Interested in the best NRFI bets today? You’ve come to the right place since our MLB experts share their no runs first inning picks daily! We go through the odds to find the highest value picks for this market and bring them to you.
The table below contains our top NRFI predictions, but we also explain our reasoning for each bet and our overall strategy later in this article.
Best No Runs First Inning Bets for September 16
| MATCHUP | BOOKMAKER |
|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates NRFI (-159) | Lucky Rebel |
| Seattle Mariners vs. KC Royals NRFI (-113) | Lucky Rebel |
| Philadelphia Phillies vs. LA Dodgers (-130) | Bovada |
If you’re also interested in similar picks, check out our best bets to score a home run today!
Our NRFI Picks for September 16 (With Reasoning)
After going through the latest no runs first inning odds, we believe these are the best NRFI bets today, September 16.
Chicago Cubs vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Cubs and Pirates line up as one of the better NRFI spots on the board Friday night, with two electric arms taking the mound at PNC Park.
Chicago sends rookie Cade Horton to the hill, and he’s been nothing short of impressive through his debut campaign. Horton owns a 2.70 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 110 innings, giving up two or fewer earned runs in 10 straight starts. He’s coming off a strong stretch, too, allowing just one earned run across his last 11.1 innings.
Extraordinary.
Phenomenal.
Historic.
Paul Skenes. pic.twitter.com/EP4DFb3Ket— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 10, 2025
On the other side, Paul Skenes has been lights out and already has the NL Cy Young locked up. The right-hander carries a dominant 1.92 ERA and 0.92 WHIP, blanking opponents in three of his last four outings.
With both starters in elite form, don’t expect much early offense, making this one of the best NRFI bets today at -159.
Seattle Mariners vs. Kansas City Royals
Seattle and Kansas City offer strong value on the NRFI at just -113, with both starters entering in solid form heading into this late-season matchup.
Logan Gilbert gets the start for the Mariners and has quietly been dependable down the stretch. The right-hander owns a 3.54 ERA and has allowed just one earned run in three of his last four outings, making him a reliable option to get through the first clean.
Michael Wacha has also been sharp, sporting a 3.45 ERA and 1.18 WHIP on the season. He’s held opponents to two or fewer earned runs in eight of his last ten starts and has been especially tough at home, where he carries a 2.92 ERA across 15 appearances.
Second-half Michael Wacha? 53 IP, 2.89 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 5.60 K/9 (lol), 1.36 BB/9, 1.6 fWAR! pic.twitter.com/gacs6ZzgEN
— Sam Fosberg (@discussbaseball) September 15, 2025
With both pitchers in rhythm and no clear early edge for either lineup, this looks like a quality NRFI bet.
Philadelphia Phillies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
There’s solid value on the NRFI in what shapes up as a potential pitcher’s duel between the Phillies and Dodgers. Cristopher Sanchez and Shohei Ohtani are both trending in the right direction entering tonight’s matchup.
Sanchez has quietly been one of the most consistent arms in the National League, posting a 2.57 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 182.1 innings. He’s locked in right now, allowing just one earned run in each of his last three starts.
Ohtani, meanwhile, is finding his rhythm on the mound again. The two-way star carries a 3.75 ERA and 1.19 WHIP over 36 innings and has allowed only one earned run across his last 8.2 innings of work.
100 MPH on the inside corner for Shohei Ohtani's first strikeout of the day 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/5uThlD9Tbg
— MLB (@MLB) August 6, 2025
With both pitchers dealing and a tight opening expected, this looks like a strong NRFI spot at -130.
Our Daily No Runs First Inning Bets Strategy
We provide our reasoning for all daily NRFI picks, but we also want to share our general strategy for these bets. Learning how to approach the market can help you conduct your own predictions!
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to uncover good NRFI bets every day! We repeat the process for all games on the selected day and share the picks that come out on top on this page, using odds from the top MLB betting sites.
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.
We might add more options in the future, but we want to keep it manageable for readers who follow us for now. If you join any of them, you should know the market is called “Will there be a run in the first inning?” at both bookies.
More Daily Betting Picks From The Geek
Our team delivers sports betting picks on a daily basis. We have our AI picks that are generated by The Geek, our own artificial intelligence betting creation! The Geek covers major US sports daily, so check the latest recommended bets. For now, we don’t have an automated NRFI algorithm, and all picks are manual, but this could change in the future.
We also have the Sports Geek blog, where our writers work hard to uncover profitable angles. You will find predictions and recommended bets for sports, politics, entertainment, esports … pretty much anything you can bet on, so stay tuned!
Click to Contact Kyle
You must be logged in to comment. Don't have an account? Sign up today.