Best NRFI Bets Today – No Runs First Inning Picks UPDATED DAILY

Atlanta Braves vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

This matchup offers solid value for NRFI picks today when the Atlanta Braves take on the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Reynaldo López comes in sharp after a strong season opener, allowing just one earned run over six innings. His early command and ability to limit baserunners (0.83 WHIP in that outing) are encouraging signs for a clean first inning.

Reynaldo Lopez FB Velocity is SO BACKKKKKK!!!!🥹

93-95 MAX 96 mph#BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/7Q9UxVQ8mb

— Eric Yu (@Eric35_Yu) March 28, 2026

For the D-backs, Ryne Nelson is a bounce-back candidate after a rough first start against a tough Dodgers lineup. Despite that, he’s had success against Atlanta historically, holding them to a .200 batting average in 55 at-bats. That familiarity gives him a reasonable chance to navigate the top of the order early.

With López in form and Nelson showing decent splits against this lineup, this shapes up as a viable NRFI play at a reasonable price.

New York Mets vs. San Francisco Giants

This matchup lines up well for a NRFI prop bet when the New York Mets take on the San Francisco Giants.

David Peterson has started the season in strong form, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings in his opener. He’s shown steady improvement over the past two years and looks poised to take another step forward in 2026. His ability to keep hitters off balance early makes him a solid option to get through the first inning clean.

On the other side, Robbie Ray brings consistency and a favorable matchup history into this game. He held the Yankees in check in his first start and posted a solid 3.65 ERA last season. More importantly, Ray has dominated this Mets lineup historically, limiting them to a .183 batting average in 82 at-bats.

Robbie Ray, Nasty 85mph Slider. 😨 pic.twitter.com/zP7qv0VYAs

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 27, 2026

Both pitchers are in form and Ray’s strong track record against New York, this game shapes up well for a scoreless opening frame.

1. Check The Starting Lineups, Especially The Pitchers

You should always begin with the lineups. Check who the starting pitchers are and then go through the latest injuries and suspensions to see whether any of the teams will be missing key pieces.

We usually go to the CBS’ MLB injury report to see who’s out and who’s doubtful. They pull the data directly from league reports, so it’s trustworthy information.

2. Analyzing NRFI Stats

Once we know the most likely lineups, it’s time for a key step of our NRFI betting strategy: analyzing numbers. You need to go through various data points to determine how likely is for the opening inning of a game to end without any runs.

We explore the individual stats of the starting pitchers, we analyze the offensive numbers of both sides, and we also take a look at the total team stats for first inning runs.

Once we have a complete overview of what’s going on, we create our own estimates (in percentages) of how likely it is to see no runs in the first inning.

After that, it’s time to check the odds!

3. Line Shopping

It’s time to check some betting odds! We use two bookmakers that offer daily NRFI betting odds for the MLB: Bovada and BetWhale. We check their prices for all games and turn them into probabilities.

We compare them to our own estimates and when we see good betting value, we place our NRFI wagers!

We strongly recommend using multiple top betting sites yourself for the best results. The two we highlighted above are all excellent for no runs first inning bets.