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Nick Castellanos of the Tigers is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Castellanos hit a go-ahead, seventh-inning homer and two doubles in the 9-5 win over the White Sox. Castellanos also went 5-for-5, scoring twice and driving in five runs.
Read MoreEddie Rosario and Evan Gattis are among the players rising into Box-Toppers’ All-Star teams in the past week.
With Major League All-Star voting underway, here is a look at who is leading at Box-Toppers points at each position in both leagues.
Read MoreYankees pitcher Luis Severino leads Box-Toppers season player rankings for the second straight week.
Meanwhile, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer continues to lead National League pitchers, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox maintains his lead among American League batters and Eugenio Suarez of the Reds rises to lead NL batters.
Read MoreMariners pitcher James Paxton is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, pitching a no-hitter.
Also Tuesday, Yankees pitcher Luis Severino maintained his spot atop Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors, becoming the first player this season to reach 10.0 Box-Toppers points.
Read More
Yankees pitcher Luis Severino rises to lead Box-Toppers season player rankings.
Meanwhile, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rises to lead National League pitchers, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox maintains his lead among American League batters and Nick Hundley rises to lead NL batters.
Yankees pitcher Luis Severino is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to retake the lead in season player rankings.
Also Wednesday, Mookie Betts of the Red Sox rises to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings—and is the only batter among the top 10—after earning Player of the Game honors.
Read MoreDodgers pitcher Yu Darvish is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Darvish struck out nine over seven innings, allowing one run, two hits and no walks, in the 9-3 win over the Padres.
Read More
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 16.4 |
| 2 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 14.0 |
| 3 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 12.4 |
| 4 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 12.1 |
| 5 | Ray, Robbie 3502 | pi sp | ari nl | 10.0 |
| 6 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 |
| 7 | Carrasco, Carlos 2885 | pi sp | cle al | 9.4 |
| 8 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 9.4 |
| 9 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 9.0 |
| 10 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 8.7 |
Strasburg struck out 13 over seven innings, allowing three runs (two earned), four hits and one walk, in the 8-4 win over the Cubs.
Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.4 for the season. He now ranks fourth among National League pitchers.
With Strasburg’s rise back into Box-Toppers’ top 10 players, Ryon Healy of the Athletics (8.7 Box-Toppers points) falls to 11th. He had been the only batter among the top 10 players.
American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out eight and allowing five hits and one walk, in the 4-0 win over the Orioles.
American League Batter of the Day—Josh Reddick of the Athletics went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 11-8 win over the Astros.
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Hundley of the Giants homered and went 2-for-3, driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Rockies.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright rises to 44th place among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began) after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.
Wainwright (6.1IP 8H 2R BB 8K W in the 4-3 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 116.5 career points. He passes two players on Box-Toppers’ “all-time” points list—Torii Hunter (115.9) and Todd Helton (116.4) and now trails 43rd-ranked player Mark Buehrle (116.7). Wainwright has 4.5 Box-Toppers points on the season, 23rd among NL pitchers.
Debut—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, with their first career Player of the Game honors:
Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stroman earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Reddick and Hundley each earn 1.5 points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Wednesday’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.
| 6/28 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 10.0 | WSH 8, CHC 4 | Stephen Strasburg (W, 9-2) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 13 | |
| AL | 9.2 | TOR 4, BAL 0 | Marcus Stroman (W, 8-4) | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | |
| BAT | 4.0 | HOU 11, OAK 8 | Josh Reddick (RF-LF) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | NYM 8, MIA 0 | Steven Matz (W, 2-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 4.0 | `LAA 3, LAD 2 | Alex Meyer | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | ||
| 3.0 | NYY 12, CHW 3 | Miguel Andujar (DH) | 4 | 0 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | SD 7, ATL 4 | Brandon Maurer (S, 15) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.2 | MIN 4, BOS 1 | Adalberto Mejia (W, 3-3) | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.2 | `CIN 4, MIL 3 | Luis Castillo | - | - | - | - | 5.2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||
| 2.1 | CLE 5, TEX 3 | Trevor Bauer (W, 7-6) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 2.0 | KC 8, DET 2 | Salvador Perez (C) | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | SF 5, COL 3 | Nick Hundley (C) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2.0 | PHI 5, SEA 4 | Hector Neris (S, 7) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1.1 | STL 4, ARI 3 | Adam Wainwright (W, 8-5) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 1.0 | PIT 6, TB 2 | Jose Osuna (RF) | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 9.4 | 24.5 | 83.6 | 92.3 | -5.7 |
| Perez, Salvador 2972 | ca | kc al | 5.5 | 9.5 | 24.7 | 27.2 | 1.5 |
| Meyer, Alex 3742 | pi sp | ana al | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 4.0 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 4.5 | 14.7 | 65.8 | 116.5 | -5.7 |
| Reddick, Josh 2936 | rf lf | hou al | 4.5 | 8.0 | 27.9 | 28.9 | 1.0 |
| Bauer, Trevor 3065 | pi sp | cle al | 4.0 | 15.4 | 33.5 | 33.5 | -7.4 |
| Stroman, Marcus 3327 | pi sp | tor al | 3.7 | 10.4 | 26.8 | 26.8 | -3.0 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi cp mr | phi nl | 3.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| Hundley, Nick 2497 | ca | sf nl | 3.0 | 4.0 | 15.0 | 25.5 | 2.0 |
| Mejia, Adalberto 3812 | pi sp | min al | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
| Maurer, Brandon 3157 | pi cp | sd nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
| Osuna, Jose 3795 | 1b rf | pit nl | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Matz, Steven 3516 | pi sp | nym nl | 1.0 | 13.1 | 16.6 | 16.6 | -11.1 |
| Andujar, Miguel 3839 | dh | nyy al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Castillo, Luis 3840 | pi sp | cin nl | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh place in season player rankings.
| Player | Pos | Team | BTP | |
| 1 | Kershaw, Clayton 2494 | pi sp | lad nl | 10.7 |
| 2 | Santana, Ervin 2005 | pi sp | min al | 9.4 |
| 3 | Sale, Chris 2806 | pi sp | bos al | 8.4 |
| 4 | Scherzer, Max 2588 | pi sp | dc nl | 8.0 |
| 5 | Wood, Alex 3246 | pi sp | lad nl | 7.0 |
| 6 | Greinke, Zack 1871 | pi sp | ari nl | 6.7 |
| 7 | Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.4 |
| 8 | Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 |
| 9 | McCullers, Lance 3488 | pi sp | hou al | 6.0 |
| 10 | Harper, Bryce 3011 | rf | dc nl | 6.0 |
Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors.
Player of the Day—Strasburg struck out 15 over seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits and one walk, in the 3-0 win over the Padres.
Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.4 for the season, rising to seventh in player rankings, fifth among National League pitchers.
With Strasburg's rise, there are now three Nationals players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings—Max Scherzer in fourth with 8.0 points, Bryce Harper in 10th with 6.0 and Strasburg in seventh with 6.4.
American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Buck Farmer struck out 11 over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks, in the 4-3 win over the White Sox.
This was Farmer’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Farmer made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2014, and was playing in his 33rd career game. He is the 3,809th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Hundley of the Giants homered and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 6-3 win over the Braves.
American League Batter of the Day—Andrelton Simmons of the Angels doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Marlins.
Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Keuchel (6IP 4H R 2BB 8K W in the 5-2 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 6.4 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.
Notable—Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright now has 114.5 career Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.
Wainwright (7IP 3H 0R BB 6K W in the 3-0 win over the Rockies) ranks 45th among all players in career Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when Box-Toppers tracking began). He trails 44th-ranked player Josh Beckett (114.9). Wainwright has 2.5 Box-Toppers points this season.
Debut—Red Sox pitcher Brian Johnson made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.
Johnson (CG 5H 0R 0BB 8K W in the 6-0 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut July 21, 2015, and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,810th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Farmer earns 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day. Hundley and Simmons each earn 1.5 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.
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.
| 5/27 | Score | Game | Player of the Game | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 18.0 | WSH 3, SD 0 | Stephen Strasburg (W,6-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | |
| 14.0 | MIL 6, ARI 1 | Chase Anderson (W,3-1) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | ||
| AL | 12.1 | DET 4, CHW 3 | Buck Farmer (W,1-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | |
| 12.0 | BOS 6, SEA 0 | Brian Johnson (W,2-0) | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 9.0 | STL 3, COL 0 | Adam Wainwright (W,5-3) | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 9.0 | LAD 5, CHC 0 | Brandon McCarthy (W,5-1) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 7.0 | TOR 3, TEX 1 | Marco Estrada (W,4-2) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 6.0 | HOU 5, BAL 2 | Dallas Keuchel (W,8-0) | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| 4.2 | NYY 3, OAK 2 | Dellin Betances (S,5) | - | - | - | - | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | SF 6, ATL 3 | Nick Hundley, C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | PIT 5, NYM 4 (F/10) | Andrew McCutchen, CF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | CHW 3, DET 0 | David Robertson (S,6) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 3.0 | `KC 5, CLE 2 | Joakim Soria | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2.0 | PHI 4, CIN 3 | Hector Neris (W,2-2) | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| BAT | 1.0 | LAA 5, MIA 2 | Andrelton Simmons, SS | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1.0 | MIN 5, TB 3 | Eddie Rosario, LF | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Player of the Game | Pos | Team | ’17 | ’16-17 | ’12-17 | Career | +/- |
| Strasburg, Stephen 2736 | pi sp | dc nl | 6.4 | 21.5 | 80.6 | 89.3 | -8.7 |
| Keuchel, Dallas 3050 | pi sp | hou al | 6.4 | 13.4 | 49.2 | 49.2 | -0.6 |
| Estrada, Marco 2847 | pi sp | tor al | 4.0 | 15.0 | 44.1 | 47.1 | -7.0 |
| Betances, Dellin 3333 | pi mr cp | nyy al | 4.0 | 8.0 | 16.7 | 16.7 | 0.0 |
| McCarthy, Brandon 2082 | pi sp | lad nl | 4.0 | 6.7 | 26.4 | 40.5 | 1.3 |
| Soria, Joakim 2258 | pi mr | kc al | 3.0 | 4.0 | 12.7 | 48.7 | 2.0 |
| Wainwright, Adam 2150 | pi sp | stl nl | 2.5 | 12.7 | 63.8 | 114.5 | -7.7 |
| Simmons, Andrelton 3165 | ss | ana al | 2.5 | 4.0 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 1.0 |
| Anderson, Chase 3328 | pi sp | mil nl | 2.0 | 9.0 | 18.0 | 18.0 | -5.0 |
| Robertson, David 2774 | pi cp | chi al | 2.0 | 7.0 | 24.0 | 28.0 | -3.0 |
| Rosario, Eddie 3542 | lf | min al | 2.0 | 5.0 | 6.5 | 6.5 | -1.0 |
| Neris, Hector 3553 | pi mr | phi nl | 2.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 |
| Farmer, Buck 3809 | pi sp | det al | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| Hundley, Nick 2497 | ca | sf nl | 1.5 | 2.5 | 13.5 | 24.0 | 0.5 |
| McCutchen, Andrew 2637 | cf | pit nl | 1.0 | 8.0 | 39.5 | 54.9 | -6.0 |
| Johnson, Brian 3810 | pi sp | bos al | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Brewers pitcher Jimmy Nelson is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the final day of spring training.
The 2017 Major League Baseball season begins Sunday with three games. Box-Toppers begins its 23rd season tracking players and its fifth on the web. See more about the player tracking metric in our opening day post and come back Monday morning to see how Box-Toppers rated the top players in the opening day games.
Box-Toppers has tracked several days of spring training during 2017 as a sort of a test and demonstration of the Box-Toppers player tracking metric. Even after 22 seasons of tracking (including sharing those results for the past four seasons on Box-Toppers.com), we need to spend a little time practicing covering first base on a bunt and getting in shape for the 2,430 games to be tracked during the regular season.
Player of the Day—Nelson allowed one run and two hits over five innings, striking out three, in the 5-4 win over the White Sox. Nelson did not pick up the win because he exited with the Brewers trailing. Nelson had 3.0 Box-Toppers points in 2016.
American League Player of the Day—Melvin Upton Jr. Of the Blue Jays homered and went 1-for-2, driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Pirates. Upton had 2.5 Box-Toppers points in 2016 for the Padres and Blue Jays.
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Hundley of the Giants hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, in the 6-3 win over the Athletics. Hundley had 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 2016 with the Rockies.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day was batter Melvin Upton Jr.
Scoring—No Box-Toppers points are awarded in spring training games, but if it were the regular season, Nelson would earn 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, Upton would earn 1.7 points for being AL Player of the Day and Hundley would earn 1.5 points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Saturday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) would earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Note—Nine spring training games were scheduled for Saturday—five are listed below. Three games are not listed because they ended in ties (Red Sox 4, Nationals 4; Mariners 1, Rockies 1; and Angels 4, Dodgers 4). One game is not listed because it was an exhibition between the Reds and the Reds Futures Team.
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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 4/1 | Score | Game | Player | AB | R | H | BI | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 4.0 | `MIL 5, CHW 4 | Jimmy Nelson | - | - | - | - | 5.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| BAT | 3.0 | SF 6, OAK 3 | Nick Hundley C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| AL | 3.0 | TOR 6, PIT 4 | Melvin Upton Jr. RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 3.0 | TEX 5, KC 3 | Allen Webster (W, 2-0) | - | - | - | - | 4.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 1.0 | MIA 3, DET 2 | Boo Vazquez PR-RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| ` Pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||
Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.
Arrieta pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout, striking out seven, in the 8-0 win over the Twins.
| 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 |
Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season. Arrieta is the season’s highest ranked player of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday—he ranks 17th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
American League Player of the Day—J.D. Martinez of the Tigers hit three home runs (a three-run homer, a two-run homer and a solo shot) in the 12-4 win over the Yankees.
National League Batter of the Day—Nick Hundley of the Rockies doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring three times and driving in one run, in the 10-4 win over the Brewers.
American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Sunday because the overall AL Player of the Day was a batter (J.D. Martinez).
Debut—Indians pitcher Cody Anderson made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Anderson (7.2IP 6H 0R 4K ND in the 1-0 win over the Rays) was also making his Major League debut. He is the 3,509th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Martinez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hundley 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.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 6/21 | Score | Team | Player | AB | R | H | BI | BB | K | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | |
| MLB | 12.0 | Cubs | Jake Arrieta (W, 7-5) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 9.0 | Braves | Julio Teheran (W, 5-3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | ||
| AL | 7.0 | Tigers | J.D. Martinez RF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 5.0 | Nationals | Gio Gonzalez (W, 5-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 4.2 | `Indians | Cody Anderson | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| BAT | 4.0 | Rockies | Nick Hundley C | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 4.0 | Dodgers | Justin Turner 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 4.0 | Phillies | Andres Blanco PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Red Sox | Mookie Betts CF | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Orioles | Chris Davis 1B | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 3.0 | Dbacks | Jeremy Hellickson (W, 5-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 2.1 | Athletics | Scott Kazmir (W, 4-4) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 7.1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 2.0 | Astros | Colby Rasmus CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | White Sox | Gordon Beckham 3B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | ||
| 2.0 | Reds | Aroldis Chapman (S, 15) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| `Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save. | ||||||||||||||||
Rangers pitcher Derek Holland is Monday's Player of the Day. Holland pitched a complete-game shutout, striking out nine, in the 12-0 win over the Astros.
Holland earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.7 for the season, putting him in 36th place in Box-Toppers player rankings.
Brewers pitcher Marco Estrada is National League Player of the Day. Estrada pitched seven shutout innings, giving up only two hits, in the 5-0 win over the Braves.
Nick Hundley of the Padres is NL Batter of the Day. Hundley hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks.
Jed Lowrie of the Athletics is American League Batter of the Day. Lowrie hit a three-run homer in the 10-5 win over the Angels.
Notable: Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright had a chance to retake the lead in Box-Toppers player rankings in his start against the Nationals Monday, but did not score any Box-Toppers points. Though Wainwright earned the win in the 4-3 victory, he gave up seven hits and three runs over seven innings and his Box-Toppers game score was -1.0. Closing pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was the Cardinals Player of the Game with a Box-Toppers game score of 1.2.
Wainwright is still in third place in Box-Toppers player rankings (see the updated top 10 list on the home page) with 19.2 points. He trails overall leader, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has 20.7. Wainwright has one last chance to catch or pass Kershaw in his scheduled start on the final day of the regular season Sunday against the Cubs. (Kershaw has his final regular season scheduled start Friday against the Rockies.)
Holland receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Estrada receives 1.7 for NL Player of the Day. Hundley and Lowrie each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Monday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 923 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Derek Holland (W, 10-9) | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | ||
| NL | 8.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Marco Estrada (W, 7-4) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 8.0 | `Pirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Charlie Morton | 7.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 7.2 | Marlins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nathan Eovaldi (W, 4-6) | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |||
| 4.2 | `Royals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yordano Ventura | 5.2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 3.1 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jose Quintana (W, 9-6) | 7.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 3.0 | `Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnny Cueto | 7.0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | |||
| BAT | 2.0 | Padres | Nick Hundley C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| BAT | 2.0 | Athletics | Jed Lowrie DH | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2.0 | Rays | James Loney PH | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.2 | Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Trevor Rosenthal (S, 1) | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 1.0 | Twins | Ryan Doumit PH | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 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.
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Sunday's Player of the Day. Bumgarner struck out nine over six scoreless innings in the 3-2, 11-inning win over the Diamondbacks.
Bumgarner did not earn a win-loss decision in the game because the Diamondbacks tied the score 2-2 in the eighth inning after he left the game with the lead in the sixth inning.
Bumgarner rises to 13th place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.7 for the season.
Blue Jays pitcher Esmil Rogers is American League Player of the Day. Rogers pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings in the 2-0 win over the Twins.
Eric Hosmer of the Royals is AL Batter of the Day. Hosmer hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4 in the 5-2 win over the Tigers.
Nick Hundley of the Padres is National League Batter of the Day. Hundley hit a pinch-hit three-run double to beat the Rockies, 5-2.
Notables: Three of Sunday's Players of the Games are among the top 40 in the Box-Toppers player rankings for the season:
Bumgarner receives 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day. Rogers receives 1.7 for AL Player of the Day. Hosmer and Hundley each receive 1.5 for being top Batter of the Day in their league.
All of Sunday's other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) receive 1.0 Box-Toppers point.
Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score
| 908 | Score | Team | BATTERS | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | - | - | PITCHERS | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLB | 11.0 | `Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Madison Bumgarner | 6.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 9.0 | Phillies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Cole Hamels (W, 7-13) | 8.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |||
| AL | 7.2 | Blue Jays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Esmil Rogers (W, 5-7) | 7.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 7.0 | Brewers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yovani Gallardo (W, 11-9) | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 6.0 | `Reds | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Homer Bailey | 7.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |||
| 5.0 | Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Michael Wacha (W, 3-0) | 7.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 5.0 | Athletics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bartolo Colon (W, 15-6) | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |||
| 3.2 | `Mets | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Daisuke Matsuzaka | 5.2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| BAT | 3.0 | Royals | Eric Hosmer 1B | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| BAT | 3.0 | Padres | Nick Hundley PH, C | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3.0 | Rays | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fernando Rodney (S, 33) | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 2.2 | White Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Andre Rienzo (W, 2-1) | 6.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | |||
| 2.0 | Nationals | Wilson Ramos C | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Yankees | Robinson Cano 2B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 1.0 | Rangers | Alex Rios RF | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 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.
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.