Rangers' Odor, Astros' Gregerson top players in pair of opening ALDS games for Thursday, Oct. 8

Rougned Odor of the Rangers and Luke Gregerson of the Astros are Box-Toppers Players of the Game in Thursday’s pair of American League Division Series openers.

Odor homered and scored three runs in the 5-3 win over the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the AL Division Series. The Rangers lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.

During the regular season, Odor earned 3.0 Box-Toppers points, 337th among all players, 76th among AL batters.

Blue Jays pitcher David Price, Box-Toppers’ fifth-ranked player, started the game and picked up the loss. Price (7IP 5H 5R 5K) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5. He had 21.1 Box-Toppers points for the season, ranked second among AL pitchers.

Astros closing pitcher Luke Gregerson is Player of the Game in the other AL Division Series Game 1. Gregerson picked up the save, pitching a scoreless ninth inning, allowing no hits and striking out two, in the 5-2 win over the Royals. The Astros lead the best-of-five series, 1-0.

Gregerson had 6.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, 150th among all players, 53rd among AL pitchers and sixth among AL closing pitchers.

Top player from each game

Listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score

10/8	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	3.0	Rangers	Rougned Odor, 2B	2	3	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
POG	3.0	Astros	Luke Gregerson (S,1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2

Coming Friday: The National League Division Series playoffs begin with two Game 1s and the American League Division Series resume with two Game 2s:

AL Division Series Game 2, Rangers lead Blue Jays, 1-0

The pitching matchup Friday:

Rangers—Cole Hamels, 15.4 Box-Toppers points, 15th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.

Blue Jays—Marcus Stroman, 2.7 Box-Toppers points, 368th among all players, 105th among AL pitchers. (Stroman was out recovering from injury much of 2015. In 2014, he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 12th among AL pitchers.)

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Rangers and Blue Jays players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2015.

AL Division Series Game 2, Astros lead Royals, 1-0

The pitching matchup Friday:

Astros—Scott Kazmir, 12.7 Box-Toppers points, 26th among all players, 14th among AL pitchers, 

Royals—Johnny Cueto, 12.8 Box-Toppers points, 25th among all players, 13th among AL pitchers.

See the season Box-Toppers point totals of all Astros and Royals players who earned Player of the Game honors in 2015.

NL Division Series Game 1, Cubs at Cardinals

Though the Chicago Cubs are the Wild Card team and have a lesser win-loss record than the NL Central champ St. Louis Cardinals, they have an edge in Box-Toppers team rankings. The Cubs passed the Cardinals in the final 10 days of the season to rank third in Box-Toppers team points with 127.4. The Cardinals, with baseball’s best record, rank fourth with 124.3. The Cubs surged at the end of the season, earning 11.0 Box-Toppers points in the final 10 days of the season. The Cardinals, by comparison, picked up only 3.5 during that period.

The two teams are the highest ranked NL teams remaining in the playoffs after the Cubs knocked off the top-rated Pittsburgh Pirates (129.6) in the NL Wild Card playoff.

The pitching matchup Friday:

Cubs—Jon Lester, 12.0 Box-Toppers points, 28th among all players, 13th among NL pitchers.

Cardinals—John Lackey, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, 51st among all players, 21st among NL pitchers.

Cubs vs. Cardinals

Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

Chicago Cubs				St. Louis Cardinals
Player	Pos	BTP		Player	Pos	BTP
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	29.1		Martinez, Carlos 3371	pi sp	13.7
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	12.0		Lynn, Lance 2992	pi sp	11.4
Hammel, Jason 2235	pi sp	9.7		Lackey, John 1640	pi sp	9.7
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	9.7		Wacha, Michael 3276	pi sp	9.7
Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	8.5		Grichuk, Randal 3474	rf lf cf	9.5
Bryant, Kris 3465	3b	8.5		Garcia, Jaime 2508	pi sp	9.4
Montero, Miguel 2304	ca	5.5		Rosenthal, Trevor 3124	pi cp	6.0
Haren, Danny 1787	pi sp	5.0		Carpenter, Matt 2987	3b	5.5
Schwarber, Kyle 3536	lf ca	5.0		Moss, Brandon 2520	rf lf	5.0
Castro, Starlin 2767	ss 2b	4.5		Piscotty, Stephen 3570	lf rf 1b	4.2
Wada, Tsuyoshi 3389	pi sp	3.7		Wong, Kolten 3377	2b	4.0
Soler, Jorge 3403	rf ph	3.2		Reynolds, Mark 2297	1b	4.0
Wood, Travis 2777	pi sp	3.0		Siegrist, Kevin 3260	pi mr	4.0
Fowler, Dexter 2698	cf	2.5		Villanueva, Carlos 2241	pi mr cp	3.7
Russell, Addison 3559	ss	2.5		Wainwright, Adam 2150	pi sp	3.0
Jackson, Austin 2694	cf	2.0		Lyons, Tyler 3178	pi sp	3.0
Rondon, Hector 3201	pi cp	2.0		Adams, Matt 3220	1b ph	2.5
Strop, Pedro 3005	pi mr	2.0		Maness, Seth 3362	pi cp mr	2.0
Coghlan, Chris 2610	lf	1.0		Kozma, Pete 3138	2b pr	2.0
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp mr	1.0		Scruggs, Xavier 3514	1b	2.0
Cahill, Trevor 2658	pi mr	1.0		Holliday, Matt 1836	lf dh	1.5
Hunter, Tommy 2623	pi mr	1.0		Pham, Thomas 3596	lf cf	1.5
Grimm, Justin 3153	pi mr	1.0		Cishek, Steve 2997	pi cp	1.0
Richard, Clayton 2584	pi sp	1.0		Bourjos, Peter 2790	cf ph	1.0
Motte, Jason 2926	pi mr	1.0		Garcia, Greg 3331	ph	1.0
Beeler, Dallas 3528	pi sp	1.0		Molina, Yadier 1967	ca	1.0
Ramirez, Neil 3439	pi mr	1.0		Walden, Jordan 2864	pi mr	1.0
				Broxton, Jonathan 2108	pi mr	1.0
				Socolovich, Miguel 3456	pi cp	1.0
Totals		127.4		Totals		124.3

What are those numbers after players' names?

NL Division Series Game 1, Mets at Dodgers

In Box-Toppers team rankings, the Dodgers and the Mets are almost identical.

The Dodgers hold the slight edge, ranking sixth among all teams, with 122.5 Box-Toppers points. But the Mets are only 0.5 points behind, with 122.0, ranking seventh among all teams. During the final 10 days of the season, the Dodgers picked up 6.0 Box-Toppers points, while the Mets earned 4.7.

The pitching matchup Friday:

Mets—Jacob deGrom, 22.4 Box-Toppers points, third among all players, third among NL pitchers.

Dodgers—Clayton Kershaw, 25.7 Box-Toppers points, second among all players, second among NL pitchers.

Mets vs. Dodgers

Here are players for both teams in the NL Divisional Series beginning Friday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

New York Mets				Los Angeles Dodgers
Player	Pos	BTP		Player	Pos	BTP
deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	22.4		Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	25.7
Harvey, Matt 3075	pi sp	15.4		Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	20.7
Cespedes, Yoenis 3008	lf cf	10.9		Wood, Alex 3246	pi sp	7.7
Syndergaard, Noah 3472	pi sp	10.4		Ethier, Andre 2137	rf lf	6.5
Familia, Jeurys 3446	pi cp	8.0		Anderson, Brett 2597	pi sp	6.0
Colon, Bartolo	pi sp	6.7		Bolsinger, Mike 3318	pi sp	5.7
Niese, Jonathon 2531	pi sp	6.0		Gonzalez, Adrian 2193	1b	4.0
Granderson, Curtis 2051	rf	4.0		Jansen, Kenley 2871	pi cp	4.0
Nieuwenhuis, Kirk 3022	cf rf lf ph	4.0		Kendrick, Howie 2191	2b	4.0
Matz, Steven 3516	pi sp	3.5		Van Slyke, Scott 3033	cf lf 1b	4.0
Uribe, Juan 1542	3b ph	3.0		Turner, Justin 2865	2b 3b ph	4.0
Verrett, Logan 3518	pi mr	3.0		Puig, Yasiel 3193	rf	3.5
Robles, Hansel 3580	pi mr	2.7		Guerrero, Alex 3442	lf ph	3.5
Duda, Lucas 2818	1b	2.5		Rollins, Jimmy 1516	ss	3.0
d’Arnaud, Travis 3384	ca	2.5		McCarthy, Brandon 2082	pi sp	2.0
Flores, Wilmer 3345	ss 2b	2.5		Grandal, Yasmani 3058	ca 1b	2.0
Tejada, Ruben 2801	ss	2.0		Ruggiano, Justin 2396	lf ph	2.0
Johnson, Kelly 2018	lf 1b	2.0		Frias, Carlos 3434	pi sp	2.0
Murphy, Daniel 2589	2b	1.5		Johnson, Jim 2417	pi mr	2.0
Gee, Dillon 2808	pi sp	1.0		Thomas, Ian 3539	pi sp	1.7
Lagares, Juan 3243	cf ph	1.0		Seager, Corey 3587	ss	1.5
Cuddyer, Michael 1826	lf 1b	1.0		Heisey, Chris 2866	cf rf	1.0
Reed, Addison 3023	pi mr cp	1.0		Nicasio, Juan 2888	pi sp	1.0
Torres, Carlos 2668	pi mr	1.0		Hatcher, Chris 3420	pi cp	1.0
Blevins, Jerry 2788	pi mr	1.0		Howell, J.P. 2016	pi mr	1.0
Clippard, Tyler 2291	pi cp	1.0		Garcia, Yimi 3440	pi cp	1.0
Gilmartin, Sean 3500	pi mr	1.0		Hernandez, Enrique 3541	ph	1.0
Monell, Johnny 3463	ph	1.0		Ravin, Josh 3501	pi mr	1.0
Total		122.0		Total		122.5

What are those numbers after players' names?

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

Box-Toppers points leader Jake Arrieta tops players as Cubs beat Pirates in NL Wild Card Game

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Wednesday’s National League Wild Card game.

Arrieta pitched a complete game shutout, striking out 11 and allowing four hits, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.

Arrieta led all players during the regular season with 29.1 Box-Toppers points, the eighth-highest single-season total since 1995. He outdueled Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole, who had 19.0 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ninth among all players and sixth among NL pitchers. Cole (5IP 6H 4R 4K L) had a Box-Toppers game score of -6.

The Pirates’ loss means the top-ranked team in Box-Toppers rankings is eliminated from the playoffs. The Pirates had 129.6 Box-Toppers points on the season. The Cubs, rank third with 127.4, are now the top-ranked NL team remaining in the playoffs.

The Cubs carried more momentum into the postseason, picking up 11.0 Box-Toppers points in the final 10 days of the season. The Pirates, by comparison, had 5.5 during that period.

The Cubs will face face the St. Louis Cardinals in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in St. Louis. The Cardinals have baseball’s best record, but rank fourth in Box-Toppers team rankings, behind both the Cubs and Pirates, with 124.3 Box-Toppers points.

Top player from NL Wild Card Game

10/7	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	16.0	Cubs	Jake Arrieta (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	4	0	0	0	11

Coming Thursday: The American League begins both division playoff series Thursday.

AL Division Series Game 1, Rangers at Blue Jays

The Blue Jays rank fifth in Box-Toppers team rankings with 124.1 Box-Toppers points. The Rangers rank 10th with 107.2. In the final 10 days of the season, the Blue Jays picked up 6.5 Box-Toppers points, while the Rangers earned 5.7

The pitching matchup Thursday:

Rangers—Yovani Gallardo, 5.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 176th among all players, 62nd among AL pitchers.

Blue Jays—David Price, 21.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked fifth among all players, second among AL pitchers.

Rangers vs. Blue Jays

Here are players for both teams in the AL Division Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

Texas Rangers				Toronto Blue Jays
Player	Pos	BTP		Player	Pos	BTP
Hamels, Cole 2135	pi sp	15.4		Price, David 2593	pi sp	21.1
Beltre, Adrian 1141	3b	12.5		Encarnacion, Edwin 2098	dh	10.4
Fielder, Prince 2029	dh	11.5		Bautista, Jose 2169	rf	10.0
Lewis, Colby 1567	pi sp	7.7		Donaldson, Josh 3144	3b	9.9
Moreland, Mitch 2799	1b	6.2		Hutchison, Drew 3038	pi sp	9.0
Tolleson, Shawn 3077	pi cp	6.0		Estrada, Marco 2847	pi sp	8.0
Gallardo, Yovani 2333	pi sp	5.0		Tulowitzki, Troy 2308	ss	6.0
Napoli, Mike 2161	1b	4.5		Dickey, R.A. 1734	pi sp	5.0
Choo, Shin-Soo 2267	rf	4.5		Martin, Russell 2202	ca	5.0
DeShields, Delino 3557	cf	4.5		Smoak, Justin 2731	1b	5.0
Hamilton, Josh 2332	lf dh ph	3.5		Goins, Ryan 3478	ss 2b	4.5
Chirinos, Robinson 2924	ca	3.5		Osuna, Roberto 3512	pi cp	4.0
Odor, Rougned 3336	2b	3.0		Pillar, Kevin 3486	cf	3.5
Holland, Derek 2634	pi sp	2.7		Travis, Devon 3436	2b	3.0
Martinez, Nick 3430	pi sp	2.0		Stroman, Marcus 3327	pi sp	2.7
Dyson, Sam 3399	pi mr cp	2.0		Buehrle, Mark 1407	pi sp	2.0
Patton, Spencer 3416	pi mr	2.0		Colabello, Chris 3235	lf dh 1b	2.0
Gonzalez, Chi Chi 3490	pi sp	1.7		Sanchez, Aaron 3392	pi sp	2.0
Blanks, Kyle 2661	1b	1.5		Cecil, Brett 2566	pi cp mr	2.0
Gallo, Joey 3485	3b	1.5		Pennington, Cliff 2641	ss 3b	2.0
Perez, Martin 3213	pi sp	1.0		Navarro, Dioner 2087	ca	1.0
Gimenez, Chris 2870	ca	1.0		Revere, Ben 2886	lf	1.0
Ohlendorf, Ross 2457	pi mr	1.0		Loup, Aaron 3146	pi mr cp	1.0
Claudio, Alex 3459	pi mr	1.0		Hendriks, Liam 3339	pi mr	1.0
Klein, Phil 3477	pi sp	1.0		Delabar, Steve 3020	pi mr	1.0
Strausborger, Ryan 3560	lf	1.0		Carrera, Ezequiel 2873	lf ph	1.0
				Pompey, Dalton 3450	cf	1.0
Total		107.2		Total		124.1

AL Division Series Game 1, Astros at Royals

The Royals have the most Box-Toppers team points in the AL with 127.5, ranked second overall, behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Astros rank eighth with 118.4. In the final 10 days of the season, the Astros were slightly hotter than the Royals—7.9 vs. 6.0.

The pitching matchup Thursday:

Astros—Collin McHugh, 9.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 49th among all players, 19th among AL pitchers.

Royals—Yordano Ventura, 11.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 30th among all players, 15th among AL pitchers.

Astros vs. Royals

Here are players for both teams in the AL Division Series beginning Thursday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

Houston Astros				Kansas City Royals
Player	Pos	BTP		Player	Pos	BTP
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	21.4		Cueto, Johnny 2400	pi sp	12.8
Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	12.7		Ventura, Yordano 3294	pi sp	11.7
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	9.7		Hosmer, Eric 2886	1b	9.0
Correa, Carlos 3506	ss	7.2		Cain, Lorenzo 3171	cf	8.2
Fiers, Michael 3029	pi sp	7.0		Young, Chris R. 1933	pi sp	8.0
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	7.0		Holland, Greg 2906	pi cp	8.0
McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	6.7		Moustakas, Mike 2967	3b	7.7
Gomez, Carlos 2397	cf	6.0		Volquez, Edinson 2220	pi sp	7.0
Rasmus, Colby 2608	lf rf cf	6.0		Rodriguez, Wandy 2117	pi sp	6.7
Gregerson, Luke 2563	pi cp	6.0		Infante, Omar 1949	2b	5.2
Valbuena, Luis 2600	3b	4.5		Morales, Kendrys 2142	dh	4.7
Gattis, Evan 3179	dh	4.0		Perez, Salvador 2972	ca	4.5
Harris, Will 3093	pi mr cp	3.7		Gomes, Jonny 2059	lf rf	4.5
Qualls, Chad 1958	pi mr cp	3.0		Gordon, Alex 2328	lf	4.5
Lowrie, Jed 2437	ss dh	2.5		Duffy, Danny 2915	pi sp	4.0
Feldman, Scott 2632	pi sp cp	2.0		Davis, Wade 2681	pi cp	4.0
Marisnick, Jake 3428	cf	2.0		Escobar, Alcides 2663	ss	3.5
Tucker, Preston 3525	rf lf	2.0		Rios, Alex 1989	rf	2.5
Carter, Chris 2828	dh	1.0		Guthrie, Jeremy 2290	pi sp	2.0
Springer, George 3337	rf	1.0		Dyson, Jarrod 2813	cf pr	2.0
Fields, Josh 3247	pi mr	1.0		Medlen, Kris 2596	pi sp	2.0
Conger, Hank 2843	ca	1.0		Vargas, Jason 2055	pi sp	1.0
Oberholtzer, Brett 3244	pi sp	1.0		Morales, Franklin 2369	pi mr sp	1.0
				Zobrist, Ben 2216	lf ss	1.0
				Hochevar, Luke 2440	pi mr	1.0
				Orlando, Paulo 3526	cf	1.0
Totals		118.4		Totals		127.5

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.

Dallas Keuchel tops players as Astros beat Yankees in AL Wild Card Game

Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel is Box-Toppers Player of the Day in Tuesday’s American League Wild Card game.

Keuchel pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing three hits, in the 3-0 win over the Yankees.

Keuchel had 21.4 Box-Toppers points during the regular season, ranked first among AL pitchers and fourth overall.

While the Astros were the second-ranked AL Wild Card team in terms of win-loss record, they did rank higher in team Box-Toppers rankings. The Astros rank eighth in team Box-Toppers rankings, third among AL teams, while the Yankees rank 13th, sixth among AL teams. The Yankees were Box-Toppers’ lowest-ranked playoff team.

The Astros will face the Kansas City Royals in the best-of-five AL Division Series beginning Thursday in Kansas City. The Royals have the AL’s best record and also have the most Box-Toppers points among AL teams, 127.5, ranked second overall, behind the Pittsburgh Pirates (129.6).

Top player from AL Wild Card Game

10/6	Score	Team	BATTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
POG	9.0	Astros	Dallas Keuchel (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	1	7

Box-Toppers' 2 top NL teams meet in Wild Card Game

Coming Wednesday—The National League Wild Card Game is in Pittsburgh, with the Cubs facing the Pirates. Here is the pitching match-up:

Cubs—Jake Arrieta, 29.1 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among all players with the eighth-highest single-season total since 1995.

Pirates—Gerrit Cole, 19.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked ninth among all players, sixth among NL pitchers.

The Pirates rank first in Box-Toppers team rankings with 129.6 Box-Toppers points. The Cubs rank third with 127.4. In other words, the top two NL teams face off in a one-game playoff to see who qualifies for the NL Divisional Series. The Cubs were the hotter team during the final 10 days of the season, picking up 11.0 Box-Toppers points, while the Pirates picked up 5.5.

The winner of the NL Wild Card game will face the St. Louis Cardinals in the best-of-five NL Divisional Series beginning Friday in St. Louis. The Cardinals have baseball’s best record, but rank fourth in Box-Toppers team rankings, behind both the Cubs and Pirates, with 124.3 Box-Toppers points.

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.

Cubs vs. Pirates

Here are players for both teams in the NL Wild Card Game Wednesday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters.  

Chicago Cubs				Pittsburgh Pirates
Player	Pos	BTP		Player	Pos	BTP
Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	29.1		Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	19.0
Lester, Jon 2173	pi sp	12.0		Liriano, Francisco 2104	pi sp	14.9
Hammel, Jason 2235	pi sp	9.7		Happ, J.A. 2536	pi sp	13.1
Hendricks, Kyle 3386	pi sp	9.7		McCutchen, Andrew 2637	cf	10.5
Rizzo, Anthony 3063	1b	8.5		Melancon, Mark 2792	pi cp	7.0
Bryant, Kris 3465	3b	8.5		Morton, Charlie 2503	pi sp	6.7
Montero, Miguel 2304	ca	5.5		Burnett, A.J. 1300	pi sp	6.0
Haren, Danny 1787	pi sp	5.0		Ramirez, Aramis 1364	3b	6.0
Schwarber, Kyle 3536	lf ca	5.0		Locke, Jeff 3133	pi sp	6.0
Castro, Starlin 2767	ss 2b	4.5		Soria, Joakim 2258	pi cp	5.7
Wada, Tsuyoshi 3389	pi sp	3.7		Marte, Starling 3122	lf	5.0
Soler, Jorge 3403	rf ph	3.2		Walker, Neil 2756	2b	4.0
Wood, Travis 2777	pi sp	3.0		Cervelli, Francisco 3387	ca	4.0
Fowler, Dexter 2698	cf	2.5		Polanco, Gregory 3361	rf	3.0
Russell, Addison 3559	ss	2.5		Alvarez, Pedro 2817	1b	3.0
Jackson, Austin 2694	cf	2.0		Blanton, Joe 1977	pi mr sp	3.0
Rondon, Hector 3201	pi cp	2.0		Kang, Jung-Ho 3464	ss 3b	3.0
Strop, Pedro 3005	pi mr	2.0		Caminero, Arquimedes 3498	pi mr	2.0
Coghlan, Chris 2610	lf	1.0		Guerra, Deolis 3521	pi cp	2.0
Rodney, Fernando 1803	pi cp mr	1.0		Ishikawa, Travis 2530	1b	1.7
Cahill, Trevor 2658	pi mr	1.0		Harrison, Josh 2947	3b	1.0
Hunter, Tommy 2623	pi mr	1.0		Watson, Tony 3215	pi cp	1.0
Grimm, Justin 3153	pi mr	1.0		Hughes, Jared 3043	pi mr	1.0
Richard, Clayton 2584	pi sp	1.0		Scahill, Rob 3391	pi mr	1.0
Motte, Jason 2926	pi mr	1.0
Beeler, Dallas 3528	pi sp	1.0
Ramirez, Neil 3439	pi mr	1.0
Totals		127.4		Totals		129.6

What are those numbers after players' names?

Astros' Dallas Keuchel faces Yankees' Masahiro Tanaka in AL Wild Card Game

The Houston Astros visit the New York Yankees Tuesday in the American League one-game Wild Card playoff game.

Starting pitchers are:

Astros—Dallas Keuchel, 21.4 Box-Toppers points, ranked first among AL pitchers, fourth overall.

Yankees—Masahiro Tanaka, 8.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked 28th among AL pitchers, 77th overall.

The Yankees hold home-field advantage because they have one more win on the season than the Astros (87-75 vs. 86-76). But the Astros players have accumulated more Box-Toppers points—118.4 vs. 99.8. The Astros rank eighth in team Box-Toppers rankings, third among AL teams, while the Yankees rank 13th, sixth among AL teams. The Yankees are Box-Toppers’ lowest-ranked playoff team and finished behind three teams that did not qualify for the postseason—the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Angels.

The winner of the AL Wild Card game will face the Kansas City Royals in the best-of-five AL Division Series beginning Thursday in Kansas City. The Royals have the AL’s best record and also have the most Box-Toppers points among AL teams, 127.5, ranked second overall, behind the Pittsburgh Pirates (129.6).

Notable—Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia will not be available for the postseason after it was announced Monday that he will enter alcohol rehabilitation. In 2015, Sabathia had 5.7 Box-Toppers points, his best season since 2012, when he had 15.1. Sabathia is Box-Toppers active leader among pitchers in career points with 179.0. He ranks fifth among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Sabathia, 35, had eight straight seasons with more than 13.0 Box-Toppers points per season from 2005 to 2012. In 2013, he had 4.7 points. In 2014, he had 1.0 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.

Astros vs. Yankees

Here are players for both teams in the AL Wild Card Game Tuesday. Players are listed for both teams ranked by Box-Toppers points earned in 2015. All players listed were on active Major or Minor League rosters at the end of the season—not necessarily all of them will be included on postseason rosters. Players who earned no Box-Toppers points in 2015 are not included.  

Houston Astros				New York Yankees
Player	Pos	BTP		Player	Pos	BTP
Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	21.4		Pineda, Michael 2841	pi sp	10.7
Kazmir, Scott 1947	pi sp	12.7		Tanaka, Masahiro 3305	pi sp	8.0
McHugh, Collin 3316	pi sp	9.7		Drew, Stephen 2210	2b	8.0
Correa, Carlos 3506	ss	7.2		Rodriguez, Alex	dh	7.7
Fiers, Michael 3029	pi sp	7.0		Teixeira, Mark 1738	1b	7.5
Altuve, Jose 3007	2b	7.0		McCann, Brian 2179	ca	6.5
McCullers, Lance 3488	pi sp	6.7		Sabathia, C.C. 1492	pi sp	5.7
Gomez, Carlos 2397	cf	6.0		Young, Chris B. 2270	rf cf lf	4.5
Rasmus, Colby 2608	lf rf cf	6.0		Betances, Dellin 3333	pi cp mr	4.0
Gregerson, Luke 2563	pi cp	6.0		Miller, Andrew 2436	pi cp	4.0
Valbuena, Luis 2600	3b	4.5		Warren, Adam 3169	pi sp mr	3.7
Gattis, Evan 3179	dh	4.0		Beltran, Carlos 1194	rf ph	3.5
Harris, Will 3093	pi mr cp	3.7		Gardner, Brett 2486	lf cf	3.5
Qualls, Chad 1958	pi mr cp	3.0		Ellsbury, Jacoby 2365	cf	3.0
Lowrie, Jed 2437	ss dh	2.5		Bird, Greg 3562	1b	3.0
Feldman, Scott 2632	pi sp cp	2.0		Severino, Luis 3567	pi sp	3.0
Marisnick, Jake 3428	cf	2.0		Gregorius, Didi 3184	ss	2.5
Tucker, Preston 3525	rf lf	2.0		Eovaldi, Nathan 2928	pi sp	2.0
Carter, Chris 2828	dh	1.0		Headley, Chase 2552	3b	2.0
Springer, George 3337	rf	1.0		Shreve, Chasen 3482	pi mr	2.0
Fields, Josh 3247	pi mr	1.0		Ackley, Dustin 2921	lf ph	1.0
Conger, Hank 2843	ca	1.0		Wilson, Justin 3140	pi mr	1.0
Oberholtzer, Brett 3244	pi sp	1.0		Nova, Ivan 2796	pi sp	1.0
				Petit, Gregorio 2562	2b	1.0
				Moreno, Diego 3540	pi mr	1.0
Totals		118.4		Totals		99.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Braves' Miller tops players for Sunday, Oct. 4; Kershaw picks up 3rd season with 25+ Box-Toppers points

Braves pitcher Shelby Miller is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day on the season’s final day.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	29.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	25.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	22.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	21.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	20.7
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	18.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Sunday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw passed 25 Box-Toppers points in a single season for the third time, only the third player to do that since 1995.

Plus, Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom maintained his spot in third place in player rankings, behind Kershaw. In addition, eight players who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday had more than 10 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Player of the Day—Miller pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out seven, in the 6-0 win over the Cardinals.

Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 10.0 for the season. He becomes the 46th player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 44th among all players, 17th among NL pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels pitched a complete game three-hitter, allowing two runs and striking out eight, in the 9-2 win over the Angels.

Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 15.4 for the season. He ranks 15th among all players, eighth among AL pitchers.

Hamels rises to 33rd place in career Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Sunday, he has 126.2 career points and passes Justin Verlander (124.6) on the “all-time” list. He trails 32nd-ranked player Mariano Rivera (126.4).

American League Batter of the Day—Joey Butler of the Rays hit two home runs—a grand slam and a two-run homer—and went 3-for-4, in the 12-3 win over the Blue Jays.

This was Butler’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Butler made his Major League debut Aug. 7, 2013, and was playing in his 102nd career game. He is the 3,607th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995. He is the 172nd and final player to debut in Box-Toppers during the 2015 season.

National League Batter of the Day—Paul Goldschmidt of the Diamondbacks homered and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 5-3 win over the Astros.

Goldschmidt earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day, giving him 10.2 for the season. He becomes the 47th and final player this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points, 10th among batters. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among NL batters.

Best seasons

Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw picked up his third 25+ point season of his career Sunday—his 25.7 Box-Toppers points in 2015 are tied for the 20th-most points in a single season since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.  

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
4	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	31.5
6	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
7	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
8	*Jake Arrieta	Cubs	pi sp	2015	29.1
9	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
10	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
11	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4
12	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2004	26.8
13	Pedro Martinez	Expos	pi sp	1997	26.7
13	CC Sabathia	Indians/Brewers	pi sp	2008	26.7
15	Randy Johnson	Mariners/Astros	pi sp	1998	26.4
16	John Smoltz	Braves	pi sp	1996	26.1
16	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2011	26.1
18	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1998	25.8
18	Corey Kluber	Indians	pi sp	2014	25.8
20	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2006	25.7
20	*Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2015	25.7
22	Cliff Lee	Phillies	pi sp	2011	25.4
	* Current season

Kershaw—Clayton Kershaw (3.2IP 2H 0R 7K ND in the 6-3 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 25.7 for the season. He maintains his rank of second among all players and among NL pitchers, behind overall leader Jake Arrieta of the Cubs (29.1).

But Kershaw has now earned more than 25 Box-Toppers points for the third time in his career, a feat only done by two other players in the 21-season history of Box-Toppers:

Randy Johnson did it five times—1998 (26.4), 1999 (31.5), 2000 (33.7), 2001 (29.4) and 2002 (33.7).

Pedro Martinez did it four times—1997 (26.7), 1999 (31.4), 2000 (33.5) and 2002 (28.8).

Roger Clemens and Johan Santana are the only other players who have earned 25 points in a single season more than once. (See Best seasons chart.)

Kershaw earned 26.1 points in 2011 and 31.5 points in 2014. Despite earning 25.7 points this season, Kershaw’s streak of four straight seasons leading NL pitchers in Box-Toppers points comes to an end this year as he was topped by Arrieta. Kershaw also led all players in Box-Toppers points in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

Kershaw now has 159.3 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his spot in 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Kershaw trails 12th-place player John Smoltz (160.9).

Other notables who earned Player of the Game honors Sunday—

• Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (4IP 0H 0R 7K ND in the 1-0 win over the Nationals) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 22.4 for the season, maintaining his rank of third among all players and among NL pitchers, behind Arrieta and Kershaw.
• Indians pitcher Danny Salazar (5.1IP 4H R 6K W in the 3-1 win over the Red Sox) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.4 for the season. He ranks 22nd among all players and 11th among AL pitchers.
• Pirates pitcher J.A. Happ (6IP 3H 0R 7K W in the 4-0 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 13.1 for the season. He ranks 24th among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.
• Chris Davis of the Orioles (2HR 2B 3-4 3R 4BI in the 9-4 win over the Yankees) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.0 for the season. He ranks 42nd among all players and fourth among AL batters.
• Cubs pitcher Dan Haren rose to 47th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. Haren (6IP 3H R 3K W in the 3-1 win over the Brewers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 113.2 for his career. With his point Sunday, he passes Sammy Sosa (113.2) on the “all-time” list. (It should be noted that Sosa began his career in 1989, before the advent of Box-Toppers. Were his entire career tracked, he would have about 135 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough estimates.) Haren trails 46th-ranked player Chris Carpenter (113.3).

Scoring—Miller earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Hamels earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Butler and Goldschmidt 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

10/4	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	9.0	Braves	Shelby Miller (W,6-17)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	3	7
	9.0	`Mets	Jacob deGrom	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	0	0	0	2	7
	8.2	`Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.2	2	0	0	0	7
AL	8.0	Rangers	Cole Hamels (W,13-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	3	2	2	2	8
BAT	7.0	Rays	Joey Butler, DH	4	2	3	6	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Pirates	J.A. Happ (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	3	7
	6.2	Braves	Matt Wisler (W,8-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.2	4	0	0	1	3
	6.0	Orioles	Chris Davis, 1B	4	3	3	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Tigers	Daniel Norris (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	1	0	0	1	3
	4.1	Indians	Danny Salazar (W,14-10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.1	4	1	1	1	6
	4.0	Mariners	Tom Wilhelmsen (S,13)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	3
	3.2	`Phillies	David Buchanan	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	6	2	1	1	7
	3.0	Royals	Salvador Perez, C	3	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Dbacks	Paul Goldschmidt, 1B	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Justin Morneau, PH	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Cubs	Dan Haren (W,11-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	1	3
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Nationals' Scherzer, with 2nd no-hitter of '15, tops players for Saturday, Oct. 3, rises to 6th in player rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer, pitching his second no-hitter of the season, is Saturday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, rising to sixth place in player rankings.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	29.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	21.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	21.0
7	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	20.7
8	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	18.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Also Saturday, Scherzer and Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the sixth and seventh players this season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points. Plus, Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader.

Player of the Day—Scherzer had a perfect game into the sixth inning, when a batter reached on an error, the only baserunner of the game. Scherzer struck out 17 and walked none in the 2-0 win over the Mets.

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 21.0 for the season, rising to sixth place in player rankings and fourth among National League pitchers. It is the second straight season Scherzer has earned 20 or more points in season. Last season, he had 22.1 with the Tigers.

Scherzer also had the highest Box-Toppers game score of the season Saturday of +26, beating the previous high of +25, set by Indians pitcher Corey Kluber (8IP H 0R 18K) on May 13. Scherzer also has the third-highest score of +23 on June 14 (CG H 0R 16K). It is the eighth time this season a player has achieved a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more. In Scherzer’s previous no-hitter this season, on June 20, he had a Box-Toppers game score of +19 (CG 0H 0R 0 BB 10K)—the only baserunner allowed was on a hit-by-pitch.

Scherzer also rises to 57th place in Box-Toppers points among all players since 1995, when record keeping began. Scherzer has 106.0 career Box-Toppers points and passes Aramis Ramirez (105.8) on the “all-time” list. He trails 56th-ranked player Frank Thomas (106.2).

American League Player of the Day—Indians pitcher Corey Kluber pitched eight scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out nine, in the 2-0 win over the Red Sox. 

Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 13.4 for the season and ranking 21st among all players, 10th among AL pitchers. In 2014, he led all AL pitchers with 25.8 Box-Toppers points.

American League Batter of the Day—Gerardo Parra of the Orioles doubled and went 4-for-5, scoring once and driving in three runs, in the 9-2 win over the Yankees.

Doubleheader Players of the Game

Christian Yelich of the Marlins became the 11th player since 1995 to earn Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader. Here are all 11 players who have achieved that distinction since Box-Toppers record keeping began in 1995.

Date	Player	Team	Pos
7/15/98	Albert Belle	White Sox	lf
8/13/99	Rondell White	Expos	lf
8/30/99	Edgar Martinez	Mariners	dh
4/13/00	Shawn Green	Dodgers	rf
6/24/02	Alex Rodriguez	Rangers	ss
5/28/04	Rob Mackowiak	Pirates	cf 3b
9/2/05	Chad Cordero	Nationals	pi cp
5/25/08	Jorge Cantu	Marlins	3b
7/21/09	Erick Aybar	Angels	ss
4/28/11	Ben Zobrist	Rays	2b
10/3/15	Christian Yelich	Marlins	cf lf

National League Batter of the Day—Christian Yelich of the Marlins doubled and went 5-for-5, scoring once and driving in one run, in the 7-6 win over the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader.

Yelich was also Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader (3-4 2R BI in the 5-2 win over the Phillies. He is only the 11th player in 21 seasons of Box-Toppers record keeping to earn Player of the Game in both games of a doubleheader. He earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being NL Batter of the Day and 1.0 point for being Player of the Game, giving him 2.5 points for the day, which were also his first points of the season. (Yelich had 7.5 Box-Toppers points in 2014, ninth among NL batters.)

It is the first time a player has earned Player of the Game honors in both games of a doubleheader since April 28, 2011, when it was done by Ben Zobrist of the Rays.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke became the seventh player of the season with 20 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Saturday.

Greinke (8IP 4H R 8K W in the 2-1 win over the Padres) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 20.7 for the season. He actually slips from sixth to seventh in Box-Toppers player rankings as he was passed by Scherzer. Greinke ranks fifth among NL pitchers.

This is the second season Greinke has earned 20 or more Box-Toppers points in a season. In 2009, he had 21.5 Box-Toppers points with the Royals, his best season.

Greinke ranks 21st among all players in Box-Toppers points since 1995, when record keeping began. He has 146.4 career Box-Toppers points and trails 20th-ranked player Jim Thome (146.7).

Notable—Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura (7IP 4H R 11K W in the 5-1 win over the Twins) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.7 for the season. He ranks 30th among all players and 15th among AL pitchers.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Kluber earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Parra and Yelich each earn 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being their league’s Batter of the Day (Yelich earns an extra 1.0 point for being Player of the Game in the second game of the doubleheader). 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

10/3	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	26.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,14-12)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	0	0	0	0	17
	13.0	Cubs	Kyle Hendricks (W,8-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	1	0	0	0	8
AL	12.0	Indians	Corey Kluber (W,9-16)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	0	0	2	9
	9.0	Dodgers	Zack Greinke (W,19-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	4	1	1	1	8
	9.0	Royals	Yordano Ventura (W,13-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	3	11
	7.0	`Nationals	Gio Gonzalez	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	3	7
	6.0	Athletics	Pat Venditte (MR) (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	0	0	0	0	3
	5.0	Reds	Brandon Finnegan (W,5-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	2	6
	4.0	Astros	Collin McHugh (W,19-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	6	1	1	1	6
BAT	3.0	Orioles	Gerardo Parra, RF	5	1	4	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Orioles	T.J. McFarland (MR) (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.1	`Giants	Sergio Romo (MR) (H,33)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	1	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Marlins	Christian Yelich, CF	5	1	5	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Johnny Giavotella, 2B	5	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Marlins	Christian Yelich, LF	4	2	3	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	White Sox	J.B. Shuck, PH	1	1	1	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rays	Alex Colome (W,8-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		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.

Cubs' Arrieta tops players for Friday, Oct. 2, secures Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, officially and mathematically securing Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors.

Also Friday, White Sox pitcher Chris Sale rises to 10th in player rankings.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	29.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	21.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	19.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	18.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing two hits, in the 6-1 win over the Brewers.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 29.1 for the season. He now leads second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (24.7), by 4.4 Box-Toppers points. So even in the off-chance that Kershaw plays and earns Player of the Day honors in both of the final two games of the season, he would only earn 4.0 Box-Toppers points, not enough to catch Arrieta. While there hasn’t been much doubt since his last start (in which he earned Player of the Day) on Sunday that Arrieta would end the season leading in Box-Toppers points, his Friday start removed all doubt.

Arrieta’s 29.1 Box-Toppers points this season is the eighth-highest single-season total since record keeping began in 1995. Only three pitchers have earned more points in a single season than Arrieta in 21 seasons—Randy Johnson (who did it four times), Pedro Martinez (who did it twice) and Clayton Kershaw (who earned 31.5 points last season, tied for the fourth-most points in a single season). (See the Best seasons chart.)

Best seasons

Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta Friday rose to eighth place on the list (29.1 Box-Toppers points):  

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
4	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	31.5
6	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
7	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
8	*Jake Arrieta	Cubs	pi sp	2015	29.1
9	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
10	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
11	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4
12	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2004	26.8
13	Pedro Martinez	Expos	pi sp	1997	26.7
13	CC Sabathia	Indians/Brewers	pi sp	2008	26.7
15	Randy Johnson	Mariners/Astros	pi sp	1998	26.4
16	John Smoltz	Braves	pi sp	1996	26.1
16	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2011	26.1
18	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1998	25.8
18	Corey Kluber	Indians	pi sp	2014	25.8
20	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2006	25.7
21	Cliff Lee	Phillies	pi sp	2011	25.4
	* Current season

Arrieta nearly doubled his Box-Toppers point total from 2014, when he had 14.7 points with the Cubs and ranked eighth among National League pitchers. In Arrieta’s previous seasons, he had fewer than 10 points each season

• 2010—3.0 with the Orioles
• 2011—2.0 with the Orioles
• 2012—6.0 with the Orioles
• 2013—5.0 with the Orioles and Cubs

Arrieta has 59.8 career Box-Toppers points and ranks 217th among all players since 1995. He ranks 25th among active NL pitchers in career Box-Toppers points.

American League Player of the Day—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale struck out seven over seven innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 2-1 win over the Tigers.

Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day, giving him 18.8 for the season. He rises to 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings and fourth among AL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros homered, tripled and went 3-for-4, scoring four times and driving in four runs, in the 21-5 win over the Diamondbacks.

American League Batter of the Day—Carlos Santana of the Indians doubled and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 8-2 win over the Red Sox.

Notable—Andrew McCutchen of the Pirates rose to third place among NL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Friday.

McCutchen (HR 3-5 2R BI in the 6-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season. He becomes the 45th player—and ninth batter—this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points. He ranks 38th among all players. He trails two NL batters—Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies (11.5) and Yoenis Cespedes of the Mets (10.9).

Rankings—Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel started Friday but did not earn Player of the Game honors and so did not extend his Box-Toppers points lead among AL pitchers. However, with only two days left in the season and neither of the pitchers contending for the lead among AL pitchers scheduled to start, Keuchel appears to have wrapped up Box-Toppers AL Player of the Year honors.

Keuchel (6IP 6H 2R 3K W in the 21-5 win over the Diamondbacks) had a Box-Toppers game score of −3. Player of the Game was Carlos Correa (HR 3B 3-4 4R 4BI), who had a Box-Toppers game score of +7.

Keuchel has 21.4 Box-Toppers points on the season and ranks fourth among all players, first among AL pitchers. The only two pitchers who could catch him are not scheduled to start in the final two days of the season:

• David Price of the Blue Jays, 21.1 Box-Toppers points.
• Felix Hernandez of the Mariners, 19.4 Box-Toppers points.

Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Sale earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Correa and Santana 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

10/2	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Cubs	Jake Arrieta (W,22-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	0	7
BAT	7.0	Astros	Carlos Correa, SS	4	4	3	4	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	6.0	White Sox	Chris Sale (W,13-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	1	1	1	7
	6.0	Braves	Julio Teheran (W,11-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	1	6
BAT	4.0	Indians	Carlos Santana, 1B	3	2	2	3	2	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Rockies	Kyle Kendrick (W,7-13)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	1	6
	3.1	`Royals	Chris Young	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	4	1	1	2	5
	3.0	Athletics	Danny Valencia, 3B	4	2	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Blue Jays	Russell Martin, C	5	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Angels	Joe Smith (S,4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Pirates	Andrew McCutchen, CF	5	2	3	1	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Dodgers	Justin Turner, 3B	3	1	1	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Phillies' Eickhoff tops players for Thursday, Oct. 1; Rangers' Beltre rises to top AL batters in Box-Toppers points

Phillies pitcher Jerad Eickhoff is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also, Adrian Beltre of the Rangers, earning Player of the Game honors for the third straight day, rises to lead American League batters in Box-Toppers points with three days to go in the season.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	27.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	21.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	19.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	18.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Eickhoff pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out 10 and allowing four hits, in the 3-0 win over the Mets.

American League Player of the Day—Rays pitcher Jake Odorizzi struck out seven over seven innings, allowing four hits and one unearned run, in the 4-1 win over the Marlins.

American League Batter of the Day—Manny Machado of the Orioles homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 6-4 win over the Blue Jays.

National League Batter of the Day—Socrates Brito of the Diamondbacks tripled and went 3-for-3, scoring twice and driving in one run, in the 8-6 win over the Rockies.

This was Brito’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Brito made his Major League debut Sept. 8 and was playing in his 15th career game. He is the 3,606th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Rankings—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rose to first place among AL batters in Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday for the third straight day.

Beltre (2B 2-3 R 3BI in the 5-3 win over the Angels) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 12.5 for the season. He passes Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) to lead AL batters.

A week ago, Beltre ranked sixth among AL batters with 9.5 Box-Toppers points. He’s earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to rise to the AL lead and ranks 24th among all players.

If Beltre’s lead holds through the final three days of the season, his 12.5 Box-Toppers points would be tied for the lowest point total to lead AL batters in a single season. In 2008, Aubrey Huff of the Orioles led AL batters with 12.5 points. In 2012, Beltre led AL batters with 13.0 Box-Toppers points, his best season. He had 0.0 Box-Toppers points in 2014. While in 2014, Beltre had batting numbers similar to or better than this year, the Rangers did not win as many games.

Beltre also rises to 62nd place among players in Box-Toppers points since 1995 (when record keeping began). Beltre has 101.8 career Box-Toppers points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Jason Schmidt (101.2), Tim Wakefield (101.4) and Adam Wainwright (101.8). He trails 61st-ranked player Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2).

It should be noted that Wakefield and Griffey both began their careers before the advent of Box-Toppers and would likely have higher point totals if their entire career were tracked. Wakefield started in 1992 and would likely have about 110 Box-Toppers points, according to rough projections. Griffey started in 1989 and would likely have about 140. Schmidt debuted in 1995 and Wainwright in 2005, so their entire careers have been tracked by Box-Toppers.

Notable—Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg rose to 10th place among NL pitchers in Box-Toppers player rankings after earning Player of the Game honors Thursday.

Strasburg (6IP 6H 0R 7K W in the 3-0 win over the Braves) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.0 for the season. He ranks 17th among all players.

Reports—Our usual Friday reports on team and player rankings will be delayed until after the season’s final games Sunday. Here are last week’s penultimate (and also next-to-last) team rankings and player rankings reports of the season.

Scoring—Eickhoff earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Odorizzi earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Machado and Brito 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

10/1	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	Phillies	Jerad Eickhoff (W,3-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	1	10
	10.0	Padres	Ian Kennedy (W,9-15)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	0	11
AL	7.0	Rays	Jake Odorizzi (W,9-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	0	2	7
	6.0	Nationals	Stephen Strasburg (W,11-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	6	0	0	1	7
BAT	5.0	Orioles	Manny Machado, 3B	4	3	3	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Cubs	Jason Hammel (W,10-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	5	0	0	0	5
	4.0	`Yankees	Adam Warren (MR)	-	-	-	-	-	-		3.0	1	0	0	1	3
BAT	3.0	Dbacks	Socrates Brito, PH-LF	3	2	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rangers	Adrian Beltre, 3B	3	1	2	3	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.2	Dodgers	Brett Anderson (W,10-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	4	2	2	0	3
	2.0	Royals	Jonny Gomes, RF	2	0	1	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Twins	Kevin Jepsen (S,15)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	1	0	0	0	2
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Cubs' Jon Lester (8IP R 9K) tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 30

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

Lester struck out nine over eight innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 10-3 win over the Reds.

Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 12.0 for the season. He ranks 26th among all players and 13th among NL pitchers.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	27.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	21.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	19.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	18.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Lester also now has 121.1 career Box-Toppers points, maintaining his rank of 37th among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. He trails 36th-ranked player Jered Weaver (123.1).

American League Player of the Day—Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and five hits, in the 8-1 win over the Blue Jays.

American League Batter of the Day—Jose Ramirez of the Indians hit a three-run homer, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 10-2 win over the Twins.

National League Batter of the Day—Francisco Cervelli of the Pirates hit a grand slam and doubled, going 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in four runs, in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals.

Rankings—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers maintained his rank of third among AL batters after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Beltre (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 6-2 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.5 for the season. He ranks 31st among all players and third among AL batters behind Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) and Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5).

This was the second straight day Beltre earned Player of the Game honors. It was the fifth time in September Beltre earned the honor—he earned 6.0 total Box-Toppers points in September. In fact, Beltre has earned all his points since earning his first Player of the Game honor of the season on July 31. He had 4.5 Box-Toppers points in August. And despite a season when he had very similar numbers to this year, Beltre earned no Box-Toppers points in 2014—in fact this year, he has a lower batting average (.281 to .324) and lower home run totals (16 to 19) than in 2014. (One notable difference—the Rangers had 67 wins in 2014 and already have 86 in 2015, so Beltre has had more opportunity for Box-Toppers points this year, since players can only earn Player of the Game honors when their team wins.)

Beltre also Wednesday became the 68th player since 1995 to earn 100 or more career Box-Toppers points. Beltre now has 100.8 career points and rises to 65th place among all players since 1995. He passes three players on the “all-time” list—Larry Walker (100.1), Jeff Bagwell (100.4) and Paul Konerko (100.7). He trails 67th-ranked player Jason Schmidt (101.2).

It should be noted that Walker and Bagwell both started their careers before the advent of Box-Toppers in 1995 and that if their entire career were tracked they would likely have more points. Walker’s first year was 1989 and rough estimates would put his Box-Toppers career point total at 135. Bagwell began in 1991 and his estimated career total would be 125. Konerko began in 1997, so his entire career was tracked by Box-Toppers.

Notable—Giants pitcher Mike Leake became the 44th player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points after earning Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Leake (CG 2H 0R K W in the 5-0 win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and 17th among NL pitchers.

Top 10—Two pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Wednesday, but did not earn Player of the Game honors:

• Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole (7IP 7H 2R 2K W in the 8-2 win over the Cardinals) had a Box-Toppers game score of -2. Player of the Game was Francisco Cervelli (GS 2B 2-4 2R 4BI), with a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Cole ranks ninth in Box-Toppers points with 19.0.
• Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco (3IP 5H 5R 5K L in the 7-1 loss to the Twins) had a Box-Toppers game score of -9. Player of the Game was Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson (6IP 4H 0R 9K W), with a Box-Toppers game score of +9. Carrasco ranks 10th in Box-Toppers points with 18.0.

Scoring—Lester earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Gausman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Ramirez and Cervelli 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

9/30	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	12.0	Cubs	Jon Lester (W,11-12)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	0	9
AL	11.0	Orioles	Kevin Gausman (W,4-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	1	0	10
	9.0	Twins	Kyle Gibson (W,11-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	0	0	2	9
	8.0	Cardinals	Tyler Lyons (W,3-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	0	0	0	5
	7.0	Blue Jays	Marcus Stroman (W,4-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	5	1	1	2	8
	6.0	Brewers	Zach Davies (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	2	6
	6.0	Rays	Drew Smyly (W,5-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	3	8
	5.0	Giants	Mike Leake (W,11-10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	3	1
BAT	4.0	Indians	Jose Ramirez, 2B	4	2	2	4	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	Pirates	Francisco Cervelli, C	4	2	2	4	0	2		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Phillies	Freddy Galvis, SS	3	2	2	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Red Sox	Travis Shaw, 1B	5	2	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rangers	Adrian Beltre, 3B	4	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Astros	Luis Valbuena, 3B	3	2	2	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Royals	Wade Davis (S,15)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	Braves	Arodys Vizcaino (S,9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Athletics	Eric Sogard, 2B	4	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Dbacks	David Peralta, LF	2	0	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-

Dodgers' Kershaw tops players for Tuesday, Sept. 29, maintains 2nd place in player rankings

Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is Tuesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and maintains his spot at second place in season player rankings.

Kershaw pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 13, in the 8-0 win over the Giants.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	27.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	24.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	21.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	19.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	18.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Kershaw earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 24.7 for the season. He still trails overall and National League pitching leader Jake Arrieta (27.1) by 2.4 Box-Toppers points. And with five days left in the season, Kershaw has no realistic shot of catching him, ending his streak of four straight years leading NL pitchers and two straight years of leading all players in Box-Toppers points.

Kershaw had a Box-Toppers game score Tuesday of +20. It is the eighth time this season that a player has had a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more.

Kershaw also rose to 13th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Tuesday, Kershaw has 158.3 career Box-Toppers points and passes Tim Hudson (157.0), who had earlier passed Kershaw. John Smoltz (160.9) is ranked just ahead of Kershaw on the “all-time” list at 12th place. Kershaw is the third-ranked active pitcher in career Box-Toppers points, behind CC Sabathia of the Yankees (187.0) and Felix Hernandez of the Mariners (162.7).

American League Player of the Day—Angels pitcher Nick Tropeano struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 8-1 win over the Athletics.

American League Batter of the Day—Blake Swihart of the Red Sox hit two homers and drove in five runs in the 10-4 win over the Yankees.

National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pierzynski of the Braves hit two homers and went 3-for-3 in the 2-1 win over the Nationals.

With Tuesday’s Player of the Game honor, his first of the season, Pierzynski has now earned Box-Toppers points for 13 straight seasons. He earned his first Box-Toppers point in 2001 with the Twins, but his current 13-season streak began in 2003 with the Twins. His best year was 2012 with the White Sox, when he had 6.0 Box-Toppers points, ranked fourth among AL catchers. In 2014, he had 1.0 Box-Toppers point with the Red Sox (and later played with the Cardinals that season).

Pierzynski has 47.2 career Box-Toppers points, which ranks 331st among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. However, he ranks sixth among all catchers in that time and ranks second among active catchers in career Box-Toppers points, behind Brian McCann of the Yankees (55.2).

Notable—Others who earned Player of the Game honors Tuesday had notable achievements:

• Adrian Beltre of the Rangers rose to third place among AL batters in season Box-Toppers points. Beltre (3-5 R 2BI in the 7-6 win over the Tigers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.5 for the season. He trails Mike Trout of the Angels (12.0) and Prince Fielder of the Rangers (11.5). Beltre becomes the 43rd player—and eighth batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points.
• Phillies pitcher Adam Loewen earned his first Box-Toppers points in four years and his first points as a pitcher in nine years Tuesday. Loewen (0.1IP 0H 0R K W in the 4-3 win over the Mets) last earned Box-Toppers points as a right fielder with the Blue Jays on Sept. 28, 2011. He last earned Box-Toppers points as a pitcher with the Orioles on Aug. 22, 2006.
• Cubs pitcher Dan Haren maintains his rank of 49th among all players since 1995 (when Box-Toppers record keeping began). Haren (7.1IP 3H 0R 6K W in the 4-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 112.2 for his career. He trails 48th-ranked player Kevin Brown (112.8). Haren has 4.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Debut—Diamondbacks pitcher Silvino Bracho made his Box-Toppers debut Tuesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Bracho (1.2IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-3 win over the Rockies) made his Major League debut Aug. 30 and was playing in his 11th career game. He is the 3,605th 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 Tropeano earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Swihart and Pierzynski 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

9/29	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	20.0	Dodgers	Clayton Kershaw (W,16-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	1	0	0	1	13
AL	11.2	Angels	Nick Tropeano (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.2	3	1	1	1	11
	10.1	Cubs	Dan Haren (W,10-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.1	3	0	0	0	6
BAT	5.0	Red Sox	Blake Swihart, C	4	2	2	5	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	4.0	Braves	A.J. Pierzynski, C	3	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.2	`Dbacks	Silvino Bracho (MR)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.2	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Brewers	Jean Segura, SS	4	1	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Mariners	Robinson Cano, 2B	3	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Rays	Asdrubal Cabrera, SS	3	2	1	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	White Sox	Carlos Sanchez, 2B	2	2	2	0	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.1	Phillies	Adam Loewen (MR) (W,1-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		0.1	0	0	0	0	1
	1.0	Rangers	Adrian Beltre, 3B	5	1	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.

Nationals' Scherzer tops players for Monday, Sept. 28, rises to 8th in player rankings

Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer is Monday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to eighth in player rankings.

Scherzer struck out 10 over eight innings, allowing one run and two hits, in the 5-1 win over the Reds. Scherzer had a no-hitter until allowing his first hit in the eighth inning.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	27.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	21.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Scherzer, Max 2588	pi sp	dc nl	19.0
9	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
10	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	18.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 19.0 for the season, rising to eighth place among all players and fifth among NL pitchers.

Scherzer also rises to 58th place among all players since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began. With his points Monday, Scherzer has 104.0 career points and passes three players on the “all-time” list—Ken Griffey Jr. (102.2), Miguel Tejada (102.3) and Jamie Moyer (104.0). Scherzer trails 57th-ranked player Aramis Ramirez (105.8).

Both Griffey and Moyer started their careers before the start of Box-Toppers record keeping in 1995 and so would likely have more actual points if their entire career were tracked. Griffey, who started in 1989, would likely have about 140 career Box-Toppers points, according to rough projections. Moyer, who started in 1986, would likely have about 125 career Box-Toppers points. Tejada made his debut in 1997, so his entire career has been tracked by Box-Toppers.

American League Player of the Day—Astros pitcher Lance McCullers struck out seven over six innings, allowing two runs and four hits, in the 3-2 win over the Mariners.

National League Batter of the Day—Mark Reynolds of the Cardinals homered and drove in two runs in the 3-0 win over the Pirates.

American League Batter of the Day—Travis Shaw of the Red Sox homered and went 3-for-4, driving in two runs, in the 5-1 win over the Yankees.

Rankings—Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke, ranked sixth in player rankings (19.7 Box-Toppers points), started Monday but did not earn Player of the Game honors. Greinke (7IP 4H 2R 7K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning loss to the Giants) had a Box-Toppers game score of +3. Player of the Game was Giants pitcher Jake Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND) with a Box-Toppers game score of +5.

Notable—Giants pitcher Jake Peavy maintained his rank of 25th among all players since 1995 after earning Player of the Game honors Monday. Peavy (7IP 3H R 4K ND in the 3-2, 12-inning win over the Dodgers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 136.8 for his career. He trails 24th-ranked player David Ortiz (137.9). Peavy has 5.0 Box-Toppers points on the season.

Scoring—Scherzer earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and McCullers earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Reynolds and Shaw 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

9/28	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	11.0	Nationals	Max Scherzer (W,13-12)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	2	1	1	3	10
	11.0	`Cubs	Kyle Hendricks	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	2	9
	5.0	`Giants	Jake Peavy	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	3	1	1	1	4
BAT	3.0	Cardinals	Mark Reynolds, 1B	1	1	1	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	3.0	Astros	Lance McCullers (W,6-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	4	2	2	2	7
	3.0	Blue Jays	Brett Cecil (MR) (W,5-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Red Sox	Travis Shaw, 1B	4	1	3	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.2	Twins	Tommy Milone (W,9-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.2	4	2	2	0	4
	1.0	Tigers	Tyler Collins, LF	4	1	1	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Angels	Chris Iannetta, C	1	1	0	1	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
		`Denotes that the pitcher had a no-decision in the game and did not pick up a win or a save.

Cubs' Arrieta tops players for Sunday, Sept. 27, cementing his status as Box-Toppers Player of the Year

Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is Sunday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day, taking a commanding lead in Box-Toppers player rankings and virtually assuring his status as Box-Toppers Player of the Year.

Also Sunday, two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	27.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	21.4
4	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	21.4
5	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
9	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	18.0
10	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	17.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

• Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to third place.
• Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to fourth place and took the lead among American League pitchers, displacing previous leader, David Price of the Blue Jays.

Player of the Day—Arrieta pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out nine, in the 4-0 win over the Pirates.

Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 27.1 for the season, cementing his lead atop Box-Toppers season player rankings.

Best seasons

Here are all players who have earned 25 or more Box-Toppers points in a single season since 1995, ranked by their single-season Box-Toppers point total. Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta Sunday became the player with the 11th-most points in a single season (27.1) since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began.  

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Year	BTP
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2000	33.7
1	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	33.7
3	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2000	33.5
4	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	1999	31.5
4	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2014	31.5
6	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	1999	31.4
7	Randy Johnson	Dbacks	pi sp	2001	29.4
8	Pedro Martinez	Red Sox	pi sp	2002	28.8
9	Curt Schilling	Dbacks	pi sp	2002	28.4
10	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1997	27.4
11	*Jake Arrieta	Cubs	pi sp	2015	27.1
12	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2004	26.8
13	Pedro Martinez	Expos	pi sp	1997	26.7
13	CC Sabathia	Indians/Brewers	pi sp	2008	26.7
15	Randy Johnson	Mariners/Astros	pi sp	1998	26.4
16	John Smoltz	Braves	pi sp	1996	26.1
16	Clayton Kershaw	Dodgers	pi sp	2011	26.1
18	Roger Clemens	Blue Jays	pi sp	1998	25.8
18	Corey Kluber	Indians	pi sp	2014	25.8
20	Johan Santana	Twins	pi sp	2006	25.7
21	Cliff Lee	Phillies	pi sp	2011	25.4
	* Current season

Arrieta also now has the 11th-highest Box-Toppers single-season point total since 1995, when Box-Toppers record keeping began (see Best seasons chart). Only once since 2002 has a player had a higher Box-Toppers point total than Arrieta has in 2015—last season, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw had 31.5, ranked fourth since 1995.

Arrieta’s Box-Toppers points lead for 2015 is all-but insurmountable. He now leads second-place player Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7) by 4.4 Box-Toppers points. Since the most a player can earn in one game is 2.0 Box-Toppers points, that means Kershaw would need at least three starts to pass Arrieta. Kershaw likely only has one start left this season, at most, two.

It would be extremely unlikely, though still mathematically possible, for a player to pass Arrieta in Box-Toppers points. With seven games left in the season, if a player earned Player of the Day honors each day, they could earn up to 14.0 points. But if you consider the players who are now within 14.0 points of Arrieta, that would include the top 19 players, all of whom are starting pitchers and who aren’t likely to pitch every day. But mathematically, it would be possible, for example for Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez (13.7 Box-Toppers points, ranked 19th) to be Box-Toppers Player of the Day for seven games, earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points each day and ending the season with 27.7 points, passing Arrieta. But that just won’t happen.

In other words, Arrieta on Sunday won Box-Toppers Player of the Year for 2015, with a week left to go in the season.

American League Player of the Day—Red Sox pitcher Henry Owens pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and striking out five, in the 2-0 win over the Orioles.

National League Batter of the Day—Nolan Arenado of the Rockies hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-3, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 12-5 win over the Dodgers.

American League Batter of the Day—Justin Smoak of the Blue Jays homered, doubled and went 3-for-4, driving in three runs, in the 5-4 win over the Rays.

Rankings—Two other players rose in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings:

• Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom rose to third in player rankings. deGrom (6IP 5H R 9K W in the 8-1 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.4 for the season. He also ranks third among NL pitchers.
• Astros pitcher Dallas Keuchel rose to fourth in player rankings. Keuchel (7IP 2H R 10K W in the 4-2 win over the Rangers) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 21.4 for the season. (Though tied with deGrom in Box-Toppers points at 21.4, deGrom ranks ahead of Keuchel on a tiebreaker: deGrom had more Box-Toppers points in 2014, 13.0 vs. 12.4.) Keuchel rises to first place among AL pitchers in Box-Toppers points, passing previous leader David Price of the Blue Jays (21.1).

Debuts—Three players made their Box-Toppers debut Sunday, the first time in their careers they earned Player of the Game honors:

• Jason Rogers of the Brewers (pinch-hit, ninth-inning, go-ahead grand slam in the 8-4 win over the Cardinals) made his Major League debut Sept. 2, 2014, and was playing in his 92nd career game. He is the 3,602nd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Angels closing pitcher Mike Morin (1IP 0H 0R 2K Sv in the 3-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut April 30, 2014, and was playing in his 103rd career game. He is the 3,603rd player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.
• Byron Buxton of the Twins (HR 2B 2-4 2R 2BI in the 7-1 win over the Tigers) made his Major League debut June 14 and was playing in his 41st career game. He is the 3,604th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Arrieta earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Owens earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Arenado and Smoak 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

9/27	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	15.0	Cubs	Jake Arrieta (W,21-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	1	0	0	0	9
	11.0	Astros	Dallas Keuchel (W,19-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	1	1	2	10
AL	8.2	Red Sox	Henry Owens (W,4-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	3	0	0	1	5
	8.0	Mets	Jacob deGrom (W,14-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	1	1	0	9
BAT	6.0	Rockies	Nolan Arenado, 3B	3	2	2	5	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	6.0	Royals	Chris Young (W,11-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	0	0	0	1	2
	5.0	Brewers	Jason Rogers, 3B	1	1	1	4	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Dbacks	Ender Inciarte, RF	5	2	4	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	3.0	Blue Jays	Justin Smoak, 1B	4	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Marlins	Justin Bour, 1B	4	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Angels	Mike Morin (S, 1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Phillies	Freddy Galvis, SS	5	2	3	2	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Twins	Byron Buxton, CF	4	2	2	2	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Luis Severino (W,5-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	0	0	1	2
	2.0	Giants	Santiago Casilla (S,37)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	1	2

Nationals' Strasburg tops players for Saturday, Sept. 26; Cubs' Arrieta moves closer to winning Box-Toppers Player of the Year

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

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	25.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	20.4
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
9	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	18.0
10	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	17.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Meanwhile, Cubs’ pitcher Jake Arrieta’s chances for winning the Box-Toppers Player of the Year crown were further solidified when perhaps the only player with a chance to catch him—Blue Jays pitcher David Price—did not earn Box-Toppers points Saturday.

Player of the Day—Strasburg struck out 13 over eight innings, allowing one runs and three hits, in the 2-1, 12-inning win over the Phillies. Strasburg did not earn the win, picking up a no decision, because he exited with the game tied, 1-1.

Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 13.0 for the season. He ranks 21st among all players and 11th among National League pitchers.

American League Player of the Day—Carlos Correa of the Astros homered twice and went 3-for-4, scoring three times and driving in three runs, in the 9-7 win over the Rangers.

National League Batter of the Day—Jarrett Parker of the Giants hit three home runs, including a grand slam, driving in seven total runs, in the 14-10 win over the Athletics.

This was Parker’s Box-Toppers debut, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Parker made his Major League debut June 13 and was playing in his 14th career game. He is the 3,600th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

American League Batter of the Day—There is no separate AL Batter of the Day for Saturday because the overall AL Player of the Day is batter Carlos Correa.

Rankings—Blue Jays pitcher David Price, the only player with a remote chance of catching Box-Toppers points leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, did not earn Box-Toppers points, meaning Arrieta will most likely win the crown as Box-Toppers Player of the Year.

Price entered the game ranked third in Box-Toppers points with 21.1, 4.0 points behind Arrieta (25.1). Price needed to win overall Player of the Day in what would likely be his final two starts to match Arrieta’s total of 25.1. Price would have ranked ahead of Arrieta on a tiebreaker.

Arrieta already leads second-place player, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22.7) by 2.4 points. Since Kershaw likely only has one start remaining this season, he can only earn 2.0 more points this season and with 24.7, would still be short of Arrieta.

Arrieta starts Sunday against the Pirates. While he’s already got the Box-Toppers crown pretty well wrapped up now, earning overall Player of the Day honors would virtually seal it for him.

Two players in Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings started Saturday, but neither earned Box-Toppers points:

• Price (5IP 6H 5R 6K W in the 10-8 win over the Rays) had a Box-Toppers game score of −5. Player of the Game was Jose Bautista (2HR 2-3 2R 4BI, Box-Toppers game score +5).
• Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez, ranked seventh in Box-Toppers points (19.4), third among AL pitchers, did not earn Player of the Game honors. Hernandez (6IP 8H 2R 6K ND in the 3-2 loss to the Angels) had a Box-Toppers game score of −2. Player of the Game was Angels middle reliever Trevor Gott (1IP 0R 0H 2K ND, Box-Toppers game score of +3).

Notable—Two other players who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday had notable achievements:

• Pirates pitcher Francisco Liriano had the highest season Box-Toppers point total of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Saturday. Liriano (7.2IP 4H 0R 9K W in the 4-0 win over the Cubs) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 14.9 for the season. He ranks 16th among all players and ninth among NL pitchers.
• Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays became the 42nd player—and seventh batter—this season with 10.0 or more Box-Toppers points. Bautista (2HR 2-3 2R 4BI in the 10-8 win over the Rays) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 10.0 for the season. He ranks 41st among all players and fourth among AL batters.

Debut—In addition to Parker, one other player made his Box-Toppers debut Saturday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Angels pitcher Trevor Gott (1IP 0R 0H 2K ND in the 3-2 win over the Mariners) made his Major League debut June 14 and was playing in his 44th career game. He is the 3,601st player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Strasburg earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Correa earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Parker 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

9/26	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	15.0	`Nationals	Stephen Strasburg	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	3	1	1	1	13
	9.2	Pirates	Francisco Liriano (W,12-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	4	0	0	3	9
BAT	8.0	Giants	Jarrett Parker, LF	5	3	3	7	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	8.0	Padres	Robbie Erlin (W,1-1)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	2	0	0	1	4
	7.0	Cardinals	Jaime Garcia (W,10-5)	-	-	-	-	-	-		8.0	7	1	1	0	8
AL	5.0	Astros	Carlos Correa, SS	4	3	3	3	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Blue Jays	Jose Bautista, RF	3	2	2	4	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Mets	Lucas Duda, 1B	3	2	1	4	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Twins	Eduardo Escobar, SS	4	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Rockies	Justin Miller (W,3-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Yankees	Andrew Miller (S,36)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	`Angels	Trevor Gott (MR)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Indians	Jose Ramirez, 3B	5	3	3	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Marlins	Justin Bour, 1B	3	1	2	2	1	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.0	Red Sox	Mookie Betts, RF	4	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.

Indians' Carrasco, with 1-hitter, tops players for Friday, Sept. 25, rises to 9th in player rankings

Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco is Friday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day and rises to ninth place in player rankings.

Also Friday, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors—Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole maintained his spot in eighth place and Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th place.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	25.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	20.4
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	19.0
9	Carrasco, Carlos 2885	pi sp	cle al	18.0
10	Gray, Sonny 3259	pi sp	oak al	17.8

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Carrasco pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout, striking out 15, in the 6-0 win over the Royals. Carrasco had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning before giving up the only hit.

Carrasco earned 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day, giving him 18.0 for the season. He rises to ninth place among all players and fourth place among AL pitchers.

Carrasco also had the third-highest Box-Toppers game score of 2015, +21. Indians pitcher Corey Kluber had the highest score of +25 on May 13 (8IP H 0R 18K). Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer had the second-highest score of +23 on June 14 (CG H 0R 16K). It is the seventh time this season that a player has achieved a Box-Toppers game score of +20 or more.

National League Player of the Day—Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard struck out 11 over 7 2/3 innings, allowing two runs and five hits, in the 12-5 win over the Reds.

Syndergaard earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player of the Day, giving him 10.4 for the season. He becomes the 41st player this season with 10 or more Box-Toppers points and ranks 37th among all players, 15th among NL pitchers.

National League Batter of the Day—A.J. Pollock of the Diamondbacks hit a grand slam and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in five runs, in the 6-3 win over the Padres.

American League Batter of the Day—C.J. Cron of the Angels homered, doubled and went 2-for-4, scoring twice and driving in two runs, in the 8-4 win over the Mariners.

Rankings—In addition to Carrasco, two other players in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings earned Player of the Game honors Friday:

• Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole maintained his spot in eighth place in player rankings. Cole (7IP 4H R 8K W in the 3-2 win over the Cubs) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 19.0 for the season. He ranks fifth among NL pitchers.
• Athletics pitcher Sonny Gray rose to 10th place in player rankings. Gray (6IP 5H 2R 7K W in the 5-4 win over the Giants) earned 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 17.8 for the season. He ranks fifth among AL pitchers.

Notable—With the rise of Carrasco and Gray into Box-Toppers top 10 player rankings, two players fell from the top 10—White Sox pitcher Chris Sale (17.1 Box-Toppers points, 11th place) and Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner (17.0 Box-Toppers points, 12th place).

Scoring—Carrasco 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. Pollock and Cron 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

9/25	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	21.0	Indians	Carlos Carrasco (W,14-11)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	1	0	0	2	15
	16.0	Red Sox	Rich Hill (W,2-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		9.0	2	0	0	1	10
NL	9.2	Mets	Noah Syndergaard (W,9-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.2	5	2	2	0	11
	7.0	Phillies	Jerad Eickhoff (W,2-3)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	2	2	1	10
	7.0	Pirates	Gerrit Cole (W,18-8)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	1	1	2	8
BAT	5.0	Dbacks	A.J. Pollock, CF	4	2	2	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	4.0	Rockies	Corey Dickerson, LF	4	2	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.1	Rangers	Ross Ohlendorf (MR) (W,3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Marlins	Justin Bour, 1B	5	2	3	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	`Tigers	Al Alburquerque (MR)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
BAT	2.0	Angels	C.J. Cron, 1B	4	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Blue Jays	Kevin Pillar, CF	3	2	2	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Athletics	Sonny Gray (W,14-7)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	5	2	2	2	7
	2.0	Brewers	Will Smith (MR) (W,7-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	1
	2.0	White Sox	David Robertson (S,32)	-	-	-	-	-	-		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.

Royals' Moustakas tops players for Thursday, Sept. 24; Kershaw's chances to pass Arrieta for Box-Toppers lead diminish

Mike Moustakas of the Royals is Thursday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Also Thursday, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw did not earn Player of the Game honors in his start, greatly reducing the chances that he will take the Box-Toppers point lead this season and further solidifying Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta’s chances that he will end the season as leader.

Top 10 players

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

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	25.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	20.4
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	18.0
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	17.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

Player of the Day—Moustakas homered, doubled and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, in the 10-4 win over the Mariners.

National League Player of the Day—Stephen Piscotty of the Cardinals homered and went 3-for-4, driving in four runs, in the 7-3 win over the Brewers.

American League and National League Batters of the Day—There are no separate AL and NL Batters of the Day for Thursday because both the overall Player of the Day and the NL Player of the Day were batters—Mike Moustakas and Stephen Piscotty.

Notable—Mets closing pitcher Jeurys Familia has the highest Box-Toppers point total of any of the 12 who earned Player of the Game honors Thursday. Familia (1IP 0H 0R K Sv in the 6-4 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 8.0 for the season. He ranks 81st among all players, 27th among NL pitchers and second among NL closers, behind Aroldis Champman of the Reds (8.0 points).

Kershaw, Arrieta and the Box-Toppers points lead—While Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers won his game, he did not earn Player of the Game honors. Kershaw (5IP 6H 3R 9K W in the 6-3 win over the Diamondbacks) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Chris Heisey (1-3 R 4BI) with a Box-Toppers game score of +3.

Kershaw’s chances to repeat as Box-Toppers points leaders and his chances to repeat as leader among NL pitchers for the fifth straight season now seem to be greatly diminished. With 10 days left in the season, Kershaw probably will not make more than one more start and he already trails overall Box-Toppers points leader, Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta (25.1), by 2.4 points. If Kershaw makes one more start, the most he can earn is 2.0 points, giving him 24.7, short of Arrieta’s total.

But if Kershaw does make two more starts—or even two more appearances this season—he may have a chance, but would have to earn at least Player of the Game honors in both games. However, if Arrieta earns overall Player of the Day honors in his start Sunday, he would probably wrap up Box-Toppers Player of the Year honors, barring any miracle by another player.

The only other player who has a realistic chance of catching or passing Arrieta is Blue Jays pitcher David Price. Price has 21.1 Box-Toppers points, third place among all players and trails Arrieta by 4.0 Box-Toppers points. Price likely has two starts remaining, the first of which is Saturday. Price would have to earn overall Player of the Day honors in both starts, earning 2.0 Box-Toppers points each time, to give him 25.1 Box-Toppers points, the same total Arrieta currently has. Price would win the tiebreaker over Arrieta because he had more Box-Toppers points in 2014—19.1 vs. 14.7. But again, if Arrieta even earns Player of the Game honors in a start, Price would have no realistic shot of catching him.

Rankings—Two other pitchers in Box-Toppers top 10 season player rankings started Thursday, but neither earned Player of the Game honors:

• Chris Sale of the White Sox (7IP 7H 3R 8K L in the 3-2 loss to the Yankees) had a Box-Toppers game score of +1. Player of the Game was Carlos Beltran of the Yankees (2-4 R 3BI, Box-Toppers game score +2). Sale is ranked ninth in Box-Toppers player rankings, fourth among AL pitchers, with 17.1 points.
• Madison Bumgarner of the Giants (7IP 3H 3R 9K ND in the 5-4 loss to the Padres) had a Box-Toppers game score of +4. Player of the Game was Derek Norris of the Padres (3-4 R 3BI, Box-Toppers game score of +3). (Bumgarner had a higher Box-Toppers game score than Norris, but Norris earned Player of the Game because he had the highest score on the Padres—the team that won the game.) Bumgarner is ranked 10th in Box-Toppers player rankings, sixth among NL pitchers, with 17.0 points.

Scoring—Moustakas earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Piscotty earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being NL Player 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

9/24	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	6.0	Royals	Mike Moustakas, 3B	3	3	3	3	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	5.0	Rays	Erasmo Ramirez (W,11-6)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	4	2	2	0	6
NL	4.0	Cardinals	Stephen Piscotty, 1B-LF	4	1	3	4	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.1	`Marlins	Chris Narveson	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.1	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	Padres	Derek Norris, C	4	1	3	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Dodgers	Chris Heisey, CF-RF	3	1	1	4	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	3.0	Pirates	Mark Melancon (S,50)	-	-	-	-	-	-		1.0	0	0	0	0	2
	2.0	Rangers	Delino DeShields, CF	5	2	3	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Yankees	Carlos Beltran, RF	4	1	2	3	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Orioles	Matt Wieters, C	4	2	2	2	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Indians	Carlos Santana, DH	3	1	1	3	2	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Mets	Jeurys Familia (S,42)	-	-	-	-	-	-		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.

Marlins' Adam Conley (6IP R 3H 8K ND) tops players for Wednesday, Sept. 23

Marlins pitcher Adam Conley is Wednesday’s Box-Toppers Player of the Day.

Conley struck out eight over six innings, allowing one run and three hits, in the 4-3, 11-inning win over the Marlins. Conley did not pick up the win, earning a no-decision, because after he exited, the Phillies tied the game 2-2 in the eighth inning.

Top 10 players

Here are the top 10 players in Box-Toppers points (BTP) for the 2015 season as of Sept. 23.  

	Player	Pos	Team	BTP
1	Arrieta, Jake 2738	pi sp	chi nl	25.1
2	Kershaw, Clayton 2494	pi sp	lad nl	22.7
3	Price, David 2593	pi sp	tor al	21.1
4	deGrom, Jacob 3343	pi sp	nym nl	20.4
5	Keuchel, Dallas 3050	pi sp	hou al	20.4
6	Greinke, Zack 1871	pi sp	lad nl	19.7
7	Hernandez, Felix 2064	pi sp	sea al	19.4
8	Cole, Gerrit 3232	pi sp	pit nl	18.0
9	Sale, Chris 2806	pi sp	chi al	17.1
10	Bumgarner, Madison 2753	pi sp	sf nl	17.0

What are those numbers after players' names?

American League Player of the Day—Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and allowing five hits, in the 4-0 win over the Yankees. This was Stroman’s first Player of the Game honor this season. He was out much of the season after an ACL injury in spring training. In 2014, he had 13.7 Box-Toppers points.

National League Batter of the Day—Neil Walker of the Pirates homered and went 4-for-5, scoring twice and driving in six runs, in the 13-7 win over the Rockies.

American League Batter of the Day—Adrian Beltre of the Rangers hit a three-run homer and went 2-for-5, scoring twice and driving in three runs, in the 10-3 win over the Athletics.

Beltre earns 1.5 Box-Toppers points for being AL Batter of the Day, giving him 9.5 for the season, rising to sixth place among AL batters.

Notable—Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn has the highest Box-Toppers point total of any of the 15 who earned Player of the Game honors Wednesday.

Lynn (6IP 3H 0R 4K W in the 10-2 win over the Reds) earns 1.0 Box-Toppers point, giving him 11.4 for the season. He rises to 29th place among all players and 12th among NL pitchers.

Debut—Orioles pitcher Mychal Givens made his Box-Toppers debut Wednesday, the first time in his career he earned Player of the Game honors. Givens (2IP 0H 0R 2K ND in the 4-3 win over the Nationals) made his Major League debut June 24 and was playing in his 19th career game. He is the 3,599th player to debut in Box-Toppers since record keeping began in 1995.

Scoring—Conley earns 2.0 Box-Toppers points for being Player of the Day and Stroman earns 1.7 Box-Toppers points for being AL Player of the Day. Walker and Beltre 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

9/23	Score	Team	Player	AB	R	H	BI	BB	K		IP	H	R	ER	BB	K
MLB	8.0	`Marlins	Adam Conley	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	1	1	1	8
BAT	7.0	Pirates	Neil Walker, 2B	5	2	4	6	1	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	7.0	Cardinals	Lance Lynn (W,12-10)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	3	0	0	0	4
	7.0	Brewers	Zach Davies (W,2-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.0	2	0	0	1	4
	6.0	Braves	Freddie Freeman, PH-1B	2	1	2	5	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
AL	6.0	Blue Jays	Marcus Stroman (W,3-0)	-	-	-	-	-	-		7.0	5	0	0	1	5
	5.1	Rays	Drew Smyly (W,4-2)	-	-	-	-	-	-		6.1	5	0	0	3	7
	5.0	Twins	Phil Hughes (W,11-9)	-	-	-	-	-	-		5.0	4	0	0	0	4
	4.0	`Orioles	Mychal Givens (MR) (H,4)	-	-	-	-	-	-		2.0	0	0	0	0	2
	3.0	`Dodgers	Carlos Frias	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.0	1	1	1	0	2
	2.0	Padres	Jedd Gyorko, SS-2B	5	2	4	1	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
BAT	2.0	Rangers	Adrian Beltre, 3B	5	2	2	3	0	0		-	-	-	-	-	-
	2.0	Tigers	Rajai Davis, LF	4	3	3	0	0	1		-	-	-	-	-	-
	1.1	`Angels	Nick Tropeano	-	-	-	-	-	-		4.1	4	2	0	2	5
	1.0	Royals	Jarrod Dyson, PR-CF	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.