Giants' Bumgarner tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 11; Harvey, Greinke rise in Box-Toppers top 10 rankings

Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to 18th in player rankings.

Also Tuesday, two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings:

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 11.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
6 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 15.4
7 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
8 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 15.0
9 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
10 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 14.4
What are those numbers after players' names?
  • Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to sixth place with 15.4 Box-Toppers points.
  • Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to eighth place with 15.0 Box-Toppers points.

Plus, Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins, with his first Player of the Game honor of the season, has now earned Box-Toppers points in 15 straight seasons.

Player of the Day—Bumgarner pitched a complete game five-hitter, allowing one run and striking out 12, in the 3-1 win over the Astros.

Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season. He is the 24th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 18th among all players, ninth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Jedd Gyorko of the Padres homered and went 2-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 11-6 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Joe Mauer of the Twins doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 3-2 win over the Rangers.

Rankings—Two players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday:

  • Mets pitcher Matt Harvey rose to sixth place with 15.4 Box-Toppers points. Harvey (8IP 4H 0R 4K W in the 4-0 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point and ranks third among NL pitchers, behind Jacob deGrom of the Mets (17.4) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0).
  • Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to eighth place with 15.0 Box-Toppers points. Greinke (6IP 6H 0R 6K W in the 5-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 point and ranks fifth among NL pitchers. Greinke also now has 140.7 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 20th place player, Jim Thome (146.7).

Notable—There were five players who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday who now have more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season. In addition to Bumgarner, Harvey and Greinke, the other two are:

  • Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (8IP 4H 2R 8K ND in the 5-4, 16-inning win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season. He ranks 11th among all players and fifth among AL pitchers.
  • Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker (6IP 5H 2R 6K ND in the 6-5, 10-inning win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.7 for the season. He becomes the 25th player with 10 or more Box-Toppers points this season and ranks 20th among all players, 10th among AL pitchers.

Streak—Ichiro Suzuki of the Marlins has now earned Box-Toppers points for 15 straight seasons after earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on Tuesday.

Suzuki (1-2 R BI in the 5-4, 10-inning win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point. He earned his first points in 2001 with the Mariners. His best season was 2007 with the Mariners, when he had 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ninth among AL outfielders. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Yankees. He has 51.7 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks sixth among active NL outfielders.

Scoring—Bumgarner earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Rodon earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Gyorko and Mauer 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

8/11 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Giants Madison Bumgarner (W,13-6) - - - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 0 12
AL 13.0 White Sox Carlos Rodon (W,5-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 1 11
8.0 Mets Matt Harvey (W,11-7) - - - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 0 4
8.0 `Indians Carlos Carrasco - - - - - - 8.0 4 2 2 0 8
6.0 Dbacks Jeremy Hellickson (W,8-8) - - - - - - 8.0 7 1 0 0 6
6.0 Rays Erasmo Ramirez (W,9-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 0 4
6.0 Royals Yordano Ventura (W,7-7) - - - - - - 6.0 2 0 0 6 8
5.0 Dodgers Zack Greinke (W,12-2) - - - - - - 6.0 6 0 0 1 6
4.0 Cardinals Trevor Rosenthal (S,34) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 Padres Jedd Gyorko, 2B 4 1 2 4 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Blue Jays Drew Hutchison (W,11-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 2 6
2.0 `Mariners Taijuan Walker - - - - - - 6.0 5 2 2 1 6
1.0 Cubs Anthony Rizzo, 1B 3 0 2 2 1 1 - - - - - -
BAT 1.0 Twins Joe Mauer, 1B 3 1 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Marlins Ichiro Suzuki, RF 2 1 1 1 2 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Royals' Johnny Cueto (CG 0R 4H 8K) tops players for Monday, Aug. 10

Royals pitcher Johnny Cueto is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Cueto pitched a complete game shutout, striking out eight and allowing four hits, in the 4-0 win over the Tigers.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
6 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
8 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 14.4
9 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 14.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game, giving him 12.8 for the season, rising to 15th in player rankings. He ranks eighth among American League pitchers. Monday marked the first time Cueto earned Box-Toppers points since his trade last month from the Reds.

National League Player of the Day—Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez pitched eight scoreless innings, striking out six, in the 8-3 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Avisail Garcia of the White Sox hit two home runs and drove in four in the 8-2 win over the Angels.

National League Batter of the Day—Wellington Castillo of the Diamondbacks homered and hit a three-run triple in the 13-3 win over the Phillies. Castillo went 2-for-4 with two runs and four RBIs.

Scoring—Cueto earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gonzalez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Garcia and Castillo 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

8/10 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Royals Johnny Cueto (W,8-7) - - - - - - 9.0 4 0 0 0 8
NL 6.0 Nationals Gio Gonzalez (W,9-4) - - - - - - 8.0 7 0 0 1 6
5.1 Orioles Wei-Yin Chen (W,6-6) - - - - - - 7.1 3 1 1 2 5
BAT 4.0 White Sox Avisail Garcia, RF 4 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Dbacks Welington Castillo, C 4 2 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Mets Jeurys Familia (S,31) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 `Padres Shawn Kelley (H,4) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 3
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Indians' Kluber tops players for Sunday, Aug. 9; Cubs' Arrieta rises to 8th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Corey Kluber is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings. Plus, Angels pitcher Jered Weaver earned Player of the Game honors, giving him 120.4 career Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 8.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
6 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
8 Arrieta, Jake 2738 pi sp chi nl 14.4
9 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 14.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kluber pitched a three-hit complete game, allowing one run and striking out 10, in the 8-1 win over the Twins. Kluber had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning.

Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 9.7 for the season and ranks 12th among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 2-0 win over the Giants.

Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to eighth place among players this season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Jackie Bradley Jr. of the Red Sox homered, tripled and drove in five runs in the 7-2 win over the Tigers.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 13-6 win over the Dodgers.

Notable—Angels pitcher Jered Weaver rose to 36th place among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Weaver (5IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 5-4 win over the Orioles) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 120.4 for his career. With his point Sunday, Weaver passes Justin Verlander (119.9) on the “all-time” list (Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995). Weaver trails 35th-ranked player Cole Hamels (120.8). Weaver’s 120.4 career Box-Toppers points ranks fourth among active AL pitchers. He has 5.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

Debut—Richie Shaffer of the Rays made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Shaffer (HR 3-3 3R BI in the 4-3 win over the Mets) made his Major League debut Aug. 3 and was playing in his fourth career game. He is the 3,555th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kluber earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Bradley and Cervelli 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

8/9 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 13.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W,7-12) - - - - - - 9.0 3 1 1 1 10
9.2 `Athletics Chris Bassitt - - - - - - 6.2 3 1 1 2 10
NL 7.2 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W,13-6) - - - - - - 7.2 4 0 0 2 6
6.1 Blue Jays Marco Estrada (W,10-6) - - - - - - 6.1 3 0 0 3 6
BAT 6.0 Red Sox Jackie Bradley, CF 3 2 2 5 1 0 - - - - - -
5.2 `Royals Kris Medlen - - - - - - 3.2 0 0 0 1 3
BAT 4.0 Pirates Francisco Cervelli, C 4 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Brewers Khris Davis, LF 4 2 2 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Rays Richie Shaffer, DH 3 3 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Marlins Brad Hand (W,2-2) - - - - - - 7.0 2 1 1 2 3
4.0 `Angels Jered Weaver - - - - - - 5.0 4 2 2 0 7
3.0 Phillies Jerome Williams (W,4-8) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 0 3
2.0 Dbacks David Peralta, LF 5 1 5 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Rockies DJ LeMahieu, 2B 1 0 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Mariners Jesus Montero, 1B 3 1 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.

Nationals' Strasburg tops players for Saturday, Aug. 8; Blue Jays' Price rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Saturday, Blue Jays pitcher David Price rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and now leads AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points.

Player of the Day—Strasburg struck out 12 over seven innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 6-1 win over the Rockies.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Aug. 8.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 16.1
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
4 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
5 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
6 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
8 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 14.0
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 5-0 win over the Angels.

American League Batter of the Day—Abraham Almonte of the Indians homered, hit two doubles and went 4-for-5, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 17-4 win over the Twins.

This was Almonte’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut Aug. 30, 2013, and was playing in his 116th career game. He is the 3,554th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Liriano of the Pirates hit a three-run homer in the 6-5 win over the Dodgers. Liriano is the seventh pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.9 for the season and becomes the 23rd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 17th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.

Rankings—Blue Jays pitcher David Price rises to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Price (7IP 3H 0R 7K W in the 6-0 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.1 for the season. He trails overall leader, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (17.4 Box-Toppers points). Price takes the Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers, passing Sonny Gray of the Athletics (15.8), who only took the AL pitching lead Friday.

Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Jimenez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Almonte and Liriano 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

8/8 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Nationals Stephen Strasburg (W,6-5) - - - - - - 7.0 3 1 1 0 12
AL 11.0 Orioles Ubaldo Jimenez (W,9-7) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 1 6
8.0 Blue Jays David Price (W,11-4) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 3 7
6.0 Cardinals Jaime Garcia (W,4-4) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 4 5
BAT 4.0 Indians Abraham Almonte, CF 5 3 4 2 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Pirates Francisco Liriano, P 1 1 1 3 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Rangers Shawn Tolleson (W,4-2) - - - - - - 2.0 1 0 0 2 5
4.0 Royals Greg Holland (S,25) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.0 Cubs Kris Bryant, 3B 3 2 1 3 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Phillies Ken Giles (S,5) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Braves Andrelton Simmons, SS 2 1 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Tigers Bruce Rondon (S,1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 1 2
2.0 Reds Aroldis Chapman (S,24) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 Rays Grady Sizemore, LF 4 1 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
1.0 Athletics Coco Crisp, LF 0 1 0 0 1 0 - - - - - -

Diamondbacks' Anderson tops players for Friday, Aug. 7; Mets' deGrom extends Box-Toppers player rankings lead

Diamondbacks pitcher Chase Anderson is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to third place—first place among American League pitchers—in Box-Toppers points.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 17.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 15.8
4 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 15.1
6 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
7 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
8 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 14.0
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Anderson pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing four hits, in the 2-0 win over the Reds.

American League Player of the Day—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray pitched a complete game, allowing one run and five hits, striking out five, in the 3-1 win over the Astros.

Gray earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.8 for the season. He rises to third place in Box-Toppers season player rankings and first among AL pitchers, passing previous leader Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (15.4).

American League Batter of the Day—Torii Hunter of the Twins hit a go-ahead ninth-inning homer in the 10-9 win over the Indians. Hunter also doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs. 

Hunter earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 115.9 for his career, rising to 43rd place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Friday, Hunter passes Tim Lincecum (115.0) on the “all-time” list. He trails 42nd-place player Todd Helton (116.4). Hunter’s 115.9 career Box-Toppers points ranks fifth among active AL batters.

Hunter also has 8.0 Box-Toppers points this season and ranks third among AL batters behind Mike Trout of the Angels (10.0) and Lorenzo Cain of the Royals (8.2).

National League Batter of the Day—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies hit a go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam in the 5-4 win over the Nationals. Gonzalez went 2-for-4 in the game.

Gonzalez earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season and ranks fourth among NL batters.

Rankings—Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom extended his lead in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

deGrom (6.1IP 6H 2R 7K ND in the 4-3 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.4 for the season. He has led players in Box-Toppers points since July 26.

Notable—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates rose to second place among NL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Friday. McCutchen (2B 2-3 2R BI in the 10-inning 5-4 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.5 for the season. He ranks 32nd among all players. McCutchen trails overall NL batting leader Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals (9.5 Box-Toppers points).

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

  • Rusney Castillo of the Red Sox (3-5 3R BI in the 7-2 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut Sept. 17, 2014, and was playing in his 47th career game. He is the 3,552nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Phillies pitcher Hector Neris (1IP H 0R 2K W in the 4-3, 12-inning win over the Padres) made his Major League debut Aug. 5, 2014, and was playing in his 12th career game. He is the 3,553rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Anderson 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. Hunter and Gonzalez 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

8/7 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 8.0 Dbacks Chase Anderson (W,5-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 7
AL 7.0 Athletics Sonny Gray (W,12-4) - - - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 0 5
6.0 Cardinals Carlos Villanueva (S,2) - - - - - - 3.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 4.0 Twins Torii Hunter, RF 5 3 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.1 `Mets Jacob deGrom - - - - - - 6.1 6 2 2 0 7
BAT 3.0 Rockies Carlos Gonzalez, RF 4 1 2 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Angels C.J. Cron, PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.2 Cubs Hector Rondon (S,18) - - - - - - 1.2 0 0 0 1 2
2.0 Red Sox Rusney Castillo, RF 5 3 3 1 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Braves Nick Markakis, RF 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Pirates Andrew McCutchen, CF 3 2 2 1 2 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Royals Edinson Volquez (W,11-6) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 2 3
2.0 Phillies Hector Neris (W,2-0) - - - - - - 1.0 1 0 0 0 2
1.0 Mariners Hisashi Iwakuma (W,3-2) - - - - - - 7.0 6 3 3 0 6
1.0 Blue Jays Roberto Osuna (S,9) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 0
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Los Angeles Dodgers pass Houston Astros to top weekly Box-Toppers team rankings report

Dodgers rise to top team rankings. Astros fall to 2nd but remain top AL team. New York Mets had hottest week thanks to winning streak and trade for Cespedes.

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Cardinals' Michael Wacha tops players for Thursday, Aug. 6; Dodgers' Greinke rises to 9th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers player rankings. Plus, two players with more than 100 career Box-Toppers points earned Player of the Game honors:

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 15.1
5 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 14.1
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 14.0
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
What are those numbers after players' names?
  • Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, 178.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among players since 1995.
  • Greinke, 139.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 21st among players since 1995.

Player of the Day—Wacha pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out six, in the 3-0 win over the Reds.

American League Player of the Day—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 2-1 win over the Red Sox. Sabathia did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited with the score tied, 1-1.

Sabathia earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 178.0 for his career. He ranks fifth among all players since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995. He ranks second among active players, behind Alex Rodriguez (187.0, fourth place overall) and first among active pitchers. Sabathia has 4.7 Box-Toppers points this season.

National League Batter of the Day—Khris Davis of the Brewers hit two three-run homers and went 3-for-5 in the 10-1 win over the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-3 win over the Twins.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to ninth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Greinke was the sixth pitcher this season to earn Player of the Game honors for batting (HR 3-3 3R BI in the 10-8 win over the Phillies). It is the first time in his career Greinke has earned Player of the Game honors for batting.

Greinke earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being Player of the Game, giving him 14.0 for the season and rising to ninth in overall player rankings. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

Greinke also now has 139.7 career Box-Toppers points, ranked 21st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 20th-place player Jim Thome (146.7).

Debut—Daniel Castro of the Braves made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Castro (3-4 2R in the 9-8 win over the Marlins) made his Major League debut June 17 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,551st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Wacha earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sabathia earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Davis and Encarnacion each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s 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

8/6 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 7.0 Cardinals Michael Wacha (W,13-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 2 6
BAT 6.0 Brewers Khris Davis, LF 5 2 3 6 0 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Nationals Joe Ross (W,3-3) - - - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 0 7
AL 6.0 `Yankees CC Sabathia - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 3 8
BAT 5.0 Blue Jays Edwin Encarnacion, DH 4 2 3 4 1 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Tigers Victor Martinez, DH 4 2 2 5 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Dodgers Zack Greinke, SP 3 3 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Cubs Kyle Schwarber, C 3 2 1 3 1 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Braves Daniel Castro, SS 4 2 3 0 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Astros Carlos Correa, SS 4 1 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mets' Matt Harvey tops players for Wednesday, Aug. 5, rises to 7th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Mets pitcher Matt Harvey is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to seventh in player rankings.

Harvey pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six, in the 8-6 win over the Marlins.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 15.1
5 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
7 Harvey, Matt 3075 pi sp nym nl 14.4
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 14.1
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
10 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 13.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Harvey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 14.4 for the season, rising to seventh in season player rankings and fourth among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 2-1 win over the Yankees.

American League Batter of the Day—Chris Davis of the Orioles hit a game-winning, 10th-inning grand slam in the 7-3 win over the Athletics. Davis went 2-for-4, scoring two runs.

Davis earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.0 for the season, ranking seventh among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates homered, scored twice and drove in two runs, going 1-for-2, in the 7-5 win over the Cubs.

McCutchen earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season, ranking fourth among NL batters.

Debut—Tigers pitcher Matt Boyd made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Boyd (7IP 7H R 2K W in the 2-1 win over the Royals) made his Major League debut June 27 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,550th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Harvey earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wright earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Davis and McCutchen 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

8/5 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Mets Matt Harvey (W,10-7) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 0 6
AL 9.0 Red Sox Steven Wright (W,5-4) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 2 9
7.1 Giants Madison Bumgarner (W,12-6) - - - - - - 7.1 7 1 1 0 9
6.0 White Sox David Robertson (W,5-3) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 4
5.0 Brewers Taylor Jungmann (W,6-3) - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 0 8
BAT 4.0 Orioles Chris Davis, 1B 4 2 2 4 1 2 - - - - - -
4.0 Dodgers Kenley Jansen (S,20) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
3.1 `Rangers Spencer Patton (H,3) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Blue Jays Jose Bautista, RF 4 2 1 4 1 0 - - - - - -
BAT 3.0 Pirates Andrew McCutchen, CF 2 2 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Dbacks Welington Castillo, C 4 1 2 3 1 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Rockies Ben Paulsen, 1B 5 2 3 1 0 2 - - - - - -
1.0 Angels C.J. Cron, 1B 2 0 1 2 2 0 - - - - - -
1.0 Cardinals Peter Bourjos, PH 0 1 0 0 0 0 - - - - - -
0.0 Tigers Matt Boyd (W,1-2) - - - - - - 7.0 7 1 1 0 2
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Indians' Carlos Carrasco (9IP 0R H 7K ND) tops players for Tuesday, Aug. 4

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Tuesday, Giants pitcher Jake Peavy rises to 25th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 15.1
5 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
7 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 14.1
8 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 13.0
10 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched nine scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out seven, in the 2-0, 12-inning win over the Angels. Carrasco did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because when he exited, the game was tied 0-0.

Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season, rising to 11th place in season player rankings. He ranks seventh among American League pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out five, in the 5-0 win over the Pirates.

Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.7 for the season, rising to 13th in player rankings. He ranks sixth among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Chris Young of the Yankees homered and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in three runs, in the 13-3 win over the Red Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no NL Batter of the Day for Tuesday because no NL batter earned Player of the Game honors.

Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy rose to 25th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Tuesday.

Peavy (6IP 5H R 8K ND in the 8-3 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 133.8 for his career. With his point Tuesday, Peavy passes two players on Box-Toppers “all-time” list—Miguel Cabrera (132.9) and Jason Giambi (133.4). Peavy trails 24th-place player David Ortiz (135.9). Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.

Peavy ranks 10th among active players in career Box-Toppers points. He has 2.0 Box-Toppers points this season.

Debut—Mariners pitcher Rob Rasmussen made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rasmussen (1.1IP 0H 0R 2K in the 10-4 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut May 20, 2014, and was playing in his 13th career game. He is the 3,549th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Arrieta earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Young earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL 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

8/4 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 `Indians Carlos Carrasco - - - - - - 9.0 1 0 0 1 7
7.0 Athletics Chris Bassitt (W,1-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 2 7
NL 7.0 Cubs Jake Arrieta (W,12-6) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 3 5
BAT 6.0 Yankees Chris Young, LF 4 4 3 3 1 1 - - - - - -
6.0 Mets Jonathon Niese (W,6-9) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 1 6
6.0 `Giants Jake Peavy - - - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 1 8
5.2 Blue Jays Marco Estrada (W,9-6) - - - - - - 6.2 2 1 1 2 5
5.2 Brewers Jimmy Nelson (W,9-9) - - - - - - 6.2 3 1 0 1 4
4.0 `Reds Anthony DeSclafani (W,7-7) - - - - - - 6.0 7 2 2 0 9
3.1 Phillies Ken Giles (S,3) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 1 3
3.1 Mariners Rob Rasmussen (W,1-0) - - - - - - 1.1 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Royals Salvador Perez, C 4 1 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 `Rangers Spencer Patton (H,2) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Rays Asdrubal Cabrera, SS 4 3 2 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Nationals Drew Storen (W,2-0) - - - - - - 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.

Blue Jays' David Price tops players for Monday, Aug. 3, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Blue Jays pitcher David Price is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth in player rankings.

Price struck out 11 over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 5-1 win over the Twins in his debut with the Blue Jays. Price, previously with the Tigers, was Box-Toppers’ highest-ranked player traded prior to the July trade deadline.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 15.1
5 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
6 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
7 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 14.1
8 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 13.0
10 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Game, giving him 15.1 for the season. He ranks fourth among all players and second among American League pitchers, behind Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (15.4).

National League Player of the Day—Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Godley pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing three hits, in the 6-4 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit for the cycle (home run, triple, double, single), going 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 12-9 win over the Astros.

National League Batter of the Day—Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-7 win over the Marlins.

Cespedes earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.2 for the season, rising to second place among NL batters, behind Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals (9.5).

Scoring—Price earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Godley earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Beltre and Cespedes 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

8/3 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 Blue Jays David Price (W,10-4) - - - - - - 8.0 3 1 1 2 11
NL 7.0 Dbacks Zack Godley (W,3-0) - - - - - - 6.0 3 0 0 2 6
BAT 4.0 Rangers Adrian Beltre, 3B 5 2 4 3 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Mets Yoenis Cespedes, CF 5 2 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Padres Yangervis Solarte, 3B 4 2 2 4 1 1 - - - - - -
3.1 Angels Garrett Richards (W,11-8) - - - - - - 7.1 4 4 4 3 11
3.1 `Rays Nathan Karns - - - - - - 5.1 3 2 2 2 7
3.0 Braves Jace Peterson, 2B 5 2 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Mariners Kyle Seager, 3B 4 3 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Orioles Caleb Joseph, C 4 1 2 3 0 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Mariners' Iwakuma tops players for Sunday, Aug. 2, Athletics' Gray rises to 6th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Sunday, Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rises to sixth in Box-Toppers season player rankings and Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals extends his Box-Toppers points lead among National League batters.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
6 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 14.1
7 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
8 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 13.1
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 13.0
10 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Iwakuma struck out eight over 8 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-1, 11-inning win over the Twins. Iwakuma did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because he exited the game with the score tied, 1-1.

National League Player of the Day—Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez pitched six scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing four hits, in the 5-2 win over the Padres. Fernandez did not earn the win, picking up a no-decision, because after he exited, the Padres tied the game 2-2.

American League Batter of the Day—Stephen Drew of the Yankees tripled, doubled and went 3-for-5, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 12-3 win over the White Sox.

National League Batter of the Day—Jace Peterson of the Braves hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-4 in the 6-2 win over the Phillies.

Rankings—Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Gray (7IP 4H R 7K ND in the 2-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.1 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers, behind Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (15.4) and Chris Sale of the White Sox (14.4).

Notable—Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals extends his Box-Toppers point lead among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Sunday.

Grichuk (2-R HR 2-4 in the 3-2 win over the Rockies) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 9.5 for the season. Grichuk ranks 24th among all players this season.

Debut—Tigers pitcher Daniel Norris made his Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors.

Norris (7.1IP 4H R 5K W in the 6-1 win over the Orioles) made his Major League debut Sept. 5, 2014, and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,548th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Iwakuma earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Fernandez earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Drew and Peterson 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

8/2 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 10.2 `Mariners Hisashi Iwakuma - - - - - - 8.2 3 1 1 1 8
10.1 Rangers Martin Perez (W,1-2) - - - - - - 8.0 2 1 1 0 6
NL 10.0 `Marlins Jose Fernandez - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 2 10
9.0 Pirates Charlie Morton (W,7-4) - - - - - - 7.0 5 0 0 0 7
9.0 Blue Jays R.A. Dickey (W,6-10) - - - - - - 7.0 2 0 0 2 6
6.0 Mets Noah Syndergaard (W, 6-5) - - - - - - 8.0 7 2 2 0 9
5.1 Tigers Daniel Norris (W,2-1) - - - - - - 7.1 4 1 1 1 5
BAT 4.0 Yankees Stephen Drew, 2B 5 2 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 `Athletics Sonny Gray - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 4 7
4.0 Rays Brad Boxberger (S,26) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 3
BAT 3.0 Braves Jace Peterson, 2B 4 1 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Dodgers Andre Ethier, LF 5 2 2 3 0 2 - - - - - -
2.0 Astros Collin McHugh (W,13-5) - - - - - - 7.0 8 1 1 1 6
2.0 Cubs Clayton Richard (W,2-0) - - - - - - 6.0 5 1 1 0 3
1.0 Cardinals Randal Grichuk, CF 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.

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw tops players for Saturday, Aug. 1, rises to 4th in Box-Toppers player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to fourth in season player rankings.

Also Saturday, Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rises to sixth in Box-Toppers player rankings and Ryan Howard of the Phillies earns Player of the Game honors for the second straight day.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 15.0
5 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
6 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 13.7
7 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 13.1
8 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 13.1
9 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 13.0
10 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Kershaw pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven, in the 3-1 win over the Angels.

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 15.0 for the season, rising to fourth place among all players and third among National League pitchers, behind overall leader Jacob deGrom of the Mets (16.4) and Max Scherzer of the Nationals (16.0). Kershaw led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 31.5.

Kershaw also rises to 18th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. Kershaw has 148.6 career Box-Toppers points and with his points Saturday passes two players on the “all-time” list—Jim Thome (146.7) and Javier Vazquez (148.3). He trails 17th-place player, Chipper Jones (149.0).

American League Player of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox hit two home runs, doubled and went 4-for-4, scoring five times and driving in three runs, in the 11-7 win over the Rays.

This was Shaw’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. He made his Major League debut May 8 and was playing in his 10th career game. He is the 3,544th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—Lucas Duda of the Mets homered twice, doubled and went 3-for-3, driving in three runs, in the 3-2 win over the Nationals.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is a batter (Travis Shaw).

Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to sixth place in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday. Keuchel (6IP 2H 2R 8K W in the 9-2 win over the Diamondbacks) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.7 for the season. He ranks third among AL pitchers.

Notable—Ryan Howard of the Phillies earned Player of the Game honors for the second straight day Saturday. Howard (2B 3-4 2R BI in the 12-2 win over the Braves) was also NL Batter of the Day Friday. Howard has 4.5 Box-Toppers points for the season, 17th among NL batters. He has 95.7 for his career, 74th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began) and first among active NL first basemen.

Debuts—In addition to Shaw, three other players made their Box-Toppers debut Saturday, earning their first career Player of the Game honors:

  • Athletics pitcher Aaron Brooks (7.1IP 5H R 5K W in the 5-1 win over the Indians) made his Major League debut May 3, 2014, and was playing in his fifth career game. He is the 3,545th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland (2IP 0H 0R K W in the 9-7 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut Sept. 1, 2014, and was playing in his 37th career game. He is the 3,546th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
  • Ben Paulsen of the Rockies (HR 2B 2-5 R 3BI in the 6-2 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut July 21, 2014, and was playing in his 95th career game. He is the 3,547th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Shaw earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Duda earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL 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

8/1 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 Dodgers Clayton Kershaw (W,9-6) - - - - - - 8.0 2 0 0 1 7
AL 8.0 Red Sox Travis Shaw, 3B 4 5 4 3 1 0 - - - - - -
5.1 Athletics Aaron Brooks (W,1-0) - - - - - - 7.1 5 1 1 0 5
BAT 5.0 Mets Lucas Duda, 1B 3 2 3 3 1 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Orioles Kevin Gausman (W,2-2) - - - - - - 7.0 4 2 2 0 6
5.0 Cubs Kyle Hendricks (W,5-5) - - - - - - 7.0 4 1 1 2 6
5.0 Astros Dallas Keuchel (W,13-5) - - - - - - 6.0 2 2 2 3 8
4.2 White Sox John Danks (W,6-8) - - - - - - 5.2 3 1 1 4 8
4.0 Royals Ben Zobrist, LF 4 3 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Giants Hunter Strickland (W,2-1) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Phillies Ryan Howard, 1B 4 2 3 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Reds Eugenio Suarez, SS 2 0 1 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Padres Craig Kimbrel (S,31) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
2.0 Twins Trevor May (W,7-7) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 1
1.0 Rockies Ben Paulsen, 1B 5 1 2 3 0 1 - - - - - -

Mariners' Walker tops players for Friday, July 31; Dodgers' Greinke rises to 8th in player rankings

Mariners pitcher Taijuan Walker is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Friday, Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to eighth place in Box-Toppers player rankings.

Player of the Day—Walker pitched a complete-game one-hitter, allowing one home run and striking out 11, in the 6-1 win over the Twins.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of July 31.  


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 13.1
6 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 13.1
7 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 13.0
8 Greinke, Zack 1871 pi sp lad nl 13.0
9 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
10 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 13.0
What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Matt Harvey struck out nine over 7 2/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Nationals. Harvey picked up a no-decision and did not earn the win because he exited the game with the score tied, 1-1.

Harvey earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 12.4 for the season. He ranks 13th among all players and seventh among NL pitchers.

American League Batter of the Day—Mark Teixeira of the Yankees hit two home runs—a grand slam and a two-run homer—in the 13-6 win over the White Sox. Teixeira also doubled and went 3-for-4.

Teixeira earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 7.5 for the season and ranks fifth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—Ryan Howard of the Phillies doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 9-3 win over the Braves.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke rose to eighth in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

Greinke (8IP 5H 2R 8K W in the 5-3 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks fourth among NL pitchers.

Greinke also rises to 21st place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Greinke now has 138.7 career points and passes one player on the “all-time” list—Andy Pettitte (138.5). Greinke trails 20th-place player and teammate, Clayton Kershaw (146.6).

Scoring—Walker earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Harvey earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Teixeira and Howard 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

7/31 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 16.0 Mariners Taijuan Walker (W,8-7) - - - - - - 9.0 1 1 1 1 11
NL 9.2 `Mets Matt Harvey - - - - - - 7.2 5 1 1 0 9
9.0 Indians Danny Salazar (W,9-6) - - - - - - 8.0 1 1 0 1 4
9.0 Cardinals Michael Wacha (W,12-4) - - - - - - 7.0 4 0 0 1 7
BAT 7.0 Yankees Mark Teixeira, 1B 4 2 3 6 2 0 - - - - - -
6.0 Dodgers Zack Greinke (W,10-2) - - - - - - 8.0 5 2 2 1 8
BAT 5.0 Phillies Ryan Howard, 1B 3 2 2 4 2 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Dbacks Daniel Hudson (W,3-3) - - - - - - 2.0 0 0 0 0 2
3.0 Blue Jays Josh Donaldson, 3B 5 1 3 4 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Orioles Manny Machado, 3B 3 2 2 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Red Sox Mike Napoli, 1B 2 2 1 2 2 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Rangers Adrian Beltre, 3B 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Pirates Jung Ho Kang, SS 4 2 3 1 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Padres Jedd Gyorko, 2B 4 0 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Cubs Anthony Rizzo, 1B 3 2 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Houston Astros maintain Box-Toppers team rankings lead in trade-deadline shake-up

Astros remain active buyers and stay atop team rankings. Dodgers pass Cardinals in NL. Blue Jays, picking up Price & Tulo, gain most points in past week.

Read More

Indians' Carrasco tops players for Thursday, July 30; Nationals' Scherzer rises to 2nd in Box-Toppers player rankings

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to second place in Box-Toppers player rankings and Brandon Phillips of the Reds earned Box-Toppers points for the 10th straight season.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 16.0
3 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp tor al 13.1
6 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 13.1
7 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 13.0
8 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
9 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 13.0
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 12.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched a two-hit complete game, allowing one run and striking out seven, in the 3-1 win over the Athletics.

Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 11.0 for the season and becomes the 22nd player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 15th among all players and eighth among AL pitchers.

National League Player of the Day—Brandon Phillips of the Reds hit two homers and went 4-for-5, driving in seven runs, in the 15-5 win over the Pirates.

Phillips earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, his first points of the season, and has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Indians, but did not earn points in 2004 or 2005. His 10-season streak began in 2006 when he earned Box-Toppers points with both the Indians and the Reds. His best year was 2012 with the Reds, when he earned 9.5 Box-Toppers points, seventh among NL batters. In 2014, he had 2.0 Box-Toppers points with the Reds.

Phillips has 61.1 career Box-Toppers points and ranks eighth among second basemen since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). He ranks second among active NL second basemen, behind Chase Utley of the Phillies (72.1).

American League Batter of the Day—Eddie Rosario of the Twins hit a three-run homer and also tripled and doubled, going 3-for-5 and scoring three times, in the 9-5 win over the Mariners.

This was Rosario’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Rosario made his Major League debut May 6 and was playing in his 66th career game. He is the 3,542nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Thursday because the overall NL Player of the Day is a batter (Brandon Phillips).

Rankings—Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer rose to second place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Scherzer (7IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 1-0 win over the Marlins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 16.0 for the season. He also ranks second among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Jacob deGrom of the Mets (16.4).

Scherzer also rises to 64th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his point Thursday, Scherzer now has 101.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). Scherzer trails 63rd-place player Jason Schmidt (101.2).

Notable—Astros pitcher Scott Kazmir rose to 13th place in Box-Toppers season player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday. Kazmir (7.2IP 3H 0R 5K ND in the 3-0 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks seventh among AL pitchers.

Debuts—In addition to Rosario, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Thursday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors:

  • Phillies pitcher Elvis Araujo (1IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-1 win over the Braves) made his Major League debut May 5 and was playing in his 29th career game. He is the 3,543rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Carrasco earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Phillips earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Rosario 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

7/30 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 11.0 Indians Carlos Carrasco (W,11-8) - - - - - - 9.0 2 1 1 1 7
NL 8.0 Reds Brandon Phillips, 2B 5 2 4 7 0 0 - - - - - -
7.0 Cardinals Matt Carpenter, 3B-1B 5 4 4 4 0 0 - - - - - -
7.0 Nationals Max Scherzer (W,11-8) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 3 6
6.2 `Astros Scott Kazmir - - - - - - 7.2 3 0 0 3 5
6.0 Padres Derek Norris, C 5 2 5 4 0 0 - - - - - -
BAT 4.0 Twins Eddie Rosario, LF 5 3 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Tigers Yoenis Cespedes, LF 5 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Cubs Anthony Rizzo, 1B 4 1 3 3 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Rangers Josh Hamilton, DH 4 1 2 4 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Red Sox Steven Wright (W,4-4) - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 2 8
3.0 `Phillies Elvis Araujo (H,1) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Blue Jays Dioner Navarro, C 2 1 1 2 2 0 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Cubs' Jon Lester tops players for Wednesday, July 29; Peavy, Verlander each earn 1st Box-Toppers points of 2015

Cubs pitcher Jon Lester is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Wednesday, two players who earned their first Player of the Game honors of the season extended their streaks of seasons with at least 1.0 Box-Toppers point:

  • Giants pitcher Jake Peavy—14 seasons.
  • Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander—10 seasons.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 15.0
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 13.1
6 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 13.1
7 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 13.0
8 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
9 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 13.0
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 12.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Lester struck out 14 over eight innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 3-2 win over the Rockies.

Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 117.1 for his career, rising to 40th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, he passes two players on the “all-time” list, Todd Helton (116.4) and Mark Buehrle (116.7). He trails 39th-place player Barry Zito (117.4).

Lester is also the season’s highest-ranked of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday. With 8.0 Box-Toppers points this season, Lester ranks 31st among all players and 15th among NL pitchers.

Lester had a Box-Toppers game score of 12 Wednesday, the same as Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander (Player of the Game in the win over the Rays) but Lester won overall Player of the Day on a tiebreaker—he had more strikeouts than Verlander (14 vs. 10).

American League Player of the Day—Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and four hits, in the 2-1 win over the Rays.

Verlander, earning his first Player of the Game honor of 2015, has now earned Box-Toppers points for 10 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2006 with the Tigers. His best season was 2012 with the Tigers when he had 24.8 Box-Toppers points, first among all players that season. Verlander also led AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points in 2011, when he had 24.4. In 2014, he had 4.0 Box-Toppers points.

Verlander earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day and now has 119.9 for his career, rising to 35th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Wednesday, Verlander passes two players on the “all-time” list, Cliff Lee (119.1) and Jered Weaver (119.4). He trails 34th-place player Cole Hamels (120.8).

National League Batter of the Day—Bryce Harper of the Nationals hit two home runs and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in four, in the 7-2 win over the Marlins.

Harper earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 8.0 for the season and rises to second place among NL batters, behind Randal Grichuk of the Cardinals (8.5).

American League Batter of the Day—Troy Tulowitzki of the Blue Jays homered, doubled twice and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Phillies.

This was Tulowitzki’s first game since being traded from the Rockies. Tulowitzki led all NL batters in Box-Toppers points in 2014 with 11.6. With the 1.5 Box-Toppers points earned Wednesday for being AL Batter of the Day, Tulowitzki now has 6.0 for the season and ranks eighth among AL batters.

Streak—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy has now earned Box-Toppers points for 14 straight seasons after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Peavy (6IP 4H 0R 3K ND in the 5-0 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, his first of the season. 

Peavy earned his first Box-Toppers points in 2002 with the Padres. His best year was 2007 with the Padres when he had 23.4 Box-Toppers points, first among all players that season. In 2014, Peavy had 5.7 Box-Toppers points with the Red Sox and Giants.

Peavy has 132.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 27th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 26th-place player Miguel Cabrera (132.9). Peavy’s 132.8 career Box-Toppers points ranks fifth among active NL pitchers.

Debut—Enrique Hernandez of the Dodgers made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Hernandez (PH 2B 1-1 R 2BI in the 10-7 win over the Athletics) made his Major League debut July 1, 2014, and was playing in his 91st career game. He is the 3,541st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

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

7/29 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 12.0 Cubs Jon Lester (W,6-8) - - - - - - 8.0 5 2 2 1 14
AL 12.0 Tigers Justin Verlander (W,1-3) - - - - - - 8.0 4 1 1 0 10
7.0 Indians Corey Kluber (W,6-11) - - - - - - 9.0 5 1 1 1 6
6.2 Orioles Chris Tillman (W,8-7) - - - - - - 8.2 4 0 0 0 2
BAT 6.0 Nationals Bryce Harper, RF 4 3 3 4 0 1 - - - - - -
5.0 Astros Lance McCullers (W,5-3) - - - - - - 7.0 5 1 1 0 5
5.0 Dbacks Patrick Corbin (W,2-3) - - - - - - 6.0 3 1 1 2 6
5.0 `Giants Jake Peavy - - - - - - 6.0 4 0 0 0 3
BAT 4.0 Blue Jays Troy Tulowitzki, SS 5 3 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
4.0 Reds Anthony DeSclafani (W,6-7) - - - - - - 7.0 3 0 0 3 3
3.0 Pirates Andrew McCutchen, CF 4 2 2 3 1 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Dodgers Enrique Hernandez, PH 1 1 1 2 0 0 - - - - - -
3.0 Rangers Shawn Tolleson (S,18) - - - - - - 1.0 0 0 0 0 2
2.0 Padres Yangervis Solarte, 3B 5 2 4 1 0 0 - - - - - -
1.0 White Sox Adam Eaton, CF 6 2 3 2 0 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Athletics' Sonny Gray (CG 0R 3H 9K) tops players for Tuesday, July 28, rises to 6th in player rankings

Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to sixth place in player rankings.

Gray pitched a complete-game, three-hit shutout, striking out nine, in the 2-0 win over the Dodgers.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 15.0
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 13.1
6 Gray, Sonny 3259 pi sp oak al 13.1
7 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 13.0
8 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
9 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 13.0
10 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 12.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

Gray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.1 for the season, rising to sixth in player rankings. He ranks fourth among American League pitchers.

Gray had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of 14, tied with Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who was Player of the Game in his team’s win over the Padres. However, Gray won overall Player of the Day on a tie-breaker—he had more innings pitched than Syndergaard (nine vs. eight).

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in the 4-0 win over the Padres. Syndergaard had a perfect game until the seventh inning.

American League Batter of the Day—Chris Davis of the Orioles hit two homers and drove in five runs in the 7-3 win over the Braves.

National League Batter of the Day—David Peralta of the Diamondbacks doubled and went 3-for-4, scoring once and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Mariners.

Debut—Yankees pitcher Diego Moreno made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Moreno (5.1IP 0H 0R 5K W in the 21-5 win over the Rangers) made his Major League debut June 22 and was playing in his third career game. He is the 3,540th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Notable—Eric Hosmer of the Royals earned Player of the Game honors for the second day in a row Tuesday.

Hosmer (HR 3-4 R 2BI in the 2-1 win over the Indians) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 7.5 for the season, rising to fourth among AL batters. Hosmer was AL Batter of the Day Monday, so has earned 2.5 Box-Toppers points in the past two days.

Scoring—Gray earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Syndergaard earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Davis and Peralta 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

7/28 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 14.0 Athletics Sonny Gray (W,11-4) - - - - - - 9.0 3 0 0 1 9
NL 14.0 Mets Noah Syndergaard (W,5-5) - - - - - - 8.0 3 0 0 0 9
9.1 Yankees Diego Moreno (W,1-0) - - - - - - 5.1 0 0 0 1 5
6.0 Reds Mike Leake (W,9-5) - - - - - - 8.0 4 0 0 1 3
BAT 5.0 Orioles Chris Davis, RF 4 2 2 5 0 0 - - - - - -
5.0 White Sox Geovany Soto, C 2 2 2 3 3 0 - - - - - -
5.0 Rays Jake Odorizzi (W,6-6) - - - - - - 6.0 6 1 1 1 8
4.0 Astros Jose Altuve, 2B 5 1 3 5 0 1 - - - - - -
BAT 2.0 Dbacks David Peralta, LF 4 1 3 2 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Royals Eric Hosmer, 1B 4 1 3 2 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Brewers Gerardo Parra, RF 4 3 3 0 0 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Rockies DJ LeMahieu, 2B 4 2 3 1 1 1 - - - - - -
2.0 Marlins Martin Prado, 3B 3 1 3 1 1 0 - - - - - -
2.0 Phillies Cody Asche, LF 3 1 2 2 0 1 - - - - - -
1.0 Pirates Jung Ho Kang, SS 4 2 2 1 0 1 - - - - - -

Orioles' Kevin Gausman (7.2IP 0R 5K ND) tops players for Monday, July 27

Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Gausman pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing six hits and striking out five, in the 2-1, 11-inning win over the Braves. Gausman did not pick up the win and had a no-decision because when he exited, the score was tied 0-0.

Top 10 players

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


 Player Pos Team BTP
1 deGrom, Jacob 3343 pi sp nym nl 16.4
2 Hernandez, Felix 2064 pi sp sea al 15.4
3 Scherzer, Max 2588 pi sp dc nl 15.0
4 Sale, Chris 2806 pi sp chi al 14.4
5 Price, David 2593 pi sp det al 13.1
6 Kershaw, Clayton 2494 pi sp lad nl 13.0
7 Archer, Chris 3194 pi sp tb al 13.0
8 Cole, Gerrit 3232 pi sp pit nl 13.0
9 Keuchel, Dallas 3050 pi sp hou al 12.7
10 Martinez, Carlos 3371 pi sp stl nl 12.7
What are those numbers after players' names?

National League Player of the Day—Kolten Wong of the Cardinals hit a grand slam in the 4-1 win over the Reds.

American League Batter of the Day—Eric Hosmer of the Royals hit a three-run homer and went 3-for-5, scoring three times and driving in four runs, in the 9-4 win over the Indians.

Hosmer is the highest ranked of all nine who earned Player of the Game honors Monday. Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 6.5 for the season. He ranks 51st among all players, sixth among AL batters.

National League Batter of the Day—There is no separate NL Batter of the Day for Monday because the overall NL Player of the Day was a batter (Kolten Wong).

Scoring—Gausman earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Wong earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day. Hosmer earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day. All of Monday’s other Players of the Game (listed in the chart below) earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point.

About Box-Toppers—Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

7/27 Score Team Player AB R H BI BB K IP H R ER BB K
MLB 5.2 `Orioles Kevin Gausman - - - - - - 7.2 6 0 0 1 5
BAT 5.0 Royals Eric Hosmer, 1B 5 3 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Yankees Didi Gregorius, SS 4 1 3 4 0 0 - - - - - -
4.0 Rays Curt Casali, C 4 2 3 3 0 1 - - - - - -
NL 3.0 Cardinals Kolten Wong, 2B 3 1 1 4 0 1 - - - - - -
3.0 Giants Brandon Crawford, SS 2 2 1 2 1 0 - - - - - -
3.0 `Dbacks Robbie Ray - - - - - - 7.0 6 2 2 2 8
2.0 Cubs Kris Bryant, 3B 5 2 2 3 0 2 - - - - - -
2.0 White Sox Jose Abreu, 1B 3 2 2 1 1 1 - - - - - -
`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.