NERD Game Scores for Thursday, May 8, 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
Houston at Detroit | 13:08 ET
Dallas Keuchel (36.1 IP, 80 xFIP-, 0.7 WAR) faces Drew Smyly (22.0 IP, 85 xFIP-, 0.5 WAR). The former, in addition to having produced entirely serviceable strikeout and walk figures, appears also to have recorded thus far the highest ground-ball rate among the league’s 107 qualified pitchers. His two-seamer and changeup have themselves induced grounders more than 75% of the time they’ve been batted into fair ground — considerably higher, in both cases, than the league averages by each pitch type, according to work recently done by the absurdly coiffed Eno Sarris.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Detroit Radio.

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
Kevin Correia	MIN	0	5	4	5	7	CLE	J. Masterson	12:05
Dallas Keuchel	HOU	8	6	7	4	7	DET	Drew Smyly*	13:08
A.J. Burnett	PHI	2	3	5	6	7	TOR	R.A. Dickey	19:07
Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	3	3	6	7	9	TB	David Price	19:10
Franklin Morales	COL	4	9	5	3	5	TEX	Matt Harrison*	20:05
Jake Arrieta*	CHN	6	4	5	3	4	CHA	Scott Carroll*	20:10
Danny Duffy*	KC	6	3	6	4	7	SEA	H. Iwakuma*	22:10
Jacob Turner*	MIA	4	9	6	3	7	SD	Ian Kennedy	22:10
Ryan Vogelsong	SF	0	7	3	5	5	LAN	Josh Beckett	22:10

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