NERD Game Scores for Sunday, June 21, 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
Detroit at New York AL | 13:05 ET
Sanchez (91.0 IP, 95 xFIP-) vs. Tanaka (43.1 IP, 71 xFIP-)
Research by the Washington Post’s Christopher Ingraham — summarized in the graph below — reveals that Google searches for the term “hangover cure” are most frequent on Sundays.

Insofar as today is Sunday, it follows that a certain percentage of this site’s readers are experiencing la gueule de bois. While this afternoon’s encounter between the Tigers and Yankees doesn’t represent an actual hangover cure, it ought to serve — more than any other of the day’s games, according to the haphazard methodology utilized by the author — as a reasonable means of passing the time.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Detroit Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Yesterday’s Most Highly Rated Game
In yesterday’s most highly rated game, Washington right-hander Max Scherzer fell a ninth-inning hit batsman short of a perfect game against Pittsburgh before settling for a 10-strikeout no-hitter (box). Verdict: Very Watchable.

Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Pittsburgh 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 changes here, if you’re the sort of person accustomed to making poor life decisions.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Anibal Sanchez	DET	6	4	7	8	8	NYA	Masahiro Tanaka	13:05
Chris Tillman	BAL	1	6	6	9	9	TOR	Scott Copeland	13:07
David Phelps	MIA	3	5	4	5	3	CIN	Michael Lorenzen	13:10
Alex Colome	TB	4	5	6	8	7	CLE	Cody Anderson*	13:10
Charlie Morton	PIT	6	7	6	6	6	WAS	Gio Gonzalez	13:35
Michael Wacha	STL	8	5	5	1	4	PHI	Adam Morgan*	13:35
Wade Miley	BOS	4	4	4	8	2	KC	Chris Young	14:10
Jake Arrieta	CHN	9	7	5	2	3	MIN	Kyle Gibson	14:10
Yovani Gallardo	TEX	3	4	3	0	5	CHA	Jose Quintana	14:10
Garrett Richards	LAA	5	6	5	4	5	OAK	Scott Kazmir	16:05
Vin. Velasquez	HOU	8	10	6	4	4	SEA	J.A. Happ	16:10
Matt Garza	MIL	4	2	4	3	5	COL	Chris Rusin	16:10
Andrew Cashner	SD	8	3	5	5	3	AZ	Jeremy Hellickson	16:10
Matt Harvey	NYN	10	5	6	2	5	ATL	Julio Teheran	17:05
Tim Lincecum	SF	2	4	4	6	5	LAN	Brett Anderson	20:08

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