NERD Game Scores for Saturday, September 5, 2015
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
Minnesota at Houston | 19:10 ET
Santana (65.0 IP, 120 xFIP-) vs. McCullers (89.2 IP, 88 xFIP-)
The abstract concept of Decency requires one, somehow finding him- or herself newly in receipt of a time machine, to employ that time machine to the end of traveling back to late-19th century Austria-Hungary and duly offing an infant Adolf Hitler. Following a similar course of action for child Pol Pot and child Stalin might also be regarded as good form. After the most notable of murderous tyrants have been treated thusly, however, one might also consider returning to April 4th of this year and explaining to the people that September 5th’s Twins-Astros game would have some relevance to the postseason landscape. Then, finally — after being derided openly by the public — capture Napoleon from a battlefield and introduce him to a modern water park in California.
Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Houston Television.
Another Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Los Angeles NL at San Diego, starts at 20:40 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 adjustments here and here.
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Moore | TB | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 8 | NYA | Nathan Eovaldi | 13:05 |
| Mike Wright | BAL | 1 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 7 | TOR | David Price | 13:07 |
| Matt Garza | MIL | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 10 | CIN | John Lamb | 13:10 |
| Wily Peralta | MIL | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | CIN | Keyvius Sampson | 18:10 |
| Robbie Ray | AZ | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 | CHN | Jake Arrieta | 14:20 |
| Alec Asher* | PHI | 6 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | BOS | Wade Miley | 16:05 |
| Charlie Morton | PIT | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | STL | Jaime Garcia | 16:05 |
| Shelby Miller | ATL | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | WAS | Gio Gonzalez | 19:05 |
| Danny Salazar | CLE | 10 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | DET | Alfredo Simon | 19:08 |
| Jose Quintana | CHA | 7 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | KC | Danny Duffy | 19:10 |
| Ervin Santana | MIN | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | HOU | Lance McCullers | 19:10 |
| Bartolo Colon | NYN | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | MIA | Brad Hand | 19:10 |
| Jake Peavy | SF | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | COL | Chad Bettis | 20:10 |
| Alex Wood | LAN | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | SD | Tyson Ross | 20:40 |
| Felix Hernandez | SEA | 8 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | OAK | Jesse Chavez | 21:05 |
| Derek Holland | TEX | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 | LAA | Jered Weaver | 21:05 |
* = Fewer than 10 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
When was the last time the Twins were involved in the top NERD Game? I think it’s been a couple years.
Two days ago.