Best NRFI Bets Today, August 8

Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers - Sonny Gray (R) vs Eduardo Rodriguez (L)

Under 0.5 (-136 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

First up on our MLB NRFI agenda for Tuesday is an AL Central matchup between the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers. Minnesota enters this contest on a five-game winning streak and in first place in this division. More important than the result of the game, though, will be the outcome of the first inning as we expected it to go scoreless.

The pitching matchup for this game is a huge reason to expect a scoreless first inning between these two teams. Sonny Gray will take the mound for the Twins in this contest, who enters with just a 5-4 record but a much more impressive 3.18 ERA. He will be opposed by Detroit’s Eduardo Rodriguez and his 2.96 ERA, meaning both starters are capable of great things on the mound.

Also helping the first inning under in this contest is the fact that these teams both reside in the bottom-half of the league in runs scored this season. The Twins rank 17th in the league in runs scored, while the Tigers rank 29th in that department, ahead of only the Oakland Athletics. Expect more zeroes on the board from these teams that do not consistently produce runs.

Houston Astros vs Baltimore Orioles - Framber Valdez (L) vs Grayson Rodriguez (R)

Under 0.5 (-120 at PointsBet)

One of the games of the night in MLB will come from Baltimore when the Houston Astros face the Baltimore Orioles. In that game, the pitching matchup will again be the story, in a game between two teams still competing for the top spot in the American League. A product of that pitching matchup will be a game that goes to the second inning without any runs crossing the plate in the first.

For the Astros, Framber Valdez will take the mound, which has meant good things for the Astros all season long. Valdez is still in the race for the AL Cy Young, posting a 9-7 record and a 3.07 ERA. He will certainly hold up his end of the bargain in the first inning of this contest, holding the Orioles scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, as the Orioles enter this game being held scoreless 75.89% of the time in the first inning (4th highest in MLB).

On the other side of this pitching matchup is Grayson Rodriguez of the Orioles, who enters this game with a 2-3 record and a 6.09 ERA. Despite those numbers, the Orioles have held opponents scoreless in 70.54% of their first innings this year. That ranks in the top half of the league this season, and the O’s will get the job done again in the opening frame here.

Texas Rangers vs Oakland Athletics - Max Scherzer (R) vs JP Sears (L)

Under 0.5 (-115 at DraftKings Sportsbook)

Our final MLB NRFI selection for Tuesday comes in the AL West matchup between the Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics. These teams were both slow out of the gate in what turned out to be a thriller of a game on Monday night. On Tuesday, we expect a similarly slow start from both of these offenses, with this game going at least into the second inning with zeroes on the scoreboard.

A big reason for the expectation of a scoreless first inning comes from Max Scherzer being on the mound for the Athletics. Scherzer enters this game with a 10-4 record and a 4.04 ERA on the season. He performed well in his first start with the Rangers last week, recovering nicely from allowing three early runs, helping his team to win over the Chicago White Sox by a score of 5-3.

Interestingly enough, Scherzer’s competition in this game has very similar numbers to those of the Rangers' starting pitcher. While Athletics starter JP Sears has just a 2-8 record on the year, his 4.07 ERA for the season is right there with Scherzer’s. Look for both starting pitchers in this game to hang up a zero in this contest.

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