NERD Game Scores for Friday, May 13, 2016

Devised originally in response to a challenge issued by sabermetric nobleman 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
Houston at Boston | 19:10 ET
McCullers (Season Debut) vs. Wright (41.1 IP, 101 xFIP-)
It was either American rock band 38 Special or ancient and dead Chinese philosopher Laozi who advised the world to “Hold on loosely, but don’t let go. If you cling too tightly, you’re gonna lose it — you’re gonna lose control.” Whatever the precise identity of the author, his/their spiritual wisdom has exerted no little influence over the the Houston Astros, which baseball club has handled Lance McCullers with great care this spring after the right-hander experienced shoulder inflammation in March. He returns to the majors tonight, however, on the strength of a 2015 campaign during which he produced the best adjusted ERA and best adjusted FIP and second-best adjusted xFIP among all rookies who recorded 100 or more innings as a starter. He faces knuckleballer Steven Wright, who has prevented runs with vigor over his first six starts.

Two Other Brief Notes
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Minnesota at Cleveland, starts at 19:10 ET, and can be accessed by means of this hyperlinked text.

Broadcaster Rankings
Recently, the present author began the process of process of reproducing the broadcaster rankings which appeared on this site roughly four years ago. Cast ballots for television broadcasts here; for radio broadcasts, here.

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 calculations both for team and game NERD scores feature adjustment for postseason odds that increases as season progresses. Read more about those adjustments here and here.

NERD Scores for May 13, 2016

Away		SP	TM	GM	TM	SP		Home	Time
Francisco Liriano	PIT	5	5	5	8	3	CHN	Jason Hammel	14:20
Chris Sale	CHA	7	4	7	4	10	NYA	Luis Severino	19:05
Brandon Finnegan	CIN	3	3	3	2	5	PHI	Jeremy Hellickson	19:05
Justin Verlander	DET	4	4	4	6	4	BAL	Chris Tillman	19:05
Tom Koehler	MIA	1	6	3	6	3	WAS	Gio Gonzalez	19:05
Lance McCullers*	HOU	9	6	8	8	9	BOS	Steven Wright	19:10
Ricky Nolasco	MIN	7	5	5	5	4	CLE	Josh Tomlin	19:10
Rich Hill	OAK	5	4	5	7	5	TB	Jake Odorizzi	19:10
R.A. Dickey	TOR	10	4	6	4	3	TEX	Martin Perez	20:05
TBA*	SD	5	5	6	6	6	MIL	Junior Guerra	20:10
Julio Teheran	ATL	4	1	3	4	4	KC	Edinson Volquez	20:15
Matt Harvey	NYN	8	7	8	4	10	COL	Jonathan Gray	20:40
Jeff Samardzija	SF	7	5	4	7	0	AZ	Shelby Miller	21:40
Nicholas Tropeano	LAA	5	2	5	5	6	SEA	Nate Karns	22:10
Michael Wacha	STL	6	6	6	5	5	LAN	Ross Stripling	22:10

SP denotes pitcher NERD score.
TM denotes team score.
GM denotes overall game score.
Highlighted portion denotes game of the day.

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