Man, we were THIS CLOSE to another sweep of our NRFI bets on Friday. I’ll recap them in a second, but let’s talk about today first. Saturdays are always filled with all-day baseball, so we’re going to have some mid-day bets. I do have two no-run first inning bets for you on this fine Saturday, April 20. If you’re hungry for more, check out our MLB betting tools or our other MLB articles! Also, check out our guide to NRFI & YRFI betting.
Anyway, back to yesterday. The White Sox third baseman was playing as far back as I do in slow-pitch softball on an absolute speed demon in Trea Turner, and when he hit a routine grounder, he couldn’t throw him out … and it ruined the NRFI. But we cashed the Brewers-Cardinals no run first inning bet with no sweat. So a 1-1 night overall on NRFI bets, and we’re still riding a little 6-2 run.
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NRFI & YRFI Bets Today: Best No & Yes Run First Inning Picks
Boston Red Sox vs Pittsburgh Pirates | YRFI & NRFI Bets Today
Mitch Keller can be a hard guy to trust, but he is 3-1 on NRFI bets so far this season. Are they sweaty? Yes. He gets a Red Sox team today that has struck out more than any other team in baseball (207 times) and is hitting just .230 against right-handed pitching, so we’re going back to the well here.
Boston is still without its big-time home run threat, Tyler O’Neill, so that’s one less thing we need to worry about off the top. We need Keller to keep Jarren Duran off the basepaths immediately, and then he can handle Wilyer Abreu and Triston Casas and their nearly 30% strikeout rates.
In the bottom of the first, we’ll have Kutter Crawford, who sports an elite 0.42 ERA to go with a 0.797 WHIP. He should shut down the Pirates offense.
Crawford likely gets to start with Oneil Cruz and his 40% strikeout rate this season, which we love to see. He could get a quick K here and get us started right.
Crawford does have a 10.1 strikeout-per-9-inning rate, so he can rack ’em up with the best of ’em.
So long as he keeps the walks down, this feels like a spot where he can minimize the Pirates’ offense. And with a projected total of only 8 runs, we’ll gladly take the no run first inning bet here.
YRFI & NRFI Bets Today: Red Sox-Pirates NRFI -118 BetRivers
Baltimore Orioles vs Kansas City Royals | YRFI & NRFI Bets Today
We have two absolute aces on the mound in Corbin Burnes and Cole Ragans for today’s matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals.
He also has a projected total of only 7.5 runs.
Despite being 0-4 on NRFIs this season, Burnes has been lights-out overall. He’s rocking a .207 expected batting average against, a 27.2% strikeout rate and only a 4% walk rate.
Ragans is 2-2 on no run first inning opportunities and did NRFI the Orioles earlier this season. He has 29 strikeouts in 23.1 innings. A whopping 25 of those 29 Ks came against right-handed hitters, which he should see a few of in the top of the Orioles’ lineup today.
We got a five-hour rain delay in the last Burnes-Ragans showdown that likely messed with the NRFI, so we have some revenge to extract today.
YRFI & NRFI Bets Today: Orioles-Royals NRFI -130 ESPNBet
