NERD Game Scores for Wednesday, June 17, 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
Miami at New York AL | 19:05 ET
Urena (26.1 IP, 111 xFIP-) vs. Pineda (74.2 IP, 66 xFIP-)
Central to the watchability not merely of sport but of any “text” designed for a viewing public is a sense of urgency. Not for nothing is cinema — and also every episode of 1980s action-adventure series MacGyver — littered with time bombs which need to be diffused seconds before reaching zero. Nor is urgency the province of the action genre, exclusively: even a film like My Dinner with Andre, which merely documents the conversation of two men seated in a restaurant, requires that conversation to create a sense of anticipation that can be satisfied only by continuing to watch.

On June 17, the major-league season doesn’t yet offer any metaphorical time bombs on the verge of metaphorical detonation. The Yankees, however, currently offer the closest thing to that: according to the playoff odds available here, the club features (as of this morning) a 50.2% chance* of qualifying for the divisional series — or, roughly as undecided as possible. Whatever happens tonight against the Marlins, therefore, is likely to move their odds further from that halfway point — either towards qualification for or elimination from postseason play.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Miami Television.

*One notes that Pittsburgh actually features odds even closer to 50% precisely. Other variables conspire to render it less compelling, however, according to the haphazard methodology utilized by the author.

Two Brief Notes
Continuously Looping Video: Matt Harvey’s Changeup
Mets right-hander Matt Harvey recorded a 6:0 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 7.0 scoreless innings on Tuesday night against Toronto. What follows is a continuously looping video featuring one of those strikeouts — in this case, by way of the changeup.

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

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	6	5	4	1	4	PHI	Kevin Correia*	19:05
Jose Urena	MIA	6	5	7	8	10	NYA	Michael Pineda	19:05
Matt Andriese	TB	5	6	5	6	4	WAS	Jo. Zimmermann	19:05
Jon Niese	NYN	5	6	7	9	7	TOR	Drew Hutchison	19:07
Joe Kelly	BOS	6	4	4	2	4	ATL	Alex Wood	19:10
Tsuyoshi Wada	CHN	4	6	6	8	5	CLE	Shaun Marcum	19:10
David Price	DET	6	5	6	5	8	CIN	Johnny Cueto	19:10
Mike Fiers	MIL	4	3	5	7	5	KC	Joe Blanton*	20:10
Jeff Locke	PIT	4	7	4	0	4	CHA	John Danks	20:10
Carlos Martinez	STL	9	5	4	2	1	MIN	Tommy Milone	20:10
Brett Oberholtzer	HOU	3	10	4	3	0	COL	Kyle Kendrick	20:40
Hector Santiago	LAA	2	7	5	6	4	AZ	Chase Anderson	21:40
Od.r Despaigne	SD	3	3	4	4	5	OAK	Jesse Chavez	22:05
Ma.n Bumgarner	SF	7	4	6	4	8	SEA	Felix Hernandez	22:10
Wan. Rodriguez	TEX	3	4	6	5	10	LAN	Clayt’n Kershaw	22:10

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