NERD Game Scores for Sunday, August 23, 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
Los Angeles NL at Houston | 14:10 ET
Kershaw (169.0 IP, 56 xFIP-) vs. McCullers (76.2 IP, 89 xFIP-)
As contributor Neil Weinberg noted on Friday in these pages, left-hander Clayton Kershaw has an opportunity to produce baseball’s lowest expected fielding-independent pitching (xFIP) mark this season since 2002 — which is to say, also the earliest year for which the necessary inputs for that metric are available. While immaterial in itself, to set such a record would signify something more material — namely that, with regard to those variables over which a pitcher exacts the most control (and which are easiest measure), Kershaw has exacted terrifying and exceptional control. He is, one might say, a sort of despot, exerting a cruel power not over a tired and oppressed people but rather just the baseball strike zone.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Houston Television.

Two Brief Notes
Matt Boyd to Start Today
A fixture atop the Fringe Five leaderboard this season, Detroit left-hander Matt Boyd is scheduled to record his sixth major-league start this afternoon.

Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Milwaukee at Washington, starts at 13:35 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
Trevor Bauer	CLE	6	4	6	9	6	NYA	CC Sabathia	13:05
Cole Hamels	TEX	9	5	5	3	4	DET	Matt Boyd	13:08
Chase Anderson	AZ	4	5	5	3	7	CIN	Raisel Iglesias	13:10
Aaron Nola	PHI	6	2	4	4	7	MIA	Adam Conley	13:10
Edinson Volquez	KC	4	3	4	3	7	BOS	Ed. Rodriguez	13:35
Matt Garza	MIL	4	3	5	6	6	WAS	Jo. Zimmermann	13:35
Mike Pelfrey	MIN	2	3	5	6	8	BAL	Kevin Gausman	13:35
Clayton Kershaw	LAN	10	10	9	7	8	HOU	Lance McCullers	14:10
Matthew Wisler	ATL	4	2	6	10	7	CHN	Jason Hammel	14:20
R.A. Dickey	TOR	8	7	7	6	7	LAA	Garrett Richards	15:35
Jake Odorizzi	TB	6	4	4	3	5	OAK	Kendall Graveman	16:05
John Danks	CHA	3	3	4	3	10	SEA	Taijuan Walker	16:10
Logan Verrett*	NYN	6	5	5	3	5	COL	David Hale	16:10
Michael Wacha	STL	9	5	6	3	7	SD	Colin Rea	16:10
Ryan Vogelsong	SF	1	10	8	9	8	PIT	Francisco Liriano	20:08

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