Rays' Archer tops players for Monday, April 25; Cabrera, Pujols extend Box-Toppers season streaks

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Monday’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 April 25:  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	5.0
2	Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	kc al	4.4
3	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	4.0
4	Velasquez, Vince 3611	pi sp	phi nl	4.0
5	Santiago, Hector 3109	pi sp	ana al	3.7
6	Latos, Mat 2644	pi sp	chi al	3.7
7	Davis, Chris 2478	1b	bal al	3.5
8	Cano, Robinson 2092	2b	sea al	3.5
9	Suarez, Eugenio 3355	3b	cin nl	3.5
10	Salazar, Danny 3223	pi sp	cle al	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Archer struck out 10 over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing five hits, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.

National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke struck out eight over six scoreless innings, allowing five hits, in the 6-1 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers hit two homers (including a three-run shot), a double and went 4-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 7-3 win over the Athletics.

Cabrera earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day and now has 134.4 career points, rising to 26th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers tracking began. He passes Jason Giambi (133.4) on the “all-time” list and trails 25th-place player, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (136.8). Passing Giambi, Cabrera rises to eighth among all batters in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and ranks fourth among active batters, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0), Albert Pujols (175.3) and David Ortiz (137.9).

Cabrera also has now earned Box-Toppers points in 14 straight seasons. He earned his first points in 2003 with the Marlins. His best year was 2013 with the Tigers when he had 16.9 points, leading AL batters. He also led AL batters in 2009 with the Tigers, when he had 16.5. In 2015, he had 4.7 points with the Tigers, his lowest point total since his 2003 rookie year when he had 3.0.

National League Batter of the Day—Michael Conforto of the Mets homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in a run, in the 5-3 win over the Reds.

This is the second straight day Conforto earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, April 24, earning Player of the Game honors in the Mets win over the Braves.

Box-Toppers season streaks

Here are the players who have earned Box-Toppers points in the most consecutive seasons. Jason Giambi earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 19 straight seasons from 1995 to 2013, more than any other player. (Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995.) Players are listed by duration of their streak. Also shown is the duration of their streak and their career Box-Toppers point (BTP) total.

	Streak	Player	Pos	Duration	Career BTP
1	19	Jason Giambi	1b	1995-2013	133.4
2	18	Jim Thome	1b dh	1995-2012	146.7
2	18	Chipper Jones	3b	1995-2012	149.0
2	18	Johnny Damon	lf	1995-2012	63.0
2	18	Alex Rodriguez	dh	1996-2013	187.0
2	18	Carlos Beltran*	rf	1999-2016	99.9
7	17	Mariano Rivera	pi cp	1995-2011	126.4
7	17	Derek Jeter	ss	1996-2012	76.4
7	17	Paul Konerko	1b	1998-2014	100.7
7	17	Tim Hudson	pi sp	1999-2015	157.0
7	17	Torii Hunter	cf	1999-2015	115.9
12	16	Manny Ramirez	lf	1995-2010	167.2
12	16	Andy Pettitte	pi sp	1995-2010	138.5
12	16	Jamie Moyer	pi sp	1995-2010	104.0
12	16	Scott Rolen	3b	1996-2011	97.6
12	16	Kevin Millwood	pi sp	1997-2012	108.3
12	16	Derek Lowe	pi sp	1998-2013	91.5
12	16	David Ortiz*	dh	2000-2015	137.9
12	16	Aramis Ramirez	3b	2000-2015	105.8
12	16	Mark Buehrle*	pi sp	2000-2015	116.7
12	16	Albert Pujols*	dh 1b	2001-2016	175.3

BTP: Box-Toppers points
* Active streak

Streak—Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Monday.

The 16-year streak is tied for the 12th-longest streak in Box-Toppers history (since 1995) with nine other players.

Pujols (2HR 2-4 3R 2BI in the 6-1 win over the Royals) earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2001 with the Cardnals. His best year was 2009 with the Cardinals, when he had 16.7 Box-Toppers points to lead NL batters. Pujols led NL batters five times, the most a batter has led his league in Box-Toppers points since 1995:

• 2003—16.5
• 2004—15.9
• 2008—15.2
• 2009—16.7
• 2010—15.4

In 2015, Pujols had 7.0 Box-Toppers points with the Angels, ranked 20th among AL batters.

Pujols, earning 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game Monday, now has 175.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of sixth place among all players since Box-Toppers tracking began in 1995. He trails fifth-place player, Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia (179.0). Pujols ranks second among all batters, behind Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees (187.0).

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Locke earns 1.7 points for being NL Player of the Day. Cabrera and Conforto each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Monday’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

4/25	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.2	Rays	Chris Archer (W,1-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	5	0	0	0	10
	9.0	Mariners	Taijuan Walker (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	1	11
	9.0	Yankees	Nathan Eovaldi (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	2	6
NL	7.0	Pirates	Jeff Locke (W,1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	2	8
	6.1	Red Sox	Rick Porcello (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	0	0	2	6
BAT	6.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera, 1B	4	2	4	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	Mets	Michael Conforto, LF	3	3	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	2	2	2	9
	3.1	White Sox	Zach Putnam (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Dbacks	Chris Owings, CF	5	2	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Angels	Albert Pujols, 1B	4	3	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	`Twins	Trevor May	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Marlins	Giancarlo Stanton, RF	3	1	2	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`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	+/-
Walker, Taijuan 3453	pi sp	sea al	2.7	16.4	16.4	16.4	-11.0
Conforto, Michael 3622	lf	nym nl	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	2.0	18.0	42.1	42.1	-14.0
Porcello, Rick 2573	pi sp	bos al	2.0	6.0	27.7	36.7	-2.0
Locke, Jeff 3133	pi sp	pit nl	1.7	7.7	19.1	19.1	-4.3
Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	1.5	6.2	54.8	134.4	-3.2
Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	1.0	18.0	88.0	93.7	-16.0
Pujols, Albert 1438	1b dh	ana al	1.0	8.0	38.0	175.3	-6.0
Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	1.0	6.5	28.2	33.7	-4.5
May, Trevor 3417	pi mr sp cp	min al	1.0	4.0	5.0	5.0	-2.0
Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	nyy al	1.0	3.0	20.1	20.1	-1.0
Owings, Chris 3347	cf	ari nl	1.0	2.0	4.5	4.5	0.0
Putnam, Zach 3426	pi mr	chi al	1.0	2.0	3.0	3.0	0.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Pirates' Locke tops players for Saturday, July 4; Tigers' Price rises to 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Tigers pitcher David Price rose to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Joe Mauer of the Twins earned a Box-Toppers point for his 12th straight season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 4.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	14.0
2	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	13.4
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	12.1
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	12.0
5	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	12.0
6	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	11.4
7	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	11.4
8	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	10.7
9	Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	stl nl	10.7
10	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	9.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Locke pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 1-0 win over the Indians.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Michael Pineda pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10, in the 3-2 win over the Rays. Pineda did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because after he exited, the Rays tied the game 2-2.

American League Batter of the Day—C.J. Cron of the Angels homered and went 3-for-4, driving in six runs, in the 13-0 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Kris Bryant of the Cubs hit two home runs, including a grand slam and drove in six total runs, in the 7-2 win over the Marlins.

Rankings—Tigers pitcher David Price rose to third place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Price (7IP 8H R 7K W in the 8-3 win over the Blue Jays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.1 for the season. He ranks second among AL pitchers, behind Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (13.4).

Streak—Joe Mauer of the Twins has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Mauer (HR 4-5 2R 2BI in the 5-3 win over the Royals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Mauer earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2004 with the Twins. His best season was 2008 with the Twins, when he had 9.5 Box-Toppers points, eighth among AL batters. In 2014, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points.

Mauer has 67.6 career Box-Toppers points, fourth-most among active AL first basemen. Mauer spent most of his career as a regular catcher and if he were considered a catcher in ranking his career points, he would finish ahead of the current active AL catcher in career points, Brian McCann of the Yankees (50.7 Box-Toppers points).

Notable—Dodgers pitcher Zack Grienke now has 134.7 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Grienke (7IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) maintains his spot in 23rd place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He now has 9.0 Box-Toppers points for the season, sixth among NL pitchers.

Also notable—Cliff Pennington of the Diamondbacks earned Player of the Game honors Saturday for the second straight day. Pennington (PH 1-1 R BI in the 7-3 win over the Rockies) was also Player of the Game in the Diamondback’s win Friday.

Scoring—Locke earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Pineda earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Cron and Bryant 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

7/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	Pirates	Jeff Locke (W, 5-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	0	6
AL	11.0	`Yankees	Michael Pineda	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	10
	9.2	`White Sox	Jeff Samardzija	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	3	1	1	2	9
	9.0	Red Sox	Clay Buchholz (W, 7-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	6	1	1	0	8
	7.0	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W, 7-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	0	4
BAT	6.0	Angels	C.J. Cron DH	4	1	3	6	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	6.0	Cubs	Kris Bryant 3B	4	2	2	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	`Nationals	Stephen Strasburg	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	1	0	0	2	3
	3.0	Twins	Joe Mauer 1B	5	2	4	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Braves	Cameron Maybin CF	5	3	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Tigers	David Price (W, 8-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	1	1	1	7
	2.0	Brewers	Adam Lind 1B	3	2	2	1	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Dbacks	Cliff Pennington PH	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Athletics	Kendall Graveman (W, 6-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	1
	1.0	Cardinals	Seth Maness (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		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.

Blue Jays' Stroman tops players for Monday, Sept. 8; Kershaw continues quest toward Box-Toppers single-season record

Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman is Monday’s Player of the Day, while Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw keeps his chances alive to break Box-Toppers’ single-season points record.

Most BTP single season

Randy Johnson is the all-time leader in Box-Toppers points in a single season—he scored 33.7 twice, in 2000 and 2002. Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers rose into a tie for seventh place on the "all-time" list Monday (he now has 28.8). And with two or three likely starts remaining, he has a chance to break Randy Johnson's record for most Box-Toppers points in a season.

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
5	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
6	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
7	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
7	*Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	28.8
9	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
10	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4

* Current season
BTP: Box-Toppers points

Stroman pitched a three-hit, complete game shutout, striking out eight, in the 8-0 win over the Cubs. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season. He ranks 20th among all players and 12th among American League pitchers.

Kershaw meanwhile solidified his dominant lead among all players in Box-Toppers points (see the updated top 10 player list on the home page) and now has the seventh-best single-season Box-Toppers points total of “all-time,” after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Kershaw (8IP 8K W in the 9-4 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 28.8 for the season.

Kershaw is now 4.9 Box-Toppers points behind the all-time single-season record of 33.7 points set twice by Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks—in 2000 and 2002. 

With less than three weeks remaining in the season, Kershaw likely has two or three starts remaining. If he only starts two more games, the most he can earn is 4.0 Box-Toppers points (by being overall Player of the Day twice) and would end 0.9 points short of the record. But if he has three starts remaining, he has a chance to break the record if he is Player of the Day twice and at least Player of the Game once. In his 24 starts this season, he has failed to earn Box-Toppers points in only six starts.

While Kershaw’s 28.8 Box-Toppers points is now tied with the 28.8 points earned by Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox in 2002, there are now only two different names ahead of Kershaw on the “all-time” single-season list—Martinez and Johnson. Between 1999 and 2002, the two pitchers produced the seven highest single-season Box-Toppers point totals of “all-time”—Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.

If Kershaw earns 1.2 more Box-Toppers points, it will only be the sixth time a player has reached 30.0 Box-Toppers points in a season.

Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke is National League Player of the Day. Locke struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 6-4 win over the Phillies.

Albert Pujols of the Angels is AL Batter of the Day. Pujols hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 12-3 win over the Indians. This is the second time in three days Pujols has earned AL Batter of the Day honors. Earning 1.5 Box-Toppers points, Pujols now has 7.5 points for the season and ranks 10th among AL batters, moving ahead of teammate Mike Trout. Trout also has 7.5 points this season, but Pujols edges him out on the AL batter top 10 list because he has more points over the past two seasons—11.5 vs. 11.0.

There is no NL Batter of the Day Monday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Notables: Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez maintained his sixth-place spot in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. (See the updated top 10 player list on the home page.) Hernandez (6IP 0R 8K ND in the 4-1 win over the Astros) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.8 for the season. He also maintains his third-place spot among AL pitchers.

Nationals pitcher Doug Fister rises to 23rd in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Fister (7IP 0R W in the 2-1 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks eighth among NL pitchers.

Stroman receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Locke receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Pujols receives 1.5 for being AL Batter of the Day,

All of Monday’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, 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

908	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	14.0	Blue Jays	Marcus Stroman (W, 10-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	0	8
NL	11.0	Pirates	Jeff Locke (W, 7-4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	0	9
	8.0	Cardinals	Shelby Miller (W, 9-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	0	4
	7.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W, 18-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	3	1	2	8
	5.0	Nationals	Doug Fister (W, 13-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	3	3
	5.0	`Mariners	Felix Hernandez	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	4	8
BAT	4.0	Angels	Albert Pujols DH	5	3	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	White Sox	Tyler Flowers C	4	2	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	`Mets	Jon Niese	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	8	1	1	1	7
	2.0	Tigers	Nick Castellanos 3B	4	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Marlins	Steve Cishek (S, 33)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.1	Orioles	Miguel Gonzalez (W, 9-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	6	0	0	3	4

` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Athletics' Griffin tops players for Thursday, Sept. 12, Dodgers' Greinke, 3rd in Box-Toppers player rankings, inches closer to top

Athletics pitcher A.J. Griffin is Thursday's Player of the Day, while Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke scored a Box-Toppers point to remain in third place in player rankings. 

Griffin gave up one run and two hits over seven innings, striking out eight, in the 8-2 win over the Twins. 

Greinke maintained his spot in third place on Box-Toppers' player rankings list (see the updated top 10 list on the home page) after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.  Greinke (6IP 1R 5K ND in 3-2, 10-inning win vs. Giants) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 18.4 for the season. He trails overall leader, Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez (19.0) and teammate, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (18.7), in a tight, late-season race atop the player rankings list.

Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke is National League Player of the Day. Locke gave up one run over seven innings in the 3-1 win over the Cubs. 

Ryan Raburn of the Indians is American League Batter of the Day. Raburn hit a three-run homer, drove in five runs and went 3-for-3 in the 14-3 win over the White Sox. 

Carlos Ruiz of the Phillies is NL Batter of the Day. Ruiz drove in three runs and went 3-for-3 in the 10-5 win over the Padres. 

Notable: Freddie Freeman of the Braves rises to 32nd place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Freeman (HR 2RBI 3-4 in 6-1 win vs. Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.5 for the season. 

Griffin receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Locke receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Raburn and Ruiz each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.

All of Thursday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

912	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	10.0	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			A.J. Griffin (W, 14-9)	7.0	2	1	1	1	8
BAT	7.0	Indians	Ryan Raburn LF	3	2	3	5	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
NL	6.0	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jeff Locke (W, 10-5)	7.0	3	1	1	1	5
	4.2	`Rays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jamey Wright (BS, 1)	1.2	1	0	0	0	4
BAT	4.0	Phillies	Carlos Ruiz C	3	1	3	3	2	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Braves	Freddie Freeman 1B	4	2	3	2	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Tyler Thornburg (W, 2-1)	6.0	3	2	2	2	6
	3.0	`Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Zack Greinke	6.0	4	1	1	2	5
	2.0	Nationals	Ryan Zimmerman 3B	4	2	2	2	0	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Angels	Kole Calhoun RF	3	1	2	1	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Mariano Rivera (W, 6-2)	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.

Though no longer leading their division, St. Louis Cardinals remain top Box-Toppers team

Despite falling to second place in their own division, the St. Louis Cardinals remain the top team in Box-Toppers rankings for the ninth straight week.

The Pittsburgh Pirates passed the Cardinals atop the National League Central division standings and have the best record in baseball (.619), but are still behind the Cardinals in Box-Toppers points, ranking in sixth place overall.

Cardinals players have accumulated the most Box-Toppers points this season, 66.7. Their lead continued to narrow over the second-place team, the Boston Red Sox (64.0). Two weeks ago, they led the Red Sox by 8.2 points and now lead only by 2.7. 

The Red Sox have the second-best win-loss record in baseball, behind the Pirates, at .609 and the best record in the American League.

The Baltimore Orioles are top team of the week, picking up 9.4 Box-Toppers points and rising to eighth place in team rankings. The bulk of those points came when the Orioles this week acquired closing pitcher Scott Feldman from the Chicago Cubs. Feldman has 5.7 points and brings his Box-Toppers points to the Orioles.  (The Cubs, meanwhile, had a net loss of 1.7 points over the week because of the trade.)

The Cardinals lead the Pirates in Box-Toppers points mainly because Cardinals players, especially pitchers, tend to earn bonus points by being top player or batter of the day overall or in their league.

The Cardinals are led by pitchers Shelby Miller (11.4 Box-Toppers points), Adam Wainwright (10.7) and Lance Lynn (9.4). The Pirates, meanwhile, are led by third baseman Pedro Alvarez (6.2 points), pitcher Francisco Liriano (5.0) and pitcher Jeff Locke (5.0). 

704	Top 10 Teams	BTP	BTP/wk	Last week rank
1	Cardinals	66.7	3.5	1
2	Red Sox	64.0	5.0	2
3	Reds	61.1	5.5	5
4	Tigers	60.9	4.7	3
5	Rangers	58.6	3.0	4
6	Pirates	58.3	3.0	6
7	Athletics	58.2	4.0	7
8	Orioles	58.1	9.4	Not ranked
9	Indians	57.3	6.0	9
10	Nationals	56.7	5.2	8

BTP: Box-Toppers points total. Accumulated points of all players on team in 2013 season.

BTP/wk: Box-Toppers points for the team for the past week, through games on Thursday.