Best NRFI Bets Today, April 28

Philadelphia Phillies vs Houston Astros - Aaron Nola (R) vs Framber Valdez (L) 

Under 0.5 (-140 at DraftKings)

Our first NRFI bet of the day on Friday is in the World Series rematch between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros. In that game, both teams will send their aces to the mound, as Aaron Nola gets the start for Philly while Houston sends Framber Valdez to the hill. As a result, we should see a scoreless first inning in this game between reigning pennant winners that have not played up to that standard so far this year.

The pitching staff for the Astros has been operating at a high level of late, as they shut out the Tampa Bay Rays in each of their last two games. Here, Valdez takes the mound with a 2.25 ERA on the season thus far. Valdez should set the tone early for the defending champions by shutting down the Phillies in the first inning here.

On the opposite side, Aaron Nola has struggled early on for the Phillies, going 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA. But he certainly has the ability to shut down a team in the first inning in spite of those early-season issues. Look for Nola to raise his game to match that of Valdez and the team that beat his in the World Series a season ago, helping us get the scoreless first inning that we are looking for on Friday night.

New York Yankees vs Texas Rangers - Clarke Schmidt (R) vs Jacob deGrom (R) 

Under 0.5 (-150 at Fanduel)

Next up, we will take the New York Yankees and Texas Rangers to combine for a scoreless first inning on Friday. Jacob deGrom takes the mound for the Rangers in this game, which should help neutralize the potent top of the Yankees lineup. The Rangers ace is 2-0 so far this season, posting a 3.04 ERA, and his 43 strikeouts through 26.2 innings should mean more early strikeouts against the Yankees.

The big concern coming into this game is the battle between the Rangers lineup and Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt. Schmidt is 0-2 with a 6.30 ERA this season, and he faces a Rangers lineup that ranks second in the American League in runs scored. But the Rangers have lost four games in a row, and Schmidt should be able to keep the struggling Rangers at bay in this Friday night matchup.

Early this season, the Yankees were a goldmine in the YRFI market, as their games routinely featured first-inning runs. But that has slowed down over the last week or so, with the Yankees seeing more games feature scoreless first innings this past week than they had all season previously. That trend should continue with another scoreless first deep in the heart of Texas.

Atlanta Braves vs New York Mets - Max Fried (L) vs David Peterson (L) 

Over 0.5 (-110 at BetMGM)

Finally, we will take one game to feature a run in the first inning on Friday night, that being the NL East rivalry game between the New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. While the Braves are sending one of the NL Cy Young front runners to the mound for this game, the Mets should be vulnerable to giving up a run in the top of the first in this matchup.

The Mets send David Peterson to the mound on Friday night, who has been abysmal as a member of their starting rotation thus far. Peterson is 1-2 this season with a sky-high 7.36 ERA, as he has given up five or more runs in three of his last four outings. He should give up some early scoring to the Braves here to continue his run of poor pitching performances.

On the other side, scoring might be a little tougher to come by in this game, as Max Fried gets the start for the Braves. Fried has pitched in three games so far this season, and has given up just one earned run in 15 innings of work. If the Mets can break through against him, that would be terrific, but this YRFI bet is mostly based on the Braves’ chances of breaking through against Peterson in the top of the first inning.

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