MLB No Runs First Inning (NRFI) Odds & Picks: Wednesday (6/4)
The 2025 MLB season continues on Wednesday with all 30 teams in action. Several entertaining games are scheduled, including a National League collision between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. A battle between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees will surely draw attention on the American League side.
Sports bettors wanting to get in on the action without sweating through an entire nine-inning contest can turn to MLB No Runs First Inning (NRFI) tickets for a quick result. Here’s a peek at two MLB NRFI options that stick out from the rest on this week’s hump day.
- MLB NRFI/YRFI Cheat Sheet - Team View
- MLB NRFI/YRFI Cheat Sheet - Matchup View
- MLB Prop Bet Cheat Sheet
- MLB Consensus Odds
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Wednesday's Best MLB No Runs First Inning (NRFI) Picks
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
Houston Astros (-136) at Pittsburgh Pirates (+116)
Starting Pitchers: Ryan Gusto vs. Mike Burrows
A pair of late-inning home runs guided the Astros to a 3-0 victory versus the Pirates on Tuesday. Houston will aim to build on that momentum when Ryan Gusto (3-2, 4.62 ERA) toes the slab opposite Pittsburgh’s Mike Burrows (0-1, 8.64 ERA) on Wednesday evening. Overall, an NRFI wager has cashed in 16 of the Astros’ 26 away games and 16 of Pittsburgh’s 30 home clashes this campaign.
This is a showdown of two offenses that struggle to produce early runs. Houston ranks dead last in first-inning runs per contest (0.25), and Pittsburgh slides in a mere one spot higher at 29th (0.33). It’s not hard to figure out why, either. Both the Astros and Pirates check in among the bottom five squads in on-base percentage (OBP) and total hits during the opening frame. Quick outs are being made all over the place.
Lackluster offenses give the starting pitchers a boost at PNC Park. Gusto has exited the first inning unscathed in four of his seven starts and has yielded just a .206 batting average on his four-seam fastball. On the other side, Burrows is forcing a ton of soft contact as his average exit velocity allowed is 83.6 miles per hour (MPH) across two outings. Trust the right-handers to stay focused on their strengths and finish the job.
Pick: NRFI (-115)
San Diego Padres (-108) at San Francisco Giants (-108)
Starting Pitchers: Nick Pivetta vs. Kyle Harrison
There has not been a first-inning run tallied through two games of this West Coast series. I like the chances of that trend continuing, considering who will be on the mound at Oracle Park on Wednesday. San Diego’s Nick Pivetta (6-2, 2.74 ERA) draws the start alongside San Francisco’s Kyle Harrison (1-1, 2.51 ERA). The two hurlers have combined to fire a scoreless first inning in 10 of their 13 starts this year.
Pivetta remains a punchout machine as his strikeout percentage rate is above 28% for the third straight season. The Giants have racked up the fourth-most strikeouts in the National League and also average a league-low 0.22 first-inning runs per home contest. Talk about a tasty matchup. It gets tastier when pointing out the San Francisco trio of Matt Chapman, Wilmer Flores and Heliot Ramos is only 6-for-36 lifetime facing Pivetta.
The Padres’ lineup features some All-Star pros. However, it’s a lineup that sits in the bottom half of the sport when it comes to slugging percentage against left-handed pitching (.365) and OPS with runners in scoring position (.668). Harrison has posted a 0.97 WHIP over 14.1 innings and benefits from playing in a pitcher-friendly stadium with huge field dimensions. Expect him to escape the first inning with zero damage.
Pick: NRFI (-140)