One Night Only: Game Previews for September 28th
Look at all of these unemployed babies.
Boston (9) at Baltimore (2) | 19:05 ET
New York AL (10) at Tampa Bay (7) | 19:10 ET
Philadelphia (3) at Atlanta (5) | 19:10 ET
St. Louis (3) at Houston (4) | 20:05 ET
On Why There’re Four Games Here
Everyone, even tiny babies, knows why there are four games here: because each of these games includes a team tied, on the last day of the season, for the Wild Card in their respective league.
On How Such a Thing Happened
Everyone wrote to their senator and asked for it, probably.
On How Such a Thing Will End
Copious butt-slapping, win or lose.
On How All Those Tiny Babies Found Out
They probably have access to the internet or something, just like everybody else.
If I Had My Druthers
• Babies would stop having all this access to the internet.
• They (i.e. the babies) would go out and get a job like everybody else.
• You know, for the economy.
MLB.TV Audio Feed: All of the Channels, All of the Time.
Two Other Games
Colorado (6) at San Francisco (3) | 15:45 ET
Though his five-something ERA doesn’t show it, Drew Pomeranz (12.2 IP, 3.74 SIERA, 3.86 xFIP, 100 xFIP-), posting a 54.1% ground-ball rate so far.
MLB.TV Audio Feed: Giants Radio.
Washington (5) at Florida (8) | 16:10 ET
Stephen Strasburg (18.0 IP, 2.86 SIERA, 2.79 xFIP, 72 xFIP-) his fifth and final start of an abbreviated 2011 season.
MLB.TV Audio Feed: Nationals Television.
Also Playing
Here’s the complete schedule for all of today’s games, with our very proprietary watchability (NERD) scores for each one. Pitching probables and game times aggregated from MLB.com and RotoWire. The average NERD Game Score for today is 5.5.
The following Game Scores include the new and improved playoff-odds adjustment, which you can learn about in your brain by clicking here.
| Away | SP | Tm. | Gm. | Tm. | SP | Home | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edinson Volquez | CIN | 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | NYN | Miguel Batista* | 13:10 |
| Brandon Morrow | TOR | 10 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 | CHA | Philip Humber | 14:10 |
| Drew Pomeranz* | COL | 8 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | SF | Eric Surkamp | 15:45 |
| Stephen Strasburg* | WAS | 10 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | FL | Chris Volstad | 16:10 |
| Jon Lester | BOS | 6 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 6 | BAL | Alfredo Simon | 19:05 |
| Zach McAllister* | CLE | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | DET | Rick Porcello | 19:05 |
| Undecided | NYA | 5 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 9 | TB | David Price | 19:10 |
| Joe Blanton | PHI | 9 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 6 | ATL | Tim Hudson | 19:10 |
| Chris Carpenter | STL | 8 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 6 | HOU | Brett Myers | 20:05 |
| Matt Harrison | TEX | 6 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 7 | LAA | Garrett Richards* | 20:05 |
| Bruce Chen | KC | 2 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 4 | MIN | Carl Pavano | 20:10 |
| Jeff Locke* | PIT | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | MIL | Zack Greinke | 20:10 |
| Ryan Dempster | CHN | 6 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | SD | Wade LeBlanc | 20:35 |
| Ted Lilly | LAN | 5 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 2 | AZ | Joe Saunders | 21:40 |
| Gio Gonzalez | OAK | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | SEA | Anthony Vasquez | 22:10 |
NERD represents an attempt to anticipate the watchability of a game for the baseballing enthusiast.
To learn more about Pitcher NERD, click here and scroll down a little.
To learn more about latest Team NERD, click here.
To learn how Game NERD Scores are calculated, click here.
* = Fewer than 20 IP, NERD at discretion of very handsome author.
Carson Cistulli has published a book of aphorisms called Spirited Ejaculations of a New Enthusiast.
“The following Game Scores include the new and improved playoff-odds adjustment.”
This must be some usage of the word improved I’m not familiar with.
It was ter-ri-ble before.
Baby steps, dogg. Baby steps.
Carson, I have to object to your plan for all of The Babies to find jobs. It would not be good for the economy. The problem with the economy isn’t that there aren’t enough workers. Rather, the problem is that there aren’t enough jobs. You’d be making the problem worse.
So, I offer a counter-proposal: that all of The Babies start businesses, to hire the unemployed masses.
It seems to me that there are good chances at both leagues having a one-game playoff for the wildcard spot.
Sure are. Assuming each game is a coin toss, each league has a 50-50 chance of a one-game playoff, meaning there’s a 1 in 4 chance that both leagues will see it happen.
Of course, each game is not just a coin toss. Personally, I think it’s likely that all four WC contenders win tonight, forcing two one-game playoffs. Every team is playing either a bottom-feeder (HOU, BAL) or a team that will be resting its veterans and putting scrubs out there to prepare for the playoffs (PHI, NYY).
Where and when would the games be? Who would pitch?
Not a single seed is decided except #1 in both leagues. How they decide that if there is a tie?
#1 seeds are already clinched (Phillies and Yanks); they get homefield. Wild Card is always the #4 seed; they cannot have homefield. The other 2 seeds will be determined by overall record; if there is a tie, look to head-to-head record.
But no intra-division matchups are allowed in the divsion series. If the wildcard comes from the same division as the #1 seed, the #1 seed instead hosts the #3 seed, and the #2 seed hosts the wildcard.
Ah, forgot about the head-to-head rule. As I recall there are rules for if that is a tie too that get quite long and end with removing days from the star or end until the answer is reached.
My point was #2, and #3 seeds are not determined (just their seeds) in addition to the WC not being decided. There is a lot up in the air for this postseason.
Thank you Carson. Tiny babies, like Rick Steve, are comic gold.
Please please do a FG livechat if there are any playoff games.
Bruce Chen puts the finishing touches on his Cy Young campaign.
Bollocks to those babies!
Now i’m gonna have to concur with you at this point!
ONE NIGHT ONLY : THE END ( vivement la saison 2012 )
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MERCI Mr Cistulli pour cette saison , j ai lu et noté tous vos posts .
je peux vous donner toute l evolution du pNERD ( joueur par joueur )
exemple : GIO GONZALEZ / OAK
5….6….5…..6…..7…..6…..7…..6
je peux donner environ 8 valeurs x 280 pitchers = 2240 valeurs !!!!!!!!!
des chiffres , des chiffres , des chiffres , des chiffres et…..du plaisir .
I must say I feel that you have a great blog.