NRFI Betting Today - No Runs First Inning Best MLB Picks and Odds (Friday, 3/27/2026)

March 27, 2026

Read our best NRFI betting picks today - Major League Baseball NRFI predictions for 3/27/2026. No Runs First Inning (NRFI) betting tips, expert MLB predictions, odds, and trends.

Let's just take a few minutes to soak in how wonderful it is to have baseball back in our lives again, shall we? Opening Day was loaded with good games, and if you happened to read my strikeout prop article yesterday, I started 5-0 on those wagers for the season with a clean sweep! My colleague Koby Hanson also had two correct home run predictions in his piece, so we, as a writing staff, are starting HOT in 2026!

But this isn't a home-run or K-prop piece. Today is the first day we attack the slate with some NRFI (no runs first inning) wagers. We tend to see pitching ahead of hitting this time of year, yet we only had NRFIs in six of the 11 games played yesterday. With more aces on the bump today, I think we definitely have a few appealing targets for NRFI wagers.

On this page, I'll provide my best first-inning bets today for MLB games on Friday, March 27, 2026. Make sure to monitor the weather and lineups for each team before placing your wagers.

What Are MLB NRFI/YRFI Bets?

NRFI bets are bets where you try to pick whether or not two MLB teams will combine for one run in the first inning. YRFI stands for "Yes Run First Inning," while NRFI means "No Run First Inning."

We prefer to target NRFI because it tends to occur more often, which is why you usually see shorter odds than for YRFI.

My favorite part of NRFI wagers is how they settle so quickly. This is a fun sweat, as these six outs can be thrilling, especially if your pitcher works his way out of a jam. Just remember to only go with a smaller percentage of your bankroll because this can be a volatile market with even the best pitchers struggling in the first inning at times.

Best First Inning Bets Today (March 27, 2026)

Here's a quick chart with the games and bets that we will be targeting today!

New York Yankees at San Francisco Giants NRFI (-122 FanDuel)

Starting Pitchers

• NYY: Cam Schlittler
• SFG: Robbie Ray

These teams had yesterday off, since they opened up the regular season schedule on Wednesday night. The Yankees won that one pretty easily, with Max Fried cruising through six scoreless innings and the offense putting up a five-spot in the second inning against Logan Webb.

But I fear the Yankees less against lefties than righties, and veteran lefty Robbie Ray gets the ball for the Giants tonight. Ray has the type of strikeout stuff we are looking for in NRFI pitchers and is coming off a very strong preseason where he whiffed 21 batters over 19 frames.

On the other side of this game, we have second-year pitcher Cam Schlittler on the bump for the Yankees.

Cam Schlittler this afternoon:

⚾ 3.2 innings
⚾ 2 Hits
⚾ 0 Earned Runs
⚾ 1 Walk
⚾ 1 Strikeout

Schlittler owns a 0.93 ERA in Spring Training pic.twitter.com/xlQ39m8PaZ

— Dillard Barnhart (@BarnHasSpoken2) March 21, 2026

Schlittler was lights out this spring and looks ready to build off a strong rookie campaign that saw him post a 2.96 ERA and 27% strikeout rate. He has terrific stuff, including one of the hardest cutters in the game, averaging around 94 mph on the pitch. It's a nasty offering that he can use to keep lefties at bay.

Finally, we have a really good ballpark here for pitchers, and while the weather is warmer here than in a lot of parks today, the winds look to be blowing from left to right, which won't aid hitters at all for home runs, which are the instant NRFI-killers we want to avoid.

Colorado Rockies at Miami Marlins NRFI (-137 Novig)

Starting Pitchers

• COL: Kyle Freeland
• MIA: Sandy Alcantara

One look at these pitchers and you might be wondering if I made a typo with the NRFI instead of a YRFI. But nope, we are putting our hard-earned money in the hands of Colorado lefty Kyle Freeland and Miami's former Cy Young winner, Sandy Alcantara.

Let's start with Freeland, who is arguably one of the worst pitchers on the slate today. Sure, he's not the prototypical pitcher we are looking for in terms of strikeout upside, but he's a veteran who is very capable of pitching well in good matchups, and this one today against Miami's lineup certainly qualifies.

Miami's projected lineup has some of the worst offensive metrics of any team on the slate today, well, other than Colorado! Freeland is much more effective on the road, where his ERA was a full 1.5 runs lower than it was at Coors last season. Miami's LoanDepot Park is one of the best pitchers' parks in baseball, and we have some moderate winds blowing in around 10-12 mph to help keep balls in the yard.

A new weapon that could aid in the Sandy Alcantara resurgence: the sweeper

Alcantara and manager Clayton McCullough discussed the pitch's progress throughout camp following yesterday's contest

3 of Alcantara's 16 K's this camp came on sweepers, incl. this one to Juan Soto pic.twitter.com/KmXsWZ3CcD

— Louis Addeo-Weiss (@addeo_louis00) March 23, 2026

Now, let's talk about Alcantara. His first half of the 2025 season was a disaster, but he showed signs in the second half of slowly starting to regain his pre-injury Cy Young form. Then this preseason, he looked absolutely fantastic, sporting a 31% K% to just a 3.5% BB%.

There's a good chance that Alcantara has a strong 2026 season as he regains the command of his plus stuff. These odds are pretty high on most books, pushing -150 some places, but at Novig, we can lock in a pretty reasonable -137.

Cleveland Guardians at Seattle Mariners NRFI (-130 Fanatics)

Starting Pitchers

• CLE: Gavin Williams
• SEA: George Kirby

After the Chris Sale vs. Cole Ragans matchup, this might be the best pairing of starting pitchers on the slate. Both Kirby and Williams were strong starters last year with sub-3 ERAs their first time through the opposing lineup, too.

I realize that we had two first-inning home runs last night from Brendan Donovan and dynamic rookie Chase DeLauter (who also homered later in the game), but that YRFI result last night feels a bit fluky. Neither ball was crushed, and both just barely cleared the fence. Seattle's T-Mobile Park is well-known for its home run suppression, so it was definitely more of an outlier result to see six home runs hit there last night.

Anyway, about these pitchers. Gavin Williams had a strong spring and is a high-strikeout pitcher who deserves our confidence. George Kirby is no slouch either, whiffing 26% of hitters last season.

Kirby's matchup is a bit easier, as long as he's careful with DeLauter and Jose Ramirez. But Williams certainly has top-shelf stuff and should have the upper hand against the Mariners top of the order. Just keep the ball out of the middle of the plate against the "Big Dumper" Cal Raleigh, please!

Both offenses were middling last season in terms of YRFI production, and again, I think last night's result was more fluky than the norm. These are two good starters with strong matchups.

Thanks for reading, and good luck if you tail any or all of these bets today!

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