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MLB No Runs First Inning (NRFI) Odds, Picks & Predictions: Wednesday (7/19)

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Baseball is an all-day affair today, with the party getting started in the Steel City at 12:35 p.m. ET and continuing into the night out west with Seattle’s first pitch scheduled for 9:40 p.m. ET.

Whether you’ll be watching all day or just sparingly throughout the work day, getting involved with the No Runs First Inning (NRFI) market is always an approachable sweat.

Here are my best NRFI wagers for Wednesday, July 19.

    Wednesday’s Best No Runs First Inning (NRFI) Bets

    (Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook)

    Cleveland Guardians vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

    Pitching matchup: Aaron Civale vs. Rich Hill

    The Guardians have steam-rolled the Pirates in the series’ first two games, outscoring them 21-1. While impressive, it may be more of an outlier than anything. The Guardians have not been able to score runs in bunches like that for most of the season, and they did it against a rookie making his Major League debut and a Pirates bullpen with the eighth-highest ERA in baseball.

    Today, Cleveland faces LHP Rich Hill. Hill hasn’t been great this season; he is 7-9 with a 4.76 ERA and a 4.65 xFIP. Still, he should be able to slow down the Guardian’s offense, as they are one of the worst teams against left-handed pitching. 

    Cleveland’s BABIP drops from .303 (eighth-best) against righties to .275 (27th) against lefties. They also rank in the bottom five in wOBA, OBP and wRC+.

    As for the Pirates, they have ranked near the bottom of every offensive category since the All-Star break and have scored just 10 runs over the past seven days.

    Bet: NRFI (+100)

    Houston Astros vs. Colorado Rockies

    Pitching matchup: Brandon Bielak vs. Austin Gomber

    Believe it or not, the Houston Astros have scored 67 first-inning runs this season, the third most in all of baseball. And now they get to play at Coors Field. Yesterday, the Rockies and the Astros scored three runs in the first inning.

    Houston’s starter Brandon Bielak is 4-5 with a 3.79 ERA but an xFIP of 4.66. A starter with the highest advanced metrics pitching at Coors Field never makes a good combination. It’s like pineapple on a pizza; it doesn’t go well together. 

    Austin Gomber is the starter for the Rockies, and while he has put together a few quality starts over his last four outings, he does not pitch well in his home stadium.

    Gomber’s ERA jumps from 4.65 to 7.32 at Coors Field. Opponents are batting an insane .316 off Gomber, and he has allowed a first-inning run in four of his 11 home starts.

    Bet: YRFI (-190)

    Check out our other best bets for Wednesday:

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