Shayne Trail breaks down his favorite NRFI/YRFI bet of the day below, but you can follow all of his bets in the Action Network app.
Tigers vs. Pirates — No Runs First Inning (-170)
| Matchup | Tigers (Skubal) vs. Pirates (Quintana) |
| First Pitch | 7:05 p.m. ET |
| Best Line | FanDuel |
On Tuesday, we travel to Pittsburgh to take a NRFI between arguably two of the worst teams in baseball.
Jose Quintana is having a great NRFI start in 2022, going 9-1 overall. This makes him 17-4 to the NRFI since 2020. Against 36 first-inning batters, Quintana has only issued one walk. More impressively, he’s holding hitters to just a .147 average.
Here’s how Quintana has fared in the past against these Detroit hitters:
- Javier Baez: 0 for 3
- Johnathan Schoop: 4 for 22
- Spencer Torkelson: 0 for 2
- Miguel Cabrera: 16 for 49
In the last seven days — to no surprise — some Tigers are in a considerate slump hitting under .200:
- Willi Castro: 4 for 28
- Jeimer Candelario: 1 for 20
- Spencer Torkelson: 4 for 23
In the last 21 days when on the road, the Tigers are among the worst in the first inning. They are just 5 for 29, which is good for a .172 average. They also own an even worse on-base percentage at 29th in the baseball. Taking a bigger first-inning sample size, the Tigers are the worst first inning road team.
In 94 road first-inning plate appearances, the Tigers have one run scored. The next closest team to them is the Orioles at six first-inning runs.
Tarik Skubal is also putting together a rather respectable 2022 NRFI record at 8-2. In 38 first inning batters, Skubal has only issued one walk. And while holding hitters to a .222 average, he accumulated 12 strikeouts.
Here is how the Pittsburgh hitters fared against Skubal in the past:
- Bryan Reynolds: 0 for 3
- Ke’Bryan Hayes: 1 for 2
In the last seven days, Pirates Nos. 4 and 5 projected hitters are just 2 for 12 and 0 for 9 hitting for a combined 2 for 21 at the plate.
Over the last 21 days, the Pirates’ first-inning woes are very similar to the Tigers. After 62 first-inning plate appearances, they managed only nine hits that’s good for a .173 average. Taking this 21-day split a step further when at home, they are hitting 4 for 29, ranking 29th in the MLB with a .138 average.
Take these two proficient NRFI pitchers to dominate these poorly ranked first-inning hitting teams. Take the NRFI between the Tigers and the Pirates.
As always, six outs to glory…
