six innings, allowing five hits, one walk, striking out six and earning the win. Kluber had the highest Box-Toppers game score of all Indians players, +4.0.
This is the second time this World Series Kluber has been Box-Toppers Player of the Game—he was also top player in his Game 1 start. This was the fourth time this postseason Kluber has earned Player of the Game honors, most of any player. In addition to his two top player honors in the World Series, he was Player of the Game in AL Division Series Game 2 vs. the Red Sox and AL Championship Series Game 1 vs. the Blue Jays.
During the regular season Kluber had 21.2 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players and first among AL pitchers.
Second baseman Jason Kipnis had the second-highest Box-Toppers game score (+3.0) among Indians players (three-run HR, 2B 3-5 2R 3BI).
Opposing starting pitcher John Lackey of the Cubs had a Box-Toppers game score of 0.0 (5IP 4H 3R BB 5K L).
The Indians could wrap up the championship as the World Series resumes Sunday in Chicago.
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.
Here are the Box-Toppers game scores of all Indians who played in World Series Game 4 listed from highest-to-lowest Box-Toppers game score.
| BTG | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 4.0 | * Corey Kluber (W,4-1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |
| 3.0 | Jason Kipnis, 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Carlos Santana, 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | c-Coco Crisp, PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Andrew Miller | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 0.0 | Francisco Lindor, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.0 | Dan Otero | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 0.0 | Andrew Miller, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 0.0 | Dan Otero, P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -1.0 | Lonnie Chisenhall, RF | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -1.0 | Corey Kluber, P | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -1.0 | a-Michael Martinez, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -1.0 | Tyler Naquin, CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -1.0 | Mike Napoli, 1B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -2.0 | b-Brandon Guyer, PH-LF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -3.0 | Rajai Davis, LF-CF | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -3.0 | Roberto Perez, C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| -5.0 | Jose Ramirez, 3B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| * Player of the Game | ||||||||||||||
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | ||||||||||||||
Coming Sunday in Chicago:
The pitching matchup Sunday:
Indians—Trevor Bauer, 11.4 Box-Toppers points, 34th among all players, 12th among AL pitchers.
Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.
On paper, the Cubs looked to dominate the depleted, injury-riddled Indians in this World Series. But so far, the Indians have prevailed with their patched-together pitching rotation.
But now, the Indians ace Kluber has pitched and won two games and will wait for an if-necessary Game 7. The Cubs dominant starter Lester is back for Game 5 and if the Cubs can win, Game 2-winner Jake Arrieta is likely for Game 6. Aside from Kluber, the Indians can’t match those starters. Though the Cubs are down, they have to feel good about their chances in the next two games. And if it goes that far, they have to hope that Kluber finally feels some of the fatigue on short rest in Game 7 that he seemed to fail to feel on his Saturday short-rest win in Game 4.
Box-Toppers World Series preview
Box-Toppers 2016 final team rankings
Box-Toppers 2016 final top 10 player rankings
Box-Toppers point totals of all Cubs players active at season’s end
Box-Toppers point totals of all Indians players active at season’s end
Here are real-time tweets from Box-Toppers Wednesday as World Series Game 4 progressed:
#WorldSeries #Game4 starters:
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 29, 2016
Corey Kluber #Indians 21.2 Box-Toppers pts, rank 5th
John Lackey #Cubs 13.4 pts, 16thhttps://t.co/50Vap0CKpT
Anthony Rizzo #Cubs takes early lead as Box-Toppers Player of the Game in #WorldSeries #Game4 (1-1 BI, B-T game score +1). CHC 1, CLE 0 B1.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
#Indians tie #WorldSeries #Game4 1-1 T2
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
Box-Toppers Player of Game leaders:
CLE—Carlos Santana (HR 1-1 R BI)#Cubs Anthony Rizzzo (1-1 BI)
#Indians take 2-1 lead vs #Cubs in #WorldSeries #Game4, M2.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
CLE Santana takes lead as Box-Toppers Player of Game (HR 1-1, B-T gm score +2).
#Indians take 3-1 lead over#Cubs M3 #WorldSeries #Game4.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
CLE Carlos Santana leads as Box-Toppers Player of Game (HR 1-2, B-T gm score +1).
Corey Kluber #Indians takes lead as Box-Toppers Player of Game in #WorldSeries #Game4 (4IP 4H R BB 5K, B-T game score +2). CLE 3, CHC 1 T5.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
Corey Kluber #Indians extends lead as Box-Toppers Player of Game in #WorldSeries #Game4 (5IP 4H R BB 5K, B-T gm score +3). CLE 3, CHC 1 T6.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
John Lackey #Cubs exits #WorldSeries #Game4 (5IP 4H 3R BB 5K, Box-Toppers game score 0.0). CLE 3, CHC 1, T6.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
Corey Kluber #Indians extends lead as Box-Toppers Player of Game in #WorldSeries #Game4 (6IP 6H R BB 6K, B-T gm score +4). CLE 4, CHC 1 E6
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
Corey Kluber #Indians exits #WorldSeries #Game4 as Box-Toppers Player of Game leader (6IP 5H R BB 6K, B-T gm score +4). CLE 7, CHC 1 E7.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
Corey Kluber #Indians (6IP 5H R 6K) is Box-Toppers Player of Game in #WorldSeries #Game4 win, 7-2, vs #Cubs. CLE leads series over CHC, 3-1.
— Box-Toppers (@BoxToppers) October 30, 2016
Marco Estrada of the Blue Jays and Andrew Miller of the Indians are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.
Estrada allowed one run over 8 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, no walks and striking out six, in the 10-1 win over the Rangers. The Blue Jays now lead the Rangers 1-0 in the best-of-five series.
Estrada had 11.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 37th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.
Estrada had a Box-Toppers game score Thursday of +8.1. Blue Jays’ top batter in the game was third baseman Josh Donaldson (two doubles, 4-4 2R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0. Rangers starting pitcher Cole Hamels had a bad day (3.1IP 6H 7R 3BB K L), earning a Box-Toppers game score of −17.9. During the regular year, Hamels had 15.4 Box-Toppers points, sixth among all players and second among AL pitchers.
Indians 5, Red Sox 4—In the other ALDS Game 1, Indians pitcher Andrew Miller earned Player of the Game, allowing no runs over two innings of middle relief. He allowed one hit, one walk and struck out four.
During the regular season, Miller had 8.0 Box-Toppers points as a closer and middle reliever. He earned 4.0 points for the Yankees before his midseason trade to the Indians. He ranks 92nd among all players in Box-Toppers points, 32nd among AL pitchers, third among AL closing pitchers and first among AL middle relievers.
Indians’ top batter Thursday was second baseman Jason Kipnis (HR 3-4 R 2BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0.
Neither starting pitcher fared particularly well. Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello (4.1IP 6H 5R 0BB 6K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5.9. Indians starter Trevor Bauer (4.2IP 6H 3R 0BB 6K ND) had a game score of −1.8.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| BTG | Game | Player of Game | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| 8.1 | TOR 10, TEX 1 | Marco Estrada (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | |
| 4.0 | CLE 5, BOS 4 | Andrew Miller (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| BTG: Box-Toppers game score | |||||||||||||||
The pitching matchup Friday:
Blue Jays—J.A. Happ, 14.7 Box-Toppers points, 11th among all players, third among AL pitchers.
Rangers—Yu Darvish, 10.4 Box-Toppers points, 51st among all players, 21st among AL pitchers.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Red Sox—David Price, 12.4 Box-Toppers points, 27th among all players, ninth among AL pitchers.
Indians—Corey Kluber, 21.2 Box-Toppers points, fifth among all players, first among AL pitchers.
Price and Kluber are the top two AL pitchers over the past two seasons. Over 2015 and 2016, Kluber ranks first among AL pitchers with 34.6 Box-Toppers points; Price ranks second with 33.5.
Though the Washington Nationals have the better winning percentage (.586 vs. .562), the Los Angeles Dodgers rank higher in Box-Toppers team rankings. Dodgers players have accumulated 125.2 Box-Toppers points, third-most among all teams, while the Nationals have 116.1, ranked eighth.
The pitching matchup Friday features the season’s top two players in Box-Toppers player rankings:
Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 24.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among all players, ranked second among NL pitchers.
Nationals—Max Scherzer, 25.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players, ranked first among NL pitchers.
Kershaw led in Box-Toppers points much of the season and had earned 20.0 Box-Toppers points before the end of June, on pace to shatter the single-season Box-Toppers point record of 33.7. But then in late June, he went on the disabled list for two months. Despite his time away, Kershaw did not slip much down Box-Toppers rankings and was only passed by Scherzer in late August.
Kershaw and Scherzer are also the top two NL pitchers over the past two seasons. Over 2015 and 2016, Kershaw ranks first with 50.1 Box-Toppers points and Scherzer ranks second with 46.7. They are also the top two NL pitchers over the past six seasons. From 2011 to the present, Kershaw ranks first with 150.2 points and Scherzer ranks second with 111.3.
In addition to Kershaw, the Dodgers have one other player in a season’s top 10 Box-Toppers category list: Rich Hill with 14.4 Box-Toppers points ranks eighth among NL pitchers.
In addition to Scherzer, the Nationals have one other player a season’s top 10 Box-Toppers category list: Stephen Strasburg with 15.1 Box-Toppers points ranks 10th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.
| Los Angeles Dodgers | Washington Nationals | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | 24.4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | 25.7 | |
| Hill, Rich 2215 | pi sp | 14.4 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | 15.1 | |
| Maeda, Kenta 3609 | pi sp | 10.0 | Roark, Tanner 3261 | pi sp | 12.7 | |
| Kazmir, Scott 1947 | pi sp | 8.7 | Murphy, Daniel 2589 | 2b | 7.5 | |
| Grandal, Yasmani 3058 | ca | 7.2 | Gonzalez, Gio 2626 | pi sp | 6.0 | |
| Jansen, Kenley 2871 | pi cp | 6.0 | Werth, Jayson 1664 | lf | 6.0 | |
| Gonzalez, Adrian 2193 | 1b | 5.7 | Ross, Joe 3499 | pi sp | 5.7 | |
| Urias, Julio 3652 | pi sp | 5.7 | Rendon, Anthony 3258 | 3b | 5.5 | |
| Stripling, Ross 3629 | pi sp | 4.7 | Latos, Mat 2644 | pi sp | 3.7 | |
| Kendrick, Howie 2191 | 2b lf 1b | 4.0 | Espinosa, Danny 2804 | ss 2b | 3.2 | |
| Seager, Corey 3587 | ss | 4.0 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | 3.0 | |
| Pederson, Joc 3621 | cf | 4.0 | Melancon, Mark 2792 | pi cp | 3.0 | |
| Toles, Andrew 3692 | rf lf cf ph | 4.0 | Turner, Trea 3730 | 2b cf | 2.5 | |
| Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf | 3.5 | Petit, Yusmeiro 2337 | pi mr sp | 2.0 | |
| Puig, Yasiel 3193 | rf | 3.5 | Lopez, Reynaldo 3712 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | 2.7 | Solis, Sammy 3651 | pi mr | 2.0 | |
| Turner, Justin 2865 | 3b 2b | 2.5 | Zimmerman, Ryan 2180 | 1b 3b | 1.5 | |
| Howell, J.P. 2016 | pi mr | 2.0 | Ramos, Wilson 2904 | ca | 1.5 | |
| Stewart, Brock 3722 | pi sp | 1.7 | den Dekker, Matt 3534 | lf ph | 1.5 | |
| Taylor, Chris 3684 | 2b | 1.5 | Taylor, Michael 3447 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | 1.0 | Robinson, Clint 3475 | 1b | 1.0 | |
| Hatcher, Chris 3420 | pi mr | 1.0 | Kelley, Shawn 2630 | pi cp mr | 1.0 | |
| Hernandez, Enrique 3541 | lf | 1.0 | Revere, Ben 2886 | cf | 1.0 | |
| Utley, Chase 1861 | 2b | 1.0 | Lobaton, Jose 3216 | ca | 1.0 | |
| Baez, Pedro 3678 | pi mr | 1.0 | Cole, A.J. 3727 | pi sp | 1.0 | |
| Totals | 125.2 | Totals | 116.1 | |||
The Cubs are the runaway leader in Box-Toppers team rankings, leading nearly all the season with 139.5 Box-Toppers points. The Giants are the lowest-ranking team to qualify for the postseason, ranked 10th with 112.7.
But the Giants have won the World Series each of the past three even-numbered years (2010, 2012 and 2014)—2016 is an even-numbered year. The Cubs last won the World Series in an even-numbered year, but that year was 1908, 106 years ago.
The pitching matchup Friday:
Giants—Johnny Cueto, 16.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked eighth among all players, fifth among NL pitchers.
Cubs—Jon Lester, 22.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players, third among NL pitchers.
Cueto is the only Giants players in the top 10 in a Box-Toppers category.
The Cubs have four other players in season top 10 lists:
| San Francisco Giants | Chicago Cubs | |||||
| Player | Pos | BTP | Player | Pos | BTP | |
| Cueto, Johnny 2400 | pi sp | 16.4 | Lester, Jon 2173 | pi sp | 22.1 | |
| Bumgarner, Madison 2753 | pi sp | 13.0 | Arrieta, Jake 2738 | pi sp | 15.7 | |
| Moore, Matt 2975 | pi sp | 12.4 | Lackey, John 1640 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Samardzija, Jeff 2495 | pi sp | 10.7 | Hendricks, Kyle 3386 | pi sp | 13.4 | |
| Belt, Brandon 2943 | 1b | 7.0 | Hammel, Jason 2235 | pi sp | 13.0 | |
| Panik, Joe 3401 | 2b | 5.5 | Bryant, Kris 3465 | lf 3b rf | 10.5 | |
| Nunez, Eduardo 2795 | 3b 2b ss | 5.5 | Chapman, Aroldis 2826 | pi cp | 7.4 | |
| Peavy, Jake 1635 | pi sp | 5.0 | Montgomery, Mike 3513 | pi cp mr sp | 5.0 | |
| Posey, Buster 2745 | ca 1b | 3.5 | Rondon, Hector 3201 | pi cp | 5.0 | |
| Pence, Hunter 2287 | rf | 3.5 | Zobrist, Ben 2216 | 2b rf lf | 4.0 | |
| Casilla, Santiago 2301 | pi cp | 3.0 | Russell, Addison 3559 | ss | 3.5 | |
| Kontos, George 3106 | pi cp mr | 3.0 | Rizzo, Anthony 3063 | 1b | 3.0 | |
| Span, Denard 2502 | cf | 3.0 | Cahill, Trevor 2658 | pi mr sp | 3.0 | |
| Tomlinson, Kelby 3619 | 2b ph | 3.0 | Soler, Jorge 3403 | lf | 2.5 | |
| Cain, Matt 2081 | pi sp | 2.7 | Coghlan, Chris 2610 | 3b rf ph | 2.5 | |
| Brown, Trevor 3610 | ca | 2.5 | Ross, David 1729 | ca | 2.5 | |
| Crawford, Brandon 2878 | ss | 2.0 | Montero, Miguel 2304 | ca ph | 2.0 | |
| Gillaspie, Conor 3218 | 3b ph | 2.0 | Smith, Joe 2388 | pi cp mr | 2.0 | |
| Blach, Ty 3754 | pi sp | 2.0 | Baez, Javier 3395 | 2b ss | 2.0 | |
| Law, Derek 3657 | pi sp mr | 2.0 | LaStella, Tommy 3367 | 3b 2b | 2.0 | |
| Pagan, Angel 2184 | lf | 1.0 | Fowler, Dexter 2698 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Beckham, Gordon 2620 | 2b | 1.0 | Szczur, Matt 3704 | cf | 1.5 | |
| Strickland, Hunter 3546 | pi mr | 1.0 | Wood, Travis 2777 | pi mr sp | 1.0 | |
| Okert, Steven 3745 | pi mr | 1.0 | Heyward, Jason 2695 | rf | 1.0 | |
| Osich, Josh 3677 | pi mr | 1.0 | ||||
| Totals | 112.7 | Totals | 139.5 | |||
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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Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish is Friday’s Player of the Day, while Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner rises to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Darvish struck out 12 over six innings, allowing one run, in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jays. Darvish earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.4 for the season, moving him to 11th place in Box-Toppers player rankings, sixth among American League pitchers.
Bumgarner rises from fourth to third in Box-Toppers points for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Bumgarner (6IP 1R 7K W in the 9-1 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.5 for the season. He now ranks second among National League pitchers, behind Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers, who leads all players with 18.1 Box-Toppers points.
Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano is NL Player of the Day. Liriano struck out eight over five innings in the 4-2 win over the Rockies. Liriano left the game with the score tied 1-1 and so did not pick up the win.
Jason Kipnis of the Indians is AL Batter of the Day. Kipnis hit two home runs and drove in four, in the 9-3 win over the Tigers.
Travis d’Arnaud of the Mets is NL Batter of the Day. d’Arnaud went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs in the 5-4 win over the Padres. This was d’Arnaud’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time he has earned Player of the Game honors. He is the 3,384th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. d’Arnaud made his Major League debut Aug. 17, 2013, and was playing in his 87th game.
Notable: Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox, Player of the Game in the 5-4 win over the Royals, also made his Box-Toppers debut. He is the 3,383rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. Bogaerts made his Major League debut Aug. 20, 2013, and was playing in his 107th game.
Darvish receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Liriano receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Kipnis and d’Arnaud each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Friday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Box-Toppers watches the daily performances of selected star players and Box-Toppers points leaders. To see how they performed Friday, click here.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 718 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 8.2 | Rangers | Yu Darvish (W, 9-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |
| NL | 6.0 | `Pirates | Francisco Liriano | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | |
| 5.0 | Giants | Madison Bumgarner (W, 11-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | ||
| 5.0 | White Sox | Daniel Webb (W, 5-2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Indians | Jason Kipnis 2B | 5 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | Cardinals | Lance Lynn (W, 11-6) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | ||
| 3.0 | Braves | Craig Kimbrel (S, 30) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | Angels | Hector Santiago (W, 2-7) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | Red Sox | Xander Bogaerts 3B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | Ben Zobrist LF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.1 | Yankees | David Phelps (W, 4-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | Mets | Travis d`Arnaud C | 5 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | Athletics | Josh Donaldson 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Brewers | Scooter Gennett 2B | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 1.0 | Diamondbacks | Nick Evans PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.
White Sox pitcher Chris Sale is Box-Toppers All-Star Game Player of the Day.
Sale pitched two perfect innings Tuesday, struck out two and earned the win as the American League beat the National League 3-0.
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, pitching in his final All-Star Game, was named the game Most Valuable Player after pitching the eighth inning, allowing no hits and no runs.
Sure, picking Rivera, who is retiring after a brilliant and long career, is more a sentimental than logical choice. And choosing the top player in an All-Star Game is a bit of a fool's errand. The game has the feeling of a presidential ceremonial bill signing in which the president uses 15 different pens to sign a bill, so that key backers can each get a souvenir. This pen is used to make the "B," this to make the "a," and so on. In the All-Star Game, pitchers who are normally conditioned to throw seven to nine innings, are brought out to throw a ceremonial one or two innings—this one makes the "r," and this one makes the "a." In these conditions, it's hard to really determine who is the top player of the game any more than one can determine the pen that truly made the difference in the presidential bill signing.
For this year, we'll say Sale. True, his appearance was limited, but he did pitch two innings (scribbling the proverbial "c" and "k" of the presidential signature), more than any other AL pitcher.
Since it is the All-Star Game and it is an exhibition, no Box-Toppers points are awarded. (Sale has 10.7 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranking 10th among all players and third among AL pitchers.)
Following the results chart below, we'll show the process of how a Box-Toppers Player of the Game is determined, using Tuesday's All-Star Game as our example:
| 716 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 4.0 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Chris Sale (W, 1-0) | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Determining Box-Toppers Players of the Game
The chart below shows all players from the winning American League team who appeared in Tuesday's game. They are ranked in order of their Box-Toppers game score, from highest to lowest.
Sale, the top player, had a game score of 4.0. (How the Box-Toppers game score formula works.) Joe Nathan, Rangers closing pitcher, was in second with 2.0. The top batter was Jason Kipnis of the Indians with 1.0. He and Salvador Perez of the Royals had identical scores of 1.0, but Kipnis breaks the tie because he has more RBIs. Rivera, the game MVP, has a Box-Toppers game score of 1.0.
Moving down the list, 14 players had Box-Toppers game scores below 0.0.
| Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Chris Sale (W, 1-0) | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Nathan (S, 1) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Max Scherzer | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.1 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Brett Cecil (H, 1) | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.1 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Steve Delabar (H, 1) | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | American League | Jason Kipnis 2B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | American League | Salvador Perez C | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Grant Balfour (H, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Matt Moore (H, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 1.0 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mariano Rivera (H, 1) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | American League | Prince Fielder 1B | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | American League | Jhonny Peralta SS | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | American League | Jose Bautista RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Felix Hernandez (H, 1) | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.0 | American League | Robinson Cano 2B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -0.9 | American League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Greg Holland (H, 1) | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | American League | Miguel Cabrera 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | American League | Adam Jones CF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | American League | Joe Mauer C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | American League | J.J. Hardy SS | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | American League | Torii Hunter PH, CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | American League | Manny Machado 3B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | American League | Nelson Cruz RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -1.0 | American League | Alex Gordon LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -2.0 | American League | Mike Trout LF, CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -2.0 | American League | Chris Davis 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -2.0 | American League | Dustin Pedroia PR, 2B | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -2.0 | American League | David Ortiz DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| -2.0 | American League | Edwin Encarnacion PH, DH | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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.