Cubs' Aroldis Chapman, Dodgers' Joe Blanton top players in Tuesday's NLDS games

Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman and Dodgers reliever Joe Blanton are Box-Toppers’ top players in Tuesday’s two National League Division Series games.

National League Division Series Game 4: Cubs 6, Giants 5

Chapman is Box-Toppers Player of the Game as the Cubs eliminate the Giants in the best-of-five game series, 3-1, with a four-run, ninth-inning comeback.

Chapman pitched a scoreless ninth inning, striking out the side and allowing no hits and no walks. He earned the save.

Chapman had 7.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 104th among all players, 33rd among NL pitchers and second among NL closers, behind Jeurys Familia of the Mets (8.0).

Chapman led all Cubs players with a Box-Toppers game score of +4.0. Willson Contreras led all Cubs batters with a Box-Toppers game score of +2.0 (1-1 2BI). Cubs starting pitcher John Lackey had a Box-Toppers game score of −7.0 (4IP 7H 3R 2BB 4K ND).

Meanwhile, Giants starting pitcher Matt Moore held a commanding lead as Box-Toppers Player of the Game going into the ninth inning. Moore had the highest Box-Toppers game score of any player on either team, +11.0 (8IP 2H 2R 2BB 10K ND). But Moore lost his Player of the Game lead when the Cubs went ahead in the ninth and won the game.

The Cubs eliminate the Giants in four games, 3-1. The Cubs were the runaway leader in Box-Toppers team rankings, leading nearly all the season with 139.5 Box-Toppers points. The Giants were the lowest-ranking team to qualify for the postseason, ranked 10th with 112.7.

This also ends the Giants’ streak of winning the World Series in even-numbered years after winning in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

The Cubs now advance to the best-of-seven game National League Championship Series beginning Saturday in Chicago against either the Dodgers or the Nationals.

National League Division Series Game 4: Dodgers 6, Nationals 5

Dodgers middle reliever Joe Blanton is Box-Toppers Player of the Game Tuesday as the Dodgers even the best-of-five game NL Division Series against the Nationals at two games apiece.

Blanton pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits, no walks, striking out two and earning the win.

Blanton had no Box-Toppers points during the regular season. He had 3.0 points in 2015 with the Royals and the Pirates. His best year was 2012 with the Phillies and Dodgers when he had 9.4.

Blanton had the highest Box-Toppers game score among Dodgers players (+3.0). He qualified to be Player of the Game because, though he pitched fewer than the required three innings, he did earn the win. Top Dodgers batter was Adrian Gonzalez, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +1.0 (HR 1-3 R 2BI). Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw seemed on track to earn Player of the Game honors until the seventh inning when the Nationals scored three runs and tied the game. Kershaw ended with a Box-Toppers game score of −1.8 (6.2IP 7H 5R 2BB 11K ND). Nationals top player was Daniel Murphy, who had a Box-Toppers game score of +3.0 (2-3 4BI).

The Dodgers and Nationals face off in the deciding Game 5 of the NLDS Thursday in Washington.

There are no games Wednesday.

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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Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

BTG Game Player of Game AB R H BI IP H R ER BB K
4.0 CHC 6, SF 5 Aroldis Chapman (S,3) - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.1 LAD 6, WSH 5 Joe Blanton (W,1-0) - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
BTG: Box-Toppers game score

Dodgers' Joe Blanton tops players in Thursday, March 3's spring training games

Dodgers pitcher Joe Blanton is Box-Toppers spring training Player of the Day for Thursday.

Blanton pitched two perfect innings of middle relief, striking out three in the 6-1 win over the White Sox. He earned no decision.

Blanton had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2015 with the Royals and the Pirates.

American League Player of the Day—Brandon Guyer of the Rays homered and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 10-3 win over the Orioles. Guyer had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2015.

National League Batter of the Day—Jorge Alfaro of the Phillies went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 13-4 split-squad win over the Yankees. Alfaro has no career Box-Toppers points and has yet to make his Major League regular season debut.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Thursday because the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter, Brandon Guyer.

Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Blanton would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Guyer would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Alfaro would earn 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would 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

3/3 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 5.0 `Dodgers Joe Blanton - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 3
AL 4.0 Rays Brandon Guyer CF 3 1 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Rangers Brett Nicholas PH-C 3 2 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Angels Ji-Man Choi PH-1B 2 1 2 3 1 0 - - - - - -
4.0 `Brewers Josh Hader - - - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 0 3
3.0 Mariners Luis Sardiñas 3B 3 0 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Phillies Jorge Alfaro C 2 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Blue Jays Andy Burns PR-2B 2 2 2 1 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Astros Doug Fister (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 2.0 2 0 0 1 4
3.0 Red Sox Marco Hernandez PR-2B-SS 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Reds Anthony DeSclafani (W, 1-0) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Tigers Víctor Martínez DH 3 1 2 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Rockies Trevor Story SS 3 1 1 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Nationals Anthony Rendón 3B 2 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Cardinals Dean Kiekhefer (SV, 1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Brewers Eric Young Jr. LF 3 2 2 0 0 0 - - - - - -
` Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Royals' Joe Blanton (6IP R 7K) top players for Monday, June 22

Royals pitcher Joe Blanton is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Blanton struck out seven over six innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 4-1 win over the Mariners.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of June 22.  


Player Pos Team BTP
1 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 13.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 13.0
3 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 12.0
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
What are those numbers after players' names?

Box-Toppers points leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners was the losing pitcher in the game. Hernandez (6.2IP 9H 4R 5K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of −6.8. (Blanton had a Box-Toppers game score of 9.) Hernandez has 13.4 Box-Toppers points on the season and has led player rankings all but six days this season, however his lead is narrowing.

National League Player of the Day—Maikel Franco of the Phillies homered twice and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in five runs, in the 11-8 win over the Yankees. This was Franco’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2014, and was playing in his 52nd career game. He is the 3,510th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—Kennys Vargas of the Twins homered and went 4-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 13-2 win over the White Sox. This was Vargas’ Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut Aug. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 94th career game. He is the 3,511th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day was a batter (Maikel Franco of the Phillies). In fact, no NL pitcher earned Player of the Game honors in the seven games played Monday.

Notable—Yoenis Cespedes of the Tigers has the highest Box-Toppers player ranking of any of the seven who earned Player of the Game honors Monday.

Cespedes has 5.7 Box-Toppers points and ranks 40th among all players, fourth among AL batters. Cespedes (HR 2B 3-3 2R 3BI in the 8-5 win over the Indians) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game.

Debut—In addition to Franco and Vargas, a third player also made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, earning his first career Player of the Game honor—Blue Jays pitcher Roberto Osuna. Osuna (2IP 0H 0R 5K Sv in the 8-5 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 31st career game. He is the 3,512th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Blanton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Franco earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Vargas earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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

6/22 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 9.0 Royals Joe Blanton (W, 2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 2 1 1 0 7
NL 7.0 Phillies Maikel Franco 3B 5 3 4 5 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 6.0 Twins Kennys Vargas DH 4 2 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Blue Jays Roberto Osuna (S, 1) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 1 5
5.0 Tigers Yoenis Cespedes LF 3 2 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 `Angels Hector Santiago - - - - - - 6.0 2 1 1 1 4
4.0 Cubs Kris Bryant 3B 3 2 2 3 1 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.