SBR's Dustin Saracini shares his best No Run First Inning (NRFI) bets for Wednesday, July 9th (41-31, +4.00 YTD):
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Chicago White Sox (-130 at FanDuel)
Eric Lauer (2.65 ERA) vs. Adrian Houser (1.60 ERA)
NRFI record: Blue Jays (41-51) vs. White Sox (41-51)
"If you were going to tell me I'd be riding Eric Lauer as part of my best NRFI bets today earlier in the season, I'd think you were crazy. But man, has he been good for the Blue Jays this year. Lauer hasn't allowed more than three runs in a start all year long and is coming off a six-inning, two-run performance against the Angels. I'll ride the hot hand this afternoon.
Houser is a good bet to get us over the finish line, especially in this matchup. While the Jays are hitting close to .400 against him, that's mainly just Alejandro Kirk's doing (6-for-9) - we shouldn't have to worry about him the first frame. Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Nathan Lukes are a combined 3-for-20 against the right-hander, which should be enough for a clean first inning."
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Kansas City Royals (-125 at DraftKings)
Bailey Falter (3.69 ERA) vs. Kris Bubic (2.36 ERA)
NRFI record: Pirates (54-39) vs. Royals (58-35)
"Just look at those sparkling NRFI records and tell me you're not excited about this matchup.
Yes, we've got a case of two of the best NRFI teams in baseball here, so we're riding them as part of our best NRFI bets today.
Bubic, specifically, has dominated the Pirates over the course of his career. Over 23 plate appearances, he hasn't issued a single walk to this team, while limiting them to a .203 xBA and .231 xwOBA. Those numbers will play.
On the other side, bank on Falter starting off hot. He's got the best of leadoff man Jonathan India, who's accumulated just a .235 batting average over 18 plate appearances against the left-hander in his career. The Royals have been allergic to scoring runs in the opening frame as of late, too - scoring just once over their last four games. We'll take that.
Let's add a couple wins to our record today."
Toronto Blue Jays vs. Chicago White Sox (-130 at FanDuel)
Eric Lauer (2.65 ERA) vs. Adrian Houser (1.60 ERA)
NRFI record: Blue Jays (41-51) vs. White Sox (41-51)
"If you were going to tell me I'd be riding Eric Lauer as part of my best NRFI bets today earlier in the season, I'd think you were crazy. But man, has he been good for the Blue Jays this year. Lauer hasn't allowed more than three runs in a start all year long and is coming off a six-inning, two-run performance against the Angels. I'll ride the hot hand this afternoon.
Houser is a good bet to get us over the finish line, especially in this matchup. While the Jays are hitting close to .400 against him, that's mainly just Alejandro Kirk's doing (6-for-9) - we shouldn't have to worry about him the first frame. Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Nathan Lukes are a combined 3-for-20 against the right-hander, which should be enough for a clean first inning."
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Kansas City Royals (-125 at DraftKings)
Bailey Falter (3.69 ERA) vs. Kris Bubic (2.36 ERA)
NRFI record: Pirates (54-39) vs. Royals (58-35)
"Just look at those sparkling NRFI records and tell me you're not excited about this matchup.
Yes, we've got a case of two of the best NRFI teams in baseball here, so we're riding them as part of our best NRFI bets today.
Bubic, specifically, has dominated the Pirates over the course of his career. Over 23 plate appearances, he hasn't issued a single walk to this team, while limiting them to a .203 xBA and .231 xwOBA. Those numbers will play.
On the other side, bank on Falter starting off hot. He's got the best of leadoff man Jonathan India, who's accumulated just a .235 batting average over 18 plate appearances against the left-hander in his career. The Royals have been allergic to scoring runs in the opening frame as of late, too - scoring just once over their last four games. We'll take that.
Let's add a couple wins to our record today."