Dodgers' Grandal (2 3R HRs) tops players for Thursday, May 7; A-Rod hits 661st HR, rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees earned Player of the Game honors as he hit his 661st career home run, passing Willie Mays’ mark of 660. Rodriguez also moved up to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 7.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	7.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Rodriguez, Alex	dh	nyy al	4.5
10	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Grandal hit two three-run homers and drove in eight runs, going 4-for-4 and scoring three times, in the 14-4 win over the Brewers.

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Joakim Soria struck out four over the final 1 1/3 innings, allowing no runs or hits and earning the save, in the 4-1 win over the White Sox.

American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-4 with two runs in the 7-4 win over the Indians.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday since the overall Player of the Day (Yasmani Grandal of the Dodgers) was a batter from the NL.

Rankings—Alex Rodriguez rises to ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game in the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Orioles (HR 2-3 R 2BI). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.5 for the season. Rodriguez already has more Box-Toppers points this season than he did in 2013 (3.0) and as many as he had in all of 2012 (4.5). In 2011, he had 4.7 points and in 2010, he had 13.7, the last time he had 10.0 or more in a season.

In the game, Rodriguez moved to fourth place on the all-time home run list with his 661st home run, passing Willie Mays (660). Rodriguez now has 183.8 career Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among all players since record keeping began in 1995 and first among all batters during that time.

Notables—Two players had notable Box-Toppers achievements Thursday:

• Dan Haren of the Marlins became the second pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. Haren (2B 2-3 2R 2BI in the 7-2 win over the Giants) also pitched seven innings and picked up the win. It is the third time in his career he has earned Player of the Game honors for batting—he last did it June 14, 2014. Haren earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 2.0 for the season and 110.2 for his career. With the point, he rises to 49th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, passing Jeff Kent (109.7) on that list.
• Cardinals pitcher John Lackey becomes the 66th player to earn 100 or more Box-Toppers points after he earned Player of the Game honors Thursday (7.2IP R 10K W in the 5-1 win over the Cubs). Lackey earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 100.8 for his career. He moves to 62nd place among all players (since record keeping began in 1995) and passes four players on that list—Aramis Ramirez (100.8), Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Lackey’s career 100.8 Box-Toppers points ranks 13th among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Rangers pitcher Alex Claudio made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Claudio (1.1IP 0R 0H 2K W in the 5-4 win over the Rays) made his Major League debut Aug. 13, 2014, and was playing in his 21st career game. He is the 3,459th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Grandal earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Soria earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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

5/7	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Dodgers	Yasmani Grandal C	4	3	4	8	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	9.2	Cardinals	John Lackey (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	1	1	1	10
	9.0	Dbacks	Rubby De La Rosa (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	7
AL	5.1	Tigers	Joakim Soria (S, 11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	4
	4.1	`Astros	Collin McHugh	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	5	2	2	1	7
	3.1	Rangers	Alex Claudio (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	3.0	Royals	Eric Hosmer 1B	4	2	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Marlins	Dan Haren P	3	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	Twins	Glen Perkins (S, 10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Pirates	Andrew McCutchen CF	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Alex Rodriguez DH	3	1	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Nationals' Bryce Harper hits three homers, tops players for Wednesday, May 6

Bryce Harper of the Nationals is Wednesday’s Player of the Day.

Harper hit three home runs and drove in five runs in the 7-5 win over the Marlins.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 6.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	7.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Harper had a Box-Toppers game score of +7, the same as Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom, who was Player of the Game in the 5-1 win over the Mets. But Harper earned overall Player of the Day honors because in cases of Box-Toppers game score ties, batters beat pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Eduardo Escobar of the Twins homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in five runs, in the 13-0 win over the Athletics.

Escobar had a Box-Toppers game score of +5, tied with Carlos Peguero of the Rangers, who was Player of the Game in the 11-3 win over the Astros. Escobar won the tie-breaker to earn AL Player of the Day because he had more runs batted in—five vs. three.

American League and National League Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day since the top players in both leagues Wednesday were batters. It is the only time this season that batters have had the top overall player in both leagues. Wednesday was also unusual because 12 of the 15 Players of the Game were batters—only three were pitchers.

Streak—Adam Lind of the Brewers has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point in 10 straight seasons. Lind was Player of the Game in Wednesday’s 6-3 win over the Dodgers (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Lind earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Blue Jays. His best season was 2009 with the Blue Jays, when he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points, second among AL batters (behind Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers with 16.5). In 2014, he had 2.5 Box-Toppers points with the Blue Jays.

Lind has 48.6 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 19th among active batters currently in the NL.

Debut—Carlos Peguero of the Rangers made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Peguero (2HR 3-4 2R 2BI in the 11-3 win over the Astros) made his Major League debut April 19, 2011, and was playing in his 89th career game. He is the 3,458th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Harper earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Escobar earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

5/6	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	Nationals	Bryce Harper RF	4	3	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Mets	Jacob deGrom (W, 3-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	1	9
AL	5.0	Twins	Eduardo Escobar LF	4	1	3	5	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Rangers	Carlos Peguero LF	4	3	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Dbacks	Aaron Hill 2B	5	1	4	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Rays	Evan Longoria 3B	3	3	2	2	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Reds	Mike Leake (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	6	0	0	0	2
	4.0	Padres	Ian Kennedy (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	0	5
	3.0	Blue Jays	Chris Colabello LF	4	2	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Braves	Andrelton Simmons SS	4	3	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	White Sox	Melky Cabrera LF	3	1	1	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Indians	Brandon Moss RF	5	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Cubs	Anthony Rizzo 1B	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Brewers	Adam Lind 1B	4	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Angels	Mike Trout CF	4	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Braves' Miller tops players for Tuesday, May 5; Pujols earns Box-Toppers points for 15th straight season

Braves pitcher Shelby Miller is Tuesday’s Player of the Day.

Miller pitched a complete game, three-hit shutout, striking out eight, in the 9-0 win over the Phillies.

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Wandy Rodriguez struck out eight over eight innings, allowing one run on three hits, in the 7-1 win over the Astros.

American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer, a triple and drove in four runs, in the 5-3 win over the Indians.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 5.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	7.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Batter of the Day—Matt Carpenter of the Cardinals hit a game-tying three-run homer and drove in four total runs, in the 7-4 win over the Cubs.

Streak—Albert Pujols of the Angels has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 15 straight seasons. He was Player of the Game Tuesday in the 5-4 win over the Mariners (HR 2-3 2R 2BI) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Pujols earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2001 with the Cardinals. He led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points in five different seasons, the most times a batter has led his league in Box-Toppers points (since record keeping began in 1995). Here are the seasons he led NL batters, all with the Cardinals:

• 2003—16.5 Box-Toppers points
• 2004—15.9
• 2008—15.2
• 2009—16.7 (his best overall season)
• 2010—15.4

In 2014, Pujols had 7.5 Box-Toppers points with the Angels, fourth among AL designated hitters.

Pujols has 168.3 career Box-Toppers points, seventh among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He trails Roy Halladay (170.7) for sixth place. Pujols ranks second among all batters on that list (behind only Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees with 182.8).

Notables—Two other players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points also earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday:

• Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon now has 136.4 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st among all players since 1995 (trailing Andy Pettitte with 138.5). Colon ranks 15th among pitchers on that list and second among active pitchers currently in the NL (behind Tim Hudson of the Giants with 153.0).

Colon was Player of the Game Tuesday in the Mets 3-2 win over the Orioles (7.2IP R 9K W) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

• Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke now has 129.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995. With Tuesday’s point, he passes Trevor Hoffman (129.4) on that list. Greinke ranks 18th among pitchers on that list and is fifth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Greinke was Player of the Game Tuesday in the Dodgers 8-2 win over the Brewers (7.2IP 2H R 7K W) and earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season, putting him in 11th place in Box-Toppers player rankings for the season.

Scoring—Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodriguez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Hosmer and Carpenter each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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

5/5	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Braves	Shelby Miller (W, 4-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	0	0	1	8
AL	10.0	Rangers	Wandy Rodriguez (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	1	8
	9.2	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W, 5-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	2	1	0	2	7
	8.2	Mets	Bartolo Colon (W, 5-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	1	1	0	9
	8.1	Athletics	Jesse Chavez (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	4	1	0	1	7
	8.0	Yankees	Michael Pineda (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	0	0	1	6
	6.0	Giants	Ryan Vogelsong (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	2	4
	5.0	Red Sox	Rick Porcello (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	8	0	0	0	6
	3.1	Marlins	Mat Latos (W, 1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	2	1	1	5	6
BAT	3.0	Royals	Eric Hosmer 1B	4	1	2	4	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Angels	Albert Pujols 1B	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Cardinals	Matt Carpenter 3B	3	1	1	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Reds	Marlon Byrd LF	5	1	2	4	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	White Sox	Jeff Samardzija (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	2	2	1	7

Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Monday, May 4; Mariners' Hernandez extends player rankings lead

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Monday’s Player of the Day, while Mariners’ pitcher Felix Hernandez extends his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Bumgarner pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Padres. Bumgarner rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	7.7
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez struck out eight over seven innings, allowing one run, in the 3-2 win over the Angels. Hernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 7.7 for the season, extending his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Hernandez also becomes the 16th player to reach 150 career Box-Toppers points since record keeping began in 1995. He has 151.0 career Box-Toppers points, just behind Greg Maddux (151.7). Hernandez ranks 16th among all players since 1995, 12th among all pitchers and third among all active pitchers currently in the AL—behind CC Sabathia (173.3) and Johan Santana (166.6).

Hernandez had a Box-Toppers game score Monday of 6.0, the same as Rangers pitcher Ross Detwiler, who was Player of the Game in the 2-1 win over the Astros. But Hernandez won the tiebreaker to earn AL Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game while Detwiler picked up a no-decision.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Cardinals hit a grand slam and went 2-for-3 with two runs in the 10-9 win over the Cubs.

American League Batter of the Day—Jordan Schafer of the Twins  doubled and went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs in the 8-7 win over the Athletics.

Debut—Brewers pitcher Michael Blazek made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Blazek (2IP 0R 3K W in the 4-3 win over the Dodgers) made his Major League debut June 22, 2013, and was playing in his 28th career game. He is the 3,457th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Schafer each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

5/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	10.1	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	2	0	0	1	6
AL	6.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W, 5-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	1	8
	6.0	`Rangers	Ross Detwiler	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	7
BAT	5.0	Cardinals	Mark Reynolds 1B	3	2	2	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	Twins	Jordan Schafer CF	3	2	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Rays	Jake Odorizzi (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	1	1	0	6
	3.0	Nationals	Yunel Escobar 3B	5	1	5	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Brewers	Michael Blazek (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	2	3
	2.0	Phillies	Jeff Francoeur RF	5	1	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Blue Jays	Brett Cecil (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		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.

Giants' Tim Lincecum (8IP 0R) tops players for Sunday, May 3

Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum is Sunday’s Player of the Day.

Lincecum pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 3.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	4.7
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
6	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	4.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
8	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
10	Upton, Justin 2411	lf	sd nl	4.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, his first points of the season. He now has 111.3 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 46th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With his points Sunday, he passed three players on that list—Jon Lester (111.1), Tom Glavine (110.6) and Jeff Kent (109.7). He ranks 32nd among all pitchers since 1995 and ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing two hits, in the 7-1 win over the Rangers. Gray rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings—he earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season.

American League Batter of the Day—Evan Gattis of the Astros hit two home runs and went 2-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 7-6 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Justin Upton of the Padres homered and hit two doubles, scoring twice and driving in three, in the 8-6 win over the Rockies. Upton rises to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 4.0 for the season. He ranks second among NL batters, behind Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins (4.5 Box-Toppers points).

Rankings—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rises to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday (HR 3-4 R 2BI in the 6-4 win over the Royals). Cabrera earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season. He leads all AL batters.

With Sunday’s point, Cabrera now has 132.9 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 25th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He is just behind two players with 133.4 Box-Toppers points—David Ortiz and Jason Giambi.

Streak—Aramis Ramirez of the Brewers achieved two Box-Toppers milestones Sunday—he became the 65th player with 100 or more Box-Toppers points and also has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 16 straight seasons.

Ramirez was Player of the Game in Sunday’s 5-3 win over the Cubs (HR 2-3 R 3BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Ramirez earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2000 with the Pirates. His best season was 2005 with the Cubs when he had 11.7 Box-Toppers points, fifth among NL batters. In 2014, he had 5.0 Box-Toppers points with the Brewers, most among NL third basemen.

Ramirez has 100.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 62nd among all players (since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began). With Sunday’s point, he passes three players on that list—Paul Konerko (100.7), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Larry Walker (100.1). Ramirez ranks 21st among all batters since 1995 and sixth among active batters currently in the NL.

Debut—Cardinals pitcher Miguel Socolovich made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Socolovich (1IP 0R K W in the 3-2, 14-inning win over the Pirates) made his Major League debut July 14, 2012, and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,456th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Lincecum earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gattis and Upton each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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

5/3	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	Giants	Tim Lincecum (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	1	4
AL	7.2	Athletics	Sonny Gray (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	2	0	0	7	10
	7.0	Braves	Julio Teheran (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	2	6
	5.2	Twins	Ryan Pressly (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.2	0	0	0	0	3
BAT	5.0	Astros	Evan Gattis DH	4	3	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`Dodgers	Brett Anderson	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	0	4
	4.1	Nationals	Doug Fister (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	0	0	0	3
	4.0	Indians	Jason Kipnis 2B	5	3	4	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	Padres	Justin Upton LF	4	2	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Brewers	Aramis Ramirez 3B	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	Orioles	Zach Britton (S, 5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	1	2
	2.0	Yankees	Jacoby Ellsbury CF	4	2	4	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera 1B	4	1	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Cardinals	Miguel Socolovich (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Phillies	Ryan Howard 1B	4	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Brewers' Fiers tops players for Saturday, May 2; Twins' Hunter extends to 17 consecutive season streak with Box-Toppers points

Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers is Saturday’s Player of the Day.

Fiers struck out 12 over six innings, allowing one run, in the 6-1 win over the Cubs.

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out six, in the 4-0 win over the Rays.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 2.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
5	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
6	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
8	Price, David 2593	pi sp	det al	3.7
9	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
10	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	3.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Batter of the Day—Kyle Blanks of the Rangers homered, doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three, in the 8-7, 10-inning win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Zack Cozart of the Reds homered and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Braves.

Rankings—Tigers pitcher David Price rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday (CG 5H R 3K W in the 2-1 win over the Royals). Price earns 1.0 Box-Toppers points, giving him 3.7 for the season.

Streak—Two players extended their lengthy streaks of consecutive seasons scoring at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

• Torii Hunter of the Twins has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 17 straight seasons, which is now the longest currently active streak. The record for most consecutive seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point is 19, held by Jason Giambi (1995-2013). (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.) Two other active players had Box-Toppers points in 16 straight seasons as of 2014 and also have a chance to extend that to 17 straight seasons in 2015—Tim Hudson of the Giants and Carlos Beltran of the Yankees. Neither has earned Box-Toppers points this season.

Hunter was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the White Sox (HR 3-4 2R 2BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Hunter earned his first Box-Toppers point in 1999 with the Twins. His best season was 2008 with the Angels when he had 12.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked second among AL batters.. In 2014, he had 5.5 Box-Toppers points with the Tigers. 

Hunter has 108.9 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 51st among all players (since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). With Saturday’s point, he passed  three players on that list—Billy Wagner (108.7), Kevin Millwood (108.3) and Lance Berkman (108.1). Hunter ranks 16th among all batters since 1995 and ranks fifth among active batters currently in the AL.

• Marlins pitcher Dan Haren has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 13 straight seasons. Haren was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 7-6 win over the Phillies (6IP 0R 4K W) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Haren earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2003 with the Cardinals. His best season was 2011 with the Angels, when he had 16.8 Box-Toppers points, fifth among AL pitchers. In 2014, he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points with the Dodgers.

Haren has 109.2 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 50th among all players (since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). With Saturday’s point, he also passed Billy Wagner (108.7) and Kevin Millwood (108.3) on that list. Haren ranks 35th among all pitchers since 1995 and ranks 11th among active pitchers currently in the NL, just behind Tim Lincecum of the Giants (109.3).

Scoring—Fiers earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Blanks and Cozart 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

5/2	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Brewers	Mike Fiers (W, 1-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	2	12
AL	8.2	Orioles	Miguel Gonzalez (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	4	0	0	1	6
	8.0	Nationals	Gio Gonzalez (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	0	0	2	9
	6.0	Marlins	Dan Haren (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	0	4
	5.1	Yankees	Dellin Betances (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	4
	5.0	Tigers	David Price (W, 3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	1	1	0	3
	5.0	Dodgers	Juan Nicasio (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	4.0	Rangers	Kyle Blanks 1B	5	2	4	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Twins	Torii Hunter DH	4	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Padres	Craig Kimbrel (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Reds	Zack Cozart SS	5	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Astros	Colby Rasmus LF	5	3	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Blue Jays	Jose Bautista DH	5	1	2	4	0	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Giants	Casey McGehee 3B	4	1	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Cardinals	Pete Kozma 2B	1	1	1	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Royals' Young tops players for Friday, May 1, A-Rod earns Player of the Game honor with 660th homer

Royals pitcher Chris Young is Friday’s Player of the Day.

Meanwhile, Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees was top player in the game in which he tied Willie Mays’ career home run mark and Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of May 1.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
5	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	4.7
6	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
8	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
9	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	3.7
10	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

Young allowed no hits and no runs over five innings, striking out nine, in the 4-1 win over the Tigers.

National League Player of the Day—Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn struck out 10 over seven innings and allowed one run in the 2-1, 10-inning win over the Pirates. Lynn exited the game with the score tied at 1-1 and so did not earn the win, but picked up a no-decision.

National League Batter of the Day—Justin Upton of the Padres went 3-for-4, scored three times and drove in two runs, in the 14-3 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Brett Hayes of the Indians hit a three-run home run in the 9-4 win over the Blue Jays.

Rankings—Matt Harvey rose to fifth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday (7IP 0R W in the 4-0 win over the Nationals). Harvey earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.7 for the season.

Notable—Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees tied Willie Mays’ career home run mark of 660 Friday and also earned Player of the Game honors (pinch-hit homer in the 3-2 win over the Red Sox). Rodriguez earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.5 for the season and moves into 11th place in player rankings, second among AL batters (Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers leads with 3.7). Rodriguez has already eclipsed his 2013 Box-Toppers point total of 3.0.

Rodriguez now has 182.8 career Box-Toppers points, fourth among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began) and first among all batters.

Debuts—Two players made their Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in their career they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Mark Canha of the Athletics (HR 2-4 R 2BI in the 7-5 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut April 8 and was playing in his 18th career game. He is the 3,454th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Mike Foltynewicz of the Braves is the first pitcher in 2015 to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. In 2014, seven different pitchers earned Player of the Game honors for batting—Madison Bumgarner of the Giants did it twice. Foltynewicz (2B 2BI in the 4-3 win over the Reds) made his Major League debut Aug. 2, 2014, and was playing in his 17th career game. He is the 3,455th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Young earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Lynn earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Upton and Hayes each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

5/1	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Royals	Chris Young (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	0	0	0	3	9
NL	10.0	`Cardinals	Lance Lynn	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	1	10
	8.0	Rays	Alex Colome (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	3	0	0	0	6
	7.0	Twins	Kyle Gibson (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	1	4
	7.0	Cubs	Jon Lester (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	0	0	1	4
	4.1	Astros	Josh Fields (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	4
BAT	4.0	Padres	Justin Upton LF	4	3	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mets	Matt Harvey (W, 5-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	3
	3.1	Dodgers	Carlos Frias (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	0	0	1	3
	3.1	`Giants	Chris Heston	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	1	1	1	5
	2.0	Marlins	Marcell Ozuna CF	4	1	4	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Indians	Brett Hayes C	3	1	1	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Alex Rodriguez PH, DH	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Athletics	Mark Canha LF, 1B, LF	4	1	2	2	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Braves	Mike Foltynewicz P	2	0	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Reds' Mike Leake (8IP 0R 2H) tops players for Thursday, April 30

Reds pitcher Mike Leake is Thursday’s Player of the Day.

Leake pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Braves. Leake also homered in the game.

American League Player of the Day—Brian Dozier of the Twins hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four, in the 12-2 win over the White Sox.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 30.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
5	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
7	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
8	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	3.7
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
10	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two doubles and drove in three runs in the 8-2 win over the Mets. This was Harper’s first Player of the Game honor since Sept. 19, 2013. After earning 9.4 Box-Toppers points in 2013, fifth among NL batters, Harper earned 0.0 points in 2014, as he battled injury much of the season.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Thursday since a batter, Brian Dozier of the Twins, won AL Player of the Day honors.

Scoring—Leake earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Dozier earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Harper earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day. All of Thursday’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

4/30	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	7.0	Reds	Mike Leake (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	2	3
	5.2	Cardinals	Carlos Villanueva (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	0	0	0	0	2
AL	3.0	Twins	Brian Dozier 2B	5	2	2	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Royals	Danny Duffy (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	7	1	1	2	7
BAT	2.0	Nationals	Bryce Harper RF	4	1	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Garrett Richards (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	1	1	3	5
	1.0	Blue Jays	Russell Martin C	2	1	1	1	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	0.0	Astros	Jose Altuve 2B	5	1	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Pirates' Gerrit Cole tops players for Wednesday, April 29, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole is Wednesday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Cole struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run, in the 8-1 win over the Cubs. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season.

While Cole has the same number of Box-Toppers points as overall leader Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, Cole is in second place in player rankings because he had fewer points in 2014—Hernandez had 20.8, Cole had 5.7.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 29.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	6.0
3	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	4.7
5	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
6	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
7	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
8	Cabrera, Miguel 1776	1b	det al	3.7
9	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
10	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel allowed one run over eight innings in the 7-2 win over the Padres. Keuchel rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 4.7 for the season.

Keuchel had a Box-Toppers game score Wednesday of 7.0, tied with three other AL players—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello and Rays pitcher Drew Smyly. But Keuchel beat Smyly in a tiebreaker because he earned the win in his game, while Smyly had a no-decision. And Keuchel beat Jimenez and Porcello in a tiebreaker because he had more innings pitched—he had eight, while the other two both had seven.

National League League Batter of the Day—Ryan Braun of the Brewers hit two home runs, including a grand slam, and went 3-for-5, in the 8-3 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Roberto Perez of the Indians homered, doubled and went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs, in the 7-5 win over the Royals.

Rankings—Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday (2HR 2B 3-5 2R 4BI in the 10-7 win over the Twins). Cabrera earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.7 for the season. He leads all American League batters.

Cabrera now has 131.9 career Box-Toppers points and moves up to 25th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Wednesday’s point, Cabrera passes Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (131.8 Box-Toppers points). Cabrera now trails Jason Giambi and David Ortiz (who both have 133.4)

Cabrera ranks ninth among all batters since 1995 and is the fourth-ranked active batter, behind Alex Rodriguez (181.8), Albert Pujols (167.3) and David Ortiz (133.4).

Scoring—Cole earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Keuchel earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Braun and Perez each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

4/29	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	0	1	8
	8.0	Dbacks	Josh Collmenter (W, 2-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	0	0	6
AL	7.0	Astros	Dallas Keuchel (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	0	4
	7.0	Orioles	Ubaldo Jimenez (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	0	1	6
	7.0	Red Sox	Rick Porcello (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	2	6
	7.0	`Rays	Drew Smyly	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	1	10
BAT	5.0	Brewers	Ryan Braun RF	5	2	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	Indians	Roberto Perez C	3	3	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera 1B	5	2	3	4	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Angels	Mike Trout CF	3	2	2	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Marlins	Sam Dyson (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Nationals	Danny Espinosa 3B	5	2	4	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.1	`Mariners	Danny Farquhar (H, 4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	`Cardinals	Jordan Walden (H, 8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Dodgers	Scott Van Slyke LF	2	1	1	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Giants' Madison Bumgarner (8IP R 9K) tops players for Tuesday, April 28

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Player of the Day.

Bumgarner struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Dodgers. 

It was the second straight start in which Bumgarner outdueled Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5. Bumgarner was third among all players with 22.6.

This was Bumgarner’s first Box-Toppers Player of the Game honor this season.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 28.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
3	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
4	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	4.4
5	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
6	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
7	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
8	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
9	Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445	ss	fla nl	3.5
10	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Mariners pitcher J.A. Happ struck out nine over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run, in the 2-1 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Trumbo of the Diamondbacks homered, tripled and went 4-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs, in the 12-5 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Kendrys Morales of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 11-5 win over the Indians.

Rankings—Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto rose to fourth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday (8IP 3H 2R 6K W in the 4-2 win over the Brewers). Cueto earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 4.4 for the season. He becomes the top-ranked NL pitcher.

Notable—Dan Uggla of the Nationals earned his first Player of the Game honor in nearly two years (HR 3B 3-5 2R 5BI in the 13-12 win over the Braves). In 2011, Uggla earned 11.5 Box-Toppers points with the Braves (fifth among NL batters) but in 2013, earned only 1.5 Box-Toppers points (on June 9) and in 2014 earned no points and was released by both the Braves and the Giants.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Happ earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Trumbo and Morales each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Tuesday’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

4/28	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Giants	Madison Bumgarner (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	1	1	9
BAT	7.0	Dbacks	Mark Trumbo RF	4	3	4	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Reds	Johnny Cueto (W, 2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	2	2	0	6
	7.0	Cubs	Travis Wood (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	0	9
AL	6.2	Mariners	J.A. Happ (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	1	1	1	9
	6.0	Twins	Mike Pelfrey (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	1	2	7
	5.0	Nationals	Dan Uggla 2B	5	2	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	5.0	Royals	Kendrys Morales DH	5	4	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Astros	Luis Valbuena 3B	4	4	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Blue Jays	Marco Estrada (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	2	3
	3.0	Athletics	Josh Reddick RF	4	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Cardinals	Matt Adams 1B	4	1	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Yankees	Jacoby Ellsbury CF	4	2	3	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Marlins	Steve Cishek (S, 2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	1

Cubs' Jason Hammel (8IP 0R 7K) tops players for Monday, April 27

Cubs pitcher Jason Hammel is Monday’s Player of the Day.

Hammel pitched eight scoreless innings and struck out seven in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 27.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
3	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
4	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
5	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
7	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
8	Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445	ss	fla nl	3.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
10	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hammel has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2006 with the Rays. His best season was 2014 when he had 10.4 Box-Toppers points with the Cubs (8.7) and the Athletics (1.7). He has 38.5 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks him 44th among active pitchers currently in the National League.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher Adam Warren struck out six over 5 2/3 innings and allowed one run in the 4-1 win over the Rays. Warren earned no decision because he left with the game tied, 1-1.

National League Batter of the Day—Jay Bruce of the Reds hit a two-run homer, scored twice and drove in three runs, in the 9-6 win over the Brewers.

American League Batter of the Day—Pablo Sandoval of the Red Sox homered, went 2-for-2 and drove in three runs, in the 6-5 win over the Blue Jays.

Streak—Justin Morneau of the Rockies has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons. Morneau was Player of the Game in Monday’s 5-4 win over the Diamondbacks (3R HR 2-3 3BI) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Morneau earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2004 with the Twins. His best season was 2006 with the Twins when he had 12.2 Box-Toppers points, ranking seventh among AL batters. In 2014, he had 3.2 Box-Toppers points with the Rockies.

Morneau has 72.3 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 71st among all batters since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995, behind Ryan Braun (72.7) and ahead of Chase Utley (72.1). He ranks sixth among active batters currently in the NL.

Debut—Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker made his Box-Toppers debut Monday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Walker (7IP R 5K W in the 3-1 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2013, and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,453rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. 

Scoring—Hammel earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Warren earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Bruce and Sandoval each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers 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

4/27	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Cubs	Jason Hammel (W, 2-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	0	0	0	7
	6.0	Phillies	Cole Hamels (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	4	9
BAT	5.0	Reds	Jay Bruce RF	1	2	1	3	3	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	4.2	`Yankees	Adam Warren	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	5	1	1	0	6
BAT	4.0	Red Sox	Pablo Sandoval 3B	2	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Dodgers	Justin Turner PH	1	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mariners	Taijuan Walker (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	0	1	5
	3.0	Braves	Kelly Johnson LF	4	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Justin Morneau 1B	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	`Mets	Dillon Gee	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	6	1	1	0	3
	2.0	Royals	Mike Moustakas 3B	5	2	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Astros	Colby Rasmus LF	5	2	2	3	0	3		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Tigers	Yoenis Cespedes LF	4	1	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Rays' Archer tops players for Sunday, April 26, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Rays pitcher Chris Archer is Sunday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Archer pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and struck out seven, in the 5-1 win over the Blue Jays. Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 5.0 for the season. He trails only Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez (6.0 Box-Toppers points) in player rankings.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 26.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	5.0
3	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
4	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
5	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
6	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
7	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
8	Hechavarria, Adeiny 3445	ss	fla nl	3.5
9	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
10	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4

What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano struck out seven over 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, in the 8-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Delmon Young of the Orioles drove in five and went 3-for-6 with three runs in the 18-7 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Miguel Montero of the Cubs homered and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-2 win over the Reds.

Rankings—Adeiny Hechavarria of the Marlins rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday (3B 2-4 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Nationals). Hechavarria earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.5 for the season.

Scoring—Archer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Liriano earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Young and Montero each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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

4/26	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Rays	Chris Archer (W, 3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	7
NL	5.1	Pirates	Francisco Liriano (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	2	0	0	6	7
BAT	5.0	Orioles	Delmon Young RF	6	3	3	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Tigers	Miguel Cabrera 1B	4	2	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	White Sox	David Robertson (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.0	Astros	Jake Marisnick CF	4	3	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Padres	Brandon Morrow (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	4
	3.0	Twins	Casey Fien (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	1	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Cubs	Miguel Montero C	4	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Phillies	Freddy Galvis SS	3	2	3	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	White Sox	John Danks (W, 1-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	3	3	1	8
	2.0	Yankees	Andrew Miller (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria SS	4	0	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Brewers	Gerardo Parra RF	4	2	2	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Rangers	Adam Rosales PR, 3B	0	1	0	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton tops players for Saturday, April 25, rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins is Saturday’s Player of the Day and rises to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Stanton homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two, in the 8-0 win over the Nationals. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 4.5 for the season. He is the overall top-ranked batter and trails only Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, who has 6.0 Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 25.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Stanton, Giancarlo 2737	rf	fla nl	4.5
3	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
4	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
5	Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	nym nl	3.7
6	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
7	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
8	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4
9	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
10	Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	stl nl	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Ernesto Frieri struck out three in an inning of middle relief in the 4-2 win over the Blue Jays. Frieri had the AL-highest Box-Toppers game score Saturday of +4, which was tied with Orioles pitcher Wei-Yin Chen, who was Player of the Game in the win over the Red Sox. But Frieri won the tiebreaker as AL Player of the Day because he earned the win in his game while Chen earned no decision.

American League Batter of the Day—Jed Lowrie of the Astros doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 9-3 win over the Athletics.

National League Batter of the Day—Since the top NL player who earned Player of the Game honors was a batter (Stanton) there is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Saturday.

Rankings—Besides Stanton, two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:

• Mets pitcher Matt Harvey (8.2IP 2R 7K W in the 8-2 win over the Yankees) rose to fifth place. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.7 for the season.
• Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright (4IP 0R 4K ND in the 5-3 win over the Brewers) rose to 10th place. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. Wainwright left the game with an ankle injury while batting in the fifth inning and had to be helped off the field. With the Box-Toppers point earned Saturday, Wainwright now has 101.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 59th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Saturdays' point, he passes Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Jason Schmidt (101.2) on that list.

Streak—Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 12 straight seasons. Burnett was Player of the Game in Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks (7IP R 4K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season.

Burnett began the 12-season streak in 2004, the year he earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points with the Marlins and has earned Player of the Game honors at least once in every season since. However, Burnett earned his first Box-Toppers points in 1999 with the Marlins. He did not score any Box-Toppers points in 2003, the only season since 1999 that he had 0.0 points.

Burnett had his best seasons in 2002 and 2005, both with the Marlins, when he scored 13.7 Box-Toppers points. In 2002, he ranked fourth among NL pitchers. In 2005, he ranked ninth among NL pitchers. In 2014, he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points with the Phillies, ranking 37th among NL pitchers.

Burnett has 122.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 33rd among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He ranks 22nd among all pitchers since 1995. His career point total ranks sixth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Scoring—Stanton earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Frieri earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Lowrie earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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

4/25	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	5.0	Marlins	Giancarlo Stanton RF	3	3	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	`Cardinals	Adam Wainwright	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	3	0	0	0	4
	4.2	Mets	Matt Harvey (W, 4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.2	5	2	2	2	7
	4.0	Dodgers	Andre Ethier RF	4	2	3	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	4.0	Rays	Ernesto Frieri (W, 1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	4.0	`Orioles	Wei-Yin Chen	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	2	2	1	5
BAT	3.0	Astros	Jed Lowrie SS	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	`Pirates	A.J. Burnett	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	2	4
	2.0	Tigers	Joakim Soria (S, 6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Braves	Jason Grilli (S, 7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Twins	Eduardo Nunez LF	4	1	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Angels	Grant Green 2B	3	2	2	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Giants	Joe Panik 2B	0	0	0	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Hernandez, pitching complete game shutout, tops players for Friday, April 24, extends his Box-Toppers player rankings lead

Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, pitching a complete game shutout, is Friday’s Player of the Day and extends his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Hernandez struck out nine over nine innings, allowing five hits, in the 2-0 win over the Twins. He earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 6.0 for the season and is now 2.0 points ahead of the second-place player, Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (4.0 Box-Toppers points).

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of April 24.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	6.0
2	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	4.0
3	Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	oak al	3.7
4	DeSclafani, Anthony 3441	pi sp	cin nl	3.7
5	Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	cin nl	3.4
6	Harang, Aaron 1599	pi sp	phi nl	3.4
7	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	3.0
8	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	3.0
9	Archer, Chris 3194	pi sp	tb al	3.0
10	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	3.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Hernandez now has 149.3 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 16th among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1994. With Friday's points, he passes Chipper Jones (149.0 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).

National League Player of the Day—Phillies pitcher Aaron Harang pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing two hits, in the 1-0 win over the Braves. Harang had a no-decision because he left the game with the score tied 0-0. The Phillies won the game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off run by Freddy Galvis.

Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 3.4 for the season. He rises to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings for 2015.

American League Batter of the Day—Brandon Moss of the Indians homered twice, doubled and drove in seven runs in the 13-1 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—DJ LeMahieu of the Rockies hit two doubles and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs and scoring another, in the 6-4 win over the Giants.

Rankings—Besides Hernandez and Harang, three other players who earned Player of the Game honors Friday rose in Box-Toppers player rankings:

• Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7.2IP R 7K W in the 4-1 win over the Diamondbacks) rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 4.0 for the season.
• Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke (7IP 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Padres) rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season. Greinke now has 128.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranking 28th among all players since 1995 when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With Friday's point, he passes Vladimir Guerrero (128.3 Box-Toppers points) on the "all-time" list (since 1995).
• Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel (9IP 2H 0R 4K ND in the 5-4 win over the Athletics) rose to 10th place in Box-Toppers player rankings. He earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 3.0 for the season.

Streak—Cubs pitcher Jon Lester has now earned at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point for 10 straight seasons. Lester was Player of the Game in Friday’s 7-3 win over the Reds (6IP 3R 10K ND) and earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. 

Lester earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Red Sox. His best season was 2010 with the Red Sox when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players. In 2014, he had 16.4 Box-Toppers points in a season split between the Red Sox (10.0 Box-Toppers points) and the Athletics (6.4 points). He ranked sixth among AL pitchers in 2014. 

Lester has 110.1 career Box-Toppers points, moving him up to 47th place among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. (With Friday’s 1.0 Box-Toppers point, he passes Jeff Kent—109.7 and Tim Lincecum—109.3.) Lester ranks 33rd among all pitchers in Box-Toppers points since 1995 and ranks ninth among active pitchers currently in the NL.

Debut—Tim Beckham of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Friday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Beckham (HR 2-2 R 2BI in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays) made his Major League debut Sept. 19, 2013, and was playing in the 21st game of his career. He is the 3,452nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. 

Scoring—Hernandez earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harang earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Moss and LeMahieu each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day. All of Friday’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

4/24	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	13.0	Mariners	Felix Hernandez (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	5	0	0	0	9
NL	11.0	`Phillies	Aaron Harang	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	0	0	1	6
	9.0	Cardinals	Carlos Martinez (W, 2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	2	8
	9.0	`Astros	Dallas Keuchel	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	2	4
	7.2	Yankees	Michael Pineda (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	1	1	0	7
BAT	7.0	Indians	Brandon Moss RF	5	2	3	7	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	3	7
	4.0	`Cubs	Jon Lester	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	3	3	1	10
	3.2	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W, 3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	7	1	1	2	7
	3.0	Rays	Tim Beckham PH, DH	2	1	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Rockies	DJ LeMahieu 2B	4	1	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Red Sox	Brock Holt SS, LF	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Garrett Richards (W, 1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	2	2	3	5
	1.0	Marlins	Adeiny Hechavarria SS	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.