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

Minnesota Twins vs. Houston Astros

The Twins and Astros tangle at Minute Maid Park in the sandwich game of a three-game series in Houston. Joe Ryan and Hunter Brown are set to receive the starting assignments on Saturday.

Ryan heads into his 14th assignment with an ERA of 2.96 and a 0.93 WHIP across 73 innings. The 29-year-old from San Francisco has allowed two or fewer earned runs in six of his previous eight outings.

Ryan should be in control of an Astros’ offense that has scored just 0.26 runs per 1st inning, for last in the Majors. He’s been especially good on the road, with a 2.93 ERA across 40 innings.

Brown should do his part in the opening frame as well. He has been in top form, posting a 1.82 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in his fourth year in the Major Leagues. The 26-year-old probably isn’t mentioned as much as he should be in the Cy Young race.

👏👏👏 https://t.co/cbLiefPE8U pic.twitter.com/GH2TpcMKbr

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) June 13, 2025

He’s virtually unhittable at home in Houston this season. Brown recorded a 0.88 ERA and .152 OBA in 30.2 frames. I’m all over the NRFI today between the Twins and Astros!

Tampa Bay Rays vs. New York Mets

The Rays are at Citi Field in Queens for a weekend series against the Mets. Drew Rasmussen gets the starting call for the Rays with a 2.22 ERA and 0.90 WHIP. He’s having a banner year and on pace for a new career high in his second year as a full-time starter.

Drew Rasmussen of @RaysBaseball is the first pitcher in American League history to have a 4-start span with:

4-0 record
0 runs allowed
10 or fewer hits allowed
3 or fewer walks allowed pic.twitter.com/DthJKx0XMi

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 4, 2025

Additionally, Rasmussen is on a heater with no earned runs in four of his last five outings. He posted an ERA of 1.98 in May and a 1.64 ERA and two performances in June. Look for Rasmussen to mow down the Mets in the opening frame at Citi Field.

Tylor Megill gets the nod at home, as he aims to improve on a strong 3.76 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. Megill has a dependable arm at home, where he holds a 2.16 ERA and .213 OBA. He’s held up recently as well, allowing two or fewer earned runs in three of his last four assignments.

In review, the Rays vs. Mets is one of the best NRFI picks today!

Cleveland Guardians vs. Seattle Mariners

The Guardians and Mariners continue their series at T-Mobile Park with a Saturday night matchup between Tanner Bibee and George Kirby. Bibee is rolling in solid form as of late, as he’s brought his ERA down from 4.06 to 3.81 over his last five starts.

He is likely to hold the Mariners in check, which is something Bibee has done in the past. The Mariners are hitting .257 with no home runs and two RBIs versus Bibee in 35 at-bats. Bibee should get through the 1st inning unscathed, while Kirby is in a good position to cut down the Guardians.

Kirby is coming off a spectacular performance, with 14 strikeouts at Angel Stadium. In his first outing after overcoming inflammation in his shoulder since March. The 27-year-old New York native was well out of form upon his return, as Kirby allowed 11 earned runs through 8.2 innings.

George Kirby had all his pitches working in a 14-K performance 🤮 pic.twitter.com/9bdR49bWFw

— MLB (@MLB) June 8, 2025

However, Kirby is warmed up now and back on track for the Mariners after shaking off the rust. He’s allowed four earned runs in 12 innings heading into tonight. Kirby conceded two earned runs in each of his last two matchups.

For your best NRFI bets today, the Guardians and Mariners are worth a look in Seattle!

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.