NERD Game Scores for Saturday, May 3, 2014

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 and MLB.TV Free Game
Seattle at Houston | 16:10 ET
Hisashi Iwakuma (N/A) faces Dallas Keuchel (30.1 IP, 74 xFIP-, 0.6 WAR). The former makes his season debut after losing the first month of the season to an injured finger. The latter has recorded one of the top swinging-strike rates among qualified starters, largely on the strength of his slider.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Houston Television?

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.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Michael Wacha	STL	10	2	6	5	3	CHN	Jake Arrieta*	13:05
Jake Odorizzi	TB	4	7	7	5	10	NYA	Masahiro Tanaka	13:05
Tommy Milone	OAK	0	5	4	3	7	BOS	Jon Lester	13:35
Wei-Yin Chen	BAL	5	4	3	4	0	MIN	Kevin Correia	14:10
Hisashi Iwakuma*	SEA	8	5	7	6	8	HOU	Dallas Keuchel	16:10
Scott Carroll*	CHA	6	4	6	5	7	CLE	Justin Masterson	18:05
R.A. Dickey	TOR	7	6	7	8	7	PIT	Francisco Liriano	19:05
Tanner Roark	WAS	3	6	3	2	2	PHI	A.J. Burnett	19:05
Drew Smyly*	DET	8	3	6	2	7	KC	Danny Duffy*	19:10
Paul Maholm	LAN	0	6	4	8	5	MIA	Jacob Turner*	19:10
Yovani Gallardo	MIL	2	6	5	4	8	CIN	Johnny Cueto	19:10
Ryan Vogelsong	SF	0	7	4	9	4	ATL	Julio Teheran	19:10
Jenrry Mejia	NYN	7	2	5	8	2	COL	Franklin Morales	20:10
Brandon McCarthy	AZ	8	4	7	3	7	SD	Ian Kennedy	20:40
Matt Harrison*	TEX	6	2	6	10	6	LAA	Garrett Richards	21:05

To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.