NERD Game Scores for Tuesday, September 15, 2015

September 15, 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.

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Most Highly Rated Game
Houston at Texas | 20:05 ET
McHugh (178.1 IP, 98 xFIP-) vs. Holland (37.1 IP, 91 xFIP-)
With the victory by the Rangers last night in the first game of this series, that club and the Astros are now separated by a mere half game atop the American League’s westernmost division. Of some interest regarding that westernmost division: one finds that the Houston and Texas clubs (the latter located in Arlington, TX) are actually situated to the east of what is generally recognized as the geographic center of the contiguous United States. “Unsettling,” might be one’s response to that sort of revelation. Or perhaps even: “worrisome.” One might begin to suspect that nothing is what it seems. Of course, that’s probably also not the case.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Texas Radio.

Another Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Washington at Philadelphia, starts at 19:05 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.

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Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Jas. Hammel	CHN	7	4	7	8	10	PIT	Gerrit Cole	13:35
Jon Lester	CHN	7	4	6	8	5	PIT	J.A. Happ	19:05
Joe Kelly	BOS	6	4	5	4	6	BAL	Ubaldo Jimenez	19:05
St. Strasburg	WAS	10	4	4	3	2	PHI	David Buchanan	19:05
Kris Medlen	KC	6	4	5	4	8	CLE	Josh Tomlin	19:10
Tom Koehler	MIA	3	4	5	4	10	NYN	Jacob deGrom	19:10
Adam Warren	NYA	3	8	6	4	6	TB	Jake Odorizzi	19:10
Mark Buehrle	TOR	5	8	6	4	5	ATL	Julio Teheran	19:10
Collin McHugh	HOU	5	10	8	9	7	TEX	Derek Holland	20:05
Alfredo Simon	DET	2	4	5	8	4	MIN	Phil Hughes	20:10
Aaron Brooks	OAK	5	4	5	4	7	CHA	Jeff Samardzija	20:10
Carl. Martinez	STL	10	8	6	4	4	MIL	Ariel Pena*	20:10
Tyson Ross	SD	8	4	5	4	6	AZ	Jhoulys Chacin	21:40
Chris Rusin	COL	5	4	4	4	6	LAN	Brett Anderson	22:10
Nick Tropeano	LAA	8	5	6	4	8	SEA	Felix Hernandez	22:10
John Lamb	CIN	7	4	4	4	4	SF	Chris Heston	22:15

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