NERD Game Scores for Sunday, May 18, 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 Game
Tampa Bay at Los Angeles AL | 15:35 ET
David Price (62.2 IP, 67 xFIP-, 1.4 WAR) faces Matt Shoemaker (11.2 IP, 105 xFIP-, -0.1 WAR). After his most recent start, during which he recorded a 12:0 strikeout-to-walk over 9.0 innings while also conceding just a single run at Seattle (box), Price’s run-prevention numbers now more closely resemble his excellent fielding-independent ones. Of note with regard to his opponents, the Angels have thus far produced a park-adjusted batting line, park-adjusted home-run rate, base-running runs total, and defensive-runs figure all about a standard deviation or better than league average.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Tampa Bay Radio.

Three Brief Notes
Regarding Jaime Garcia, The Significance of His Start Today
St. Louis left-hander Jaime Garcia’s start at home against Atlanta this afternoon represents his first major-league appearance since last May 17th.

Regarding Donn Roach, Who That Is
San Diego right-hander Donn Roach, making his first major-league start this afternoon at Colorado, was originally a third-round selection by the Angels in 2010 who was then traded to San Diego (along with Alexi Amarista) for Ernesto Frieri. He’s recorded 102 xFIP- over 21.0 innings in relief thus far in 2014.

Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game hadn’t been announced as of press time, but 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.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Jesse Chavez	OAK	7	6	7	6	7	CLE	Justin Masterson	13:05
Charlie Morton	PIT	3	8	5	5	5	NYA	Hiroki Kuroda	13:05
Gerrit Cole	PIT	9	8	5	5	1	NYA	Vidal Nuno	TBD
Tony Cingrani	CIN	3	4	5	1	9	PHI	Cliff Lee	13:35
Zack Wheeler	NYN	6	3	7	5	9	WAS	J. Zimmermann	13:35
Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	3	3	4	2	6	KC	James Shields	14:10
John Danks	CHA	1	3	2	7	2	HOU	Brad Peacock	14:10
Felix Hernandez	SEA	8	5	6	4	5	MIN	Ricky Nolasco	14:10
Gavin Floyd*	ATL	8	7	7	2	8	STL	Jaime Garcia*	14:15
Marco Estrada	MIL	5	5	5	5	4	CHN	Travis Wood	14:20
R.A. Dickey	TOR	8	6	6	3	4	TEX	Nick Martinez*	15:05
David Price	TB	9	6	8	9	6	LAA	Matt Shoemaker*	15:35
Jacob Turner	MIA	6	9	4	7	0	SF	Ryan Vogelsong	16:05
Dan Haren	LAN	5	6	4	5	3	AZ	Josh Collmenter	16:10
Donn Roach*	SD	5	3	5	9	3	COL	Juan Nicasio	16:10
Anibal Sanchez	DET	4	5	3	2	1	BOS	Jake Peavy	20:05

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