With the Red Sox and the Rays giving us an early NRFI yesterday, we stay undefeated since the All-Star break. Now, we have some NRFI bets for July 19.
Saturday has a full docket of games from afternoon until evening. We dug through all of those games to find you the best available spots. Come check out what we have cooked up for this slate of games.
CHECK OUT THE SPORTS GAMBLING PODCAST’S DAILY BEST BETS
MLB NRFI and YRFI Picks – July 18
Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Cleveland Guardians
First Pitch – 1:10 pm EST
Progressive Field – Cleveland, OH
Broadcast – MLB TV
Nobody scored more runs in the first inning than the Pirates, which means we’re tailing the pitcher here on the NRFI. I’m fine with that as Gavin Williams has allowed two or less runs in three of his last four starts. He’s also seen a big spike in his swing and miss stuff in that span. He has accumulated 31 strikeouts in just 21.2 innings over that span of time. That should help him pitch out of any early jams and get us that NRFI in the top of the first.
The bottom of the inning should be less of a sweat. Only the Padres scored less runs than Cleveland in the first half of the year. Those two squads were the only two that did not crack 4.00 runs per game in that span. Additionally, they are firmly in the bottom third of the league when it comes to scoring runs in the first. That’s music to the ears of Jared Jones, who toes the rubber for Pittsburgh on Saturday. He’s allowed one or less runs in three of his last four games leading into the break. He saved his best outing for last – 6.0 no-hit innings against the Braves with eight strikeouts. The Guardians should be easy pickings for Jones.
NRFI/YRFI Bet for July 18: No (-135)
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
First Pitch – 4:10 pm EST
Chase Field – Phoenix, AZ
Broadcast – MLB TV
To close out our NRFI plays for Saturday, we’ll head out west. Brandon Pfaadt and his seasonlong numbers might not immediately bring confidence to this matchup, but he’s been really solid lately. Since returning to the rotation, he’s logged three starts and 15.2 innings pitched. In that span, he’s allowed just three earned runs, which produces a 1.72 ERA. Additionally, he’s struck out ten in that time while only issuing a single walk. Now he gets a St. Louis team that has fallen on hard times offensively. They have just 18 runs in their last five games (3.60 runs per game).
Arizona has struggled all year at the plate. They rank 19th in the league in scoring and are actually a bit worse in the first inning. They rank 21st when it comes to scoring in the first inning. They’ll have to try to change that narrative against Dustin May. Although May, similar to Pfaadt, hasn’t had great numbers, his last couple starts have been sharp. In 8.2 innings of work, he’s allowed just two earned runs and struck out 11. Those starts came against teams with a lot more firepower than the Diamondbacks, which is a good sign for this NRFI play.
NRFI/YRFI Bet for July 18: No (+100)
If you’d like even more info to help make your NRFI and YRFI picks for July 18, check out the MLB Gambling Podcast. They’re dropping episodes five days a week to make you the smartest guy/gal at the bar with their MLB picks today.
