It’s Thursday night so we’ve got a lighter slate in the MLB with just eight games on the schedule, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have some solid options for our No Run First Inning and Yes Run First Inning bets.
It’s early, so teams like the Houston Astros still have a losing record while the Pittsburgh Pirates are over .500, but water always finds its level and it did with the Astros pounding the Bucs 7-0 yesterday.
We’re finding out who these teams really are and that helps when we’re handicapping all our bets. The same can be said for pitchers who are a couple starts in, and that really helps picking NRFI and YRFI bets.
Here are my favorite first inning bets for Thursday, April 13.
Best NRFI bet today
Tigers vs. Blue Jays -106
The Tigers do not have a lineup that any team in the MLB or maybe even Triple-A should fear. As a team they are hitting under .200 and have an OPS under .600.
They also average 0.18 first inning runs per game which is 28th in baseball. NRFI has hit in 81.82% of their games. Spencer Turnbull will just need to make sure that he keeps Toronto off the board too.
I don’t trust him to for long, but an 81.82% NRFI is hard to pass up.
Best YRFI bet today
Reds vs. Phillies -122
The Reds are second in first inning runs per game, but the Phillies are dead last, so this was a tough one to pick which side to go with.
Ultimately I landed on over 0.5, because Bailey Falter is on the mound for Philadelphia. Last year Falter had a 3.86 ERA over 84.0 innings, but his FIP was 4.65.
This year, his ERA is 2.61 through two starts, but he’s given up two home runs and has a FIP of 4.95. I expect the Reds to jump on him early.
Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change