NERD Game Scores for Tuesday, September 2, 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
Seattle at Oakland | 22:05 ET
James Paxton (39.1 IP, 79 xFIP-, 0.7 WAR) faces Sonny Gray (178.0 IP, 92 xFIP-, 2.9 WAR). As recently as August 10, Oakland had a four-game lead over Anaheim and possessed odds of 79% and 90%, respectively, of winning the AL West and qualifying for the divisional series. Pretty convincing, those figures. As of Tuesday morning, however, only Kansas City faces less certainty with regard to the playoffs than the A’s. Emil Cioran’s mother was correct, then, one finds, when she told that same anguished Romanian philosopher: “Whatever people try to do, they’ll regret it sooner or later.”

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Oakland Radio.

Two Brief Notes
Ongoing Roster Expansion Coverage
Here are two notable players among many others who’ve been promoted as part of expanded rosters: Philadelphia infield prospect Maikel Franco and also Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson. And a third: Toronto left-hander Daniel Norris, who recorded a strikeout rate of 44.7% over five appearances and 22.2 innings with Triple-A Syracuse.

Regarding Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Los Angeles AL at Houston, starts at 8:10pm 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
Joe Kelly	BOS	3	3	4	4	8	NYA	Shane Greene	19:05
Mat Latos	CIN	4	3	4	4	3	BAL	Bud Norris	19:05
Kyle Lobstein*	DET	4	8	6	4	9	CLE	Carlos Carrasco	19:05
Jon Niese	NYN	5	3	4	4	3	MIA	Brad Penny*	19:10
Kyle Kendrick	PHI	2	3	4	6	6	ATL	Mike Minor	19:10
R.A. Dickey	TOR	10	4	5	4	3	TB	J’my Hellickson	19:10
Yovani Gallardo	MIL	4	9	6	4	8	CHN	Jake Arrieta	20:05
Hector Noesi	CHA	4	3	3	3	2	MIN	Tommy Milone	20:10
C.J. Wilson	LAA	3	4	4	4	2	HOU	Brad Peacock	20:10
Derek Holland*	TEX	7	3	6	10	3	KC	Jeremy Guthrie	20:10
Jeff Locke	PIT	5	7	6	7	5	STL	Ad. Wainwright	20:15
Yusmeiro Petit	SF	6	9	6	3	4	COL	Jordan Lyles	20:40
James Paxton	SEA	9	6	8	10	7	OAK	Sonny Gray	22:05
Wade Miley	AZ	7	3	3	3	2	SD	Od. Despaigne	22:10
Doug Fister	WAS	5	4	6	6	10	LAN	Clayton Kershaw	22:10

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