NERD Game Scores: Ante-Meridian Baseball Opportunity

Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by viscount of the internet Rob Neyer, and expanded at the request of nobody, NERD scores represent an attempt to summarize in one number (and on a scale of 0-10) the likely aesthetic appeal or watchability, for the learned fan, of a player or team or game. Read more about the components of and formulae for NERD scores here.

Most Highly Rated Game
San Francisco at Washington | 11:05 ET
Bumgarner (108.1 IP, 82 xFIP-) vs. Strasburg (57.1 IP, 90 xFIP-)
Roughly 240 years ago on this date, American colonists declared independence from the tyranny of British rule — an event to which the Washington Nationals pay homage each July 4th (i.e. today) by declaring independence from the tyranny of afternoon and night baseball. Fortunately for all involved, the latter event generates much less in the way of bloodshed and political turmoil. Also fortunate, is this: that this year’s edition of the ante-meridian game features starting pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Stephen Strasburg, each of whom possess objectively compelling traits according both to the methodology laboriously crafted by the author and also just everybody’s normal judgment.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: San Francisco Radio or Television.

Two Brief Notes
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Los Angeles AL at Texas, starts at 21:05 ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.

Complete Schedule
Here’s the complete and very sortable table for all of today’s games. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and also the rest of the internet. Note that the calculations both for team and game NERD scores have changed recently to better integrate playoff odds into same. Read more about those changes here, if you’re the sort of person accustomed to making poor life decisions.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Ma.n Bumgarner	SF	8	5	7	5	8	WAS	St. Strasburg	11:05
Nate Karns	TB	4	5	7	9	10	NYA	Michael Pineda	13:05
R.A. Dickey	TOR	7	9	7	4	6	DET	David Price	13:08
Collin McHugh	HOU	5	10	7	5	7	BOS	Clay Buchholz	13:35
Chris Tillman	BAL	2	6	4	1	7	CHA	Jeff Samardzija	14:10
O.r Despaigne	SD	3	3	5	5	9	STL	Carlos Martinez	14:15
Cody Anderson	CLE	6	7	6	8	5	PIT	Jeff Locke	16:05
Felix Hernandez	SEA	7	4	5	5	4	OAK	Kend’ll Graveman	16:05
Jarred Cosart	MIA	4	5	5	7	3	CHN	Clayton Richard*	19:15
Jimmy Nelson	MIL	5	3	4	4	3	CIN	Josh Smith*	19:15
Mike Pelfrey	MIN	2	3	4	7	6	KC	Joe Blanton	19:15
Matt Harvey	NYN	10	4	6	5	5	LAN	Zack Greinke	19:15
Kevin Correia	PHI	2	1	3	3	5	ATL	Alex Wood	19:15
Hector Santiago	LAA	3	7	4	4	3	TEX	Wandy Rodriguez	21:05
David Hale	COL	6	3	5	5	7	AZ	Patrick Corbin*	22:10

* = Fewer than 10 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.