NERD Game Scores: Houston Astros Ongoing Pleasure Event

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
Texas at Houston | 20:10 ET
Perez (N/A) vs. McHugh (114.0 IP, 101 xFIP-)
Were Houston’s ballpark to feature not a retractable, but rather a permanent, roof like the one found on the club’s previous stadium, a good name for that facility would be — instead of Minute Maid Park or whatever — would be the Pleasure Dome, after the stately edifice decreed by Kubla Khan in Xanadu. First off, it would facilitate a deep sense of connection for the people of Houston to the Western literary tradition, engendering a sense of civic pride lacking in sprawling modern cities such as that one. Furthermore, it would serve as an accurate representation of what one might find inside that park — that is, a club which offers not only aesthetically appealing baseball but also (for the moment, at least) finds itself with a deliciously uncertain future apropos the postseason. Tonight, who the Astros face is the Texas Rangers and left-hander Martin Perez, expected to record his first start since last May.

Readers’ Preferred Broadcast: Texas Radio.

Other Brief Note
Today’s Free Game
Today’s free game features Miami 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 changes here, if you’re the sort of person accustomed to making poor life decisions.

Away		SP	Tm.	Gm.	Tm.	SP		Home	Time
Edinson Volquez	KC	4	7	5	1	7	CHA	Jeff Samardzija	14:10
Chris Young	KC	2	7	4	1	5	CHA	John Danks	20:10
Mike Bolsinger	LAN	6	5	5	5	6	WAS	Jor. Zimmermann	19:05
Jose Fernandez	MIA	10	5	5	2	2	PHI	Adam Morgan	19:05
M. Montgomery	SEA	5	4	6	7	8	NYA	Masahiro Tanaka	19:05
Jake Odorizzi	TB	6	4	6	7	7	TOR	Drew Hutchison	19:07
Ubaldo Jimenez	BAL	6	6	6	5	6	DET	Anibal Sanchez	19:08
Trevor Bauer	CLE	5	6	5	4	6	CIN	Mike Leake	19:10
Kyle Hendricks	CHN	7	7	5	2	5	ATL	Julio Teheran	19:35
Charlie Morton	PIT	6	7	5	3	3	MIL	Mike Fiers	20:10
Martin Perez*	TEX	7	3	6	10	5	HOU	Collin McHugh	20:10
N. Syndergaard	NYN	10	5	6	5	5	STL	Lance Lynn	20:15
Matt Cain	SF	2	5	4	5	5	AZ	Robbie Ray	21:40
Wade Miley	BOS	4	5	5	8	4	LAA	C.J. Wilson	22:05
Ervin Santana	MIN	6	4	5	4	7	OAK	Sonny Gray	20:05
Jorge de la Rosa	COL	4	4	5	4	7	SD	James Shields	22:10

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