Dodgers' Brandon McCarthy (6IP 0R 6K) tops players for Sunday, April 19

Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy is Sunday’s Player of the Day.

McCarthy pitched six scoreless innings and struck out six in the 7-0 win over the Rockies.

American League Player of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Tigers hit a grand slam and a two-run homer in the 9-1 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Jonny Gomes of the Braves hit a double and drove in four total runs in the 5-2 win over the Blue Jays.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 19.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	4.0
2	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
3	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
4	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
5	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	3.0
6	Bauer, Trevor 3065	pi sp	cle al	3.0
7	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	2.7
8	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	2.7
10	Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b dh	tor al	2.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

Rankings—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday. Cole (6IP 2R 6K in the 5-2 win over the Brewers) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Scoring—McCarthy earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Cespedes earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gomes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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

4/19	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	Dodgers	Brandon McCarthy (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	6
AL	6.0	Tigers	Yoenis Cespedes LF	4	2	2	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.1	Nationals	Stephen Strasburg (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	1	1	2	7
	5.0	Orioles	Adam Jones CF	5	1	4	5	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mariners	Nelson Cruz RF	6	2	3	5	0	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Braves	Jonny Gomes LF	2	0	1	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Yankees	Andrew Miller (S, 4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Royals	Wade Davis (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Twins	Shane Robinson CF	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt 1B	3	2	1	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	2	1	6
	2.0	Padres	Andrew Cashner (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	0	2	5
	2.0	Astros	Luke Gregerson (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Mets	Ruben Tejada SS	4	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Cardinals	Matt Carpenter 3B	3	1	2	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Jonny Gomes' 3-run homer lifts Red Sox to World Series Game 4 win, tops players for Sunday, Oct. 27

Jonny Gomes hit a three-run homer to lead the Red Sox to a Game 4 World Series win, earning Sunday's Box-Toppers Player of the Day honors. 

The Red Sox beat the Cardinals 4-2 to even the best-of-seven World Series at two games apiece. 

Gomes, starting in place of an injured Shane Victorino, had 5.5 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranking 156th overall.

Coming Monday: The World Series resumes Monday in St. Louis. Here is the pitching match-up:

World Series Game 5, Red Sox at Cardinals, series tied 2-2

Red Sox: Jon Lester, 12.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 34th overall. 

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright, 20.2 Box-Toppers points, ranked second overall. 

This is a rematch of World Series Game 1, won by the Red Sox 8-1. Lester was Player of the Game.  Both players are their team's overall leader in Box-Toppers points.

Box-Toppers tracks players who most help their team win the most games. Top players from the winning team of each game are determined by a formula using standard box score statistics. In regular season games, 2.0 Box-Toppers points are awarded for Player of the Day, 1.7 for top player in the opposite league, 1.5 for top batter in each league and 1.0 for the top players in each of the other games.

Related story:  Box-Toppers previews 2013 World Series in this post from Oct. 21.

Top 6 players in World Series Game 4

Here are the top six Red Sox players in Sunday's World Series Game 4, ranked from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score (how game score is calculated). Jonny Gomes, who had a Box-Toppers game score of 3.0, was Player of the Game (POG). He  edged out middle relief pitcher Felix Doubront, who had a game score of 2.2, and who picked up the win.

1027	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
POG	3.0	Red Sox	Jonny Gomes LF	2	1	1	3	2	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.2	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Felix Doubront (W, 1-0)	2.2	1	1	1	0	3
	2.0	Red Sox	David Ortiz 1B	3	2	3	0	1	0	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	1.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	John Lackey (H, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0
	0.1	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Junichi Tazawa (H, 1)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0
	0.0	Red Sox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Koji Uehara (S, 1)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0

Dodgers' Kershaw secures 2013 Box-Toppers Player of the Season crown; Braves' Medlen tops players for Friday, Sept. 27

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw secured his spot as Box-Toppers 2013 Player of the Season Friday, while Braves pitcher Kris Medlen was Player of the Day.

Kershaw, who earned Player of the Game honors in Friday's 11-0 win against the Rockies, now has 21.7 Box-Toppers points. He has been atop Box-Toppers player rankings since Sept. 21 and with only two games left in the season, it is wildly unlikely any other player can catch him (see the updated top 10 list on the home page). 

Kershaw now leads the second-place player, teammate Zack Greinke (19.4), by 2.3 Box-Toppers points, so even if Greinke earns Player of the Day honors in his final start Saturday against the Rockies, he can only earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points and would have 21.4—not enough to catch Kershaw.

This is the second time Kershaw has earned Box-Toppers Player of the Season honors. He was also top player in 2011, when he had 26.1 Box-Toppers points.  He was top National League player in Box-Toppers points in 2012 with 20.8.

Kershaw (6IP 0R 8K W in win vs. Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, putting him at 21.7 for the season.

Medlen, Friday's top player, pitched eight shutout innings, gave up only two hits and struck out seven in the 1-0 win over the Phillies. Medlen earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season, putting him in 42nd place in Box-Toppers player rankings. 

Royals pitcher James Shields is American League Player of the Day. Shields struck out 10 over seven innings in the 6-1 win over the White Sox. 

Jayson Werth of the Nationals is NL Batter of the Day. Werth hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-2 with two walks in the 8-4 win over the Diamondbacks. 

Jonny Gomes of the Red Sox is AL Batter of the Day. Gomes homered and went 3-for-4 in the 12-3 win over the Orioles. 

Notables: Three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday are among the top 50 in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season: 

• Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn rises to 11th place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game (6IP 0R 9K W in 7-0 win vs. Cubs), giving him 16.1 for the season.
• Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon rises to 25th place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game (6IP 8K W in 8-2 win vs. Mariners), giving him 13.1 for the season.
• Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett rises to 49th place. He earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game (8IP 1R 6K W in 4-1 win vs. Reds), giving him 10.4 for the season.

 Coming Saturday: Two pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings top 10 are scheduled to start Saturday:

• Zack Greinke of Dodgers is scheduled to start against the Rockies. Greinke is ranked second in player rankings with 19.4 Box-Toppers points. 
• Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals is scheduled to start against the Cubs. Wainwright is ranked third in player rankings with 19.2 Box-Toppers points.

Medlen receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Shields receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Werth and Gomes 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

927	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	-	-	PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
MLB	11.0	Braves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Kris Medlen (W, 15-12)	8.0	2	0	0	2	7
	11.0	Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Lance Lynn (W, 15-10)	6.0	4	0	0	0	9
AL	10.0	Royals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			James Shields (W, 13-9)	7.0	4	1	1	1	10
	10.0	Dodgers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Clayton Kershaw (W, 16-9)	6.0	4	0	0	0	8
	6.0	Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			A.J. Burnett (W, 10-11)	8.0	5	1	1	1	6
	6.0	Athletics	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Bartolo Colon (W, 18-6)	6.0	3	2	2	1	8
	6.0	Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Adam Warren (W, 3-2)	5.0	2	0	0	1	4
BAT	5.0	Nationals	Jayson Werth RF	2	2	2	3	2	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Giants	Juan Perez CF	4	2	3	2	0	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
BAT	3.0	Red Sox	Jonny Gomes LF	4	3	3	1	1	0			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Indians	Drew Stubbs CF	4	3	2	2	1	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	3.0	Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Neal Cotts (W, 7-3)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Blue Jays	Moises Sierra RF	3	1	2	2	1	1			0	0.0	0	0	0	0	0
	2.0	Brewers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Jim Henderson (S, 28)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	`Marlins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			Chad Qualls (H, 15)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1

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