Fifteen games on a Friday night, and the board can't find home plate. Start at 2:20 PM ET in Chicago, run through to 10:15 PM ET in San Francisco, and the pattern that keeps showing up is the absence of one: bats that get on base and never come around, catchers who haven't driven anybody in, first innings that keep ending 0-0. Two hitters are punching back. Here's the board for Friday, August 28.
| Trend | Record | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Junior Caminero Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI | 2 or more in 9 straight | -130 |
| Francisco Alvarez Under 0.5 Runs | No run in 13 straight | -218 |
| Yankees NRFI | Scoreless 1st in 16 of last 20 | - |
| Xavier Edwards Under 0.5 Runs | No run in 24 of last 30 | -165 |
| Marlins First 5 Innings Under 4.5 | 4 runs or fewer in 16 of last 22 | -105 |
| Gunnar Henderson Under 0.5 RBI | No RBI in 20 of last 23 | -200 |
| Jarren Duran Over 0.5 Hits | Hit safely in 17 of last 22 | -114 |
Junior Caminero is the loudest bat on a quiet board
Somebody forgot to tell the Rays' young slugger that runs are hard to come by. Caminero has put up 2 or more Hits + Runs + RBI in 9 consecutive games, and in 13 of his last 15, averaging 2.6 across that stretch. This is the same bat that homered in 6 straight games earlier this month, the youngest player since at least 1900 to do it, and he was an All-Star Game starter in July. San Diego comes to St. Petersburg for a 7:10 PM ET first pitch.
Worth a look: Over 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI at -130.
Francisco Alvarez hasn't crossed the plate since the middle of the month
13 straight games without scoring a run. Not one. The Mets catcher has stayed Under 0.5 Runs in 18 of his last 20, and the slump behind it is real: he's hitting .198 over his last 30 games with 4 home runs and 10 RBIs. Cold bat, empty column, 13 games running. Houston sends Hunter Brown to the mound at 7:10 PM ET.
The lean is Under 0.5 Runs at -218.
The Yankees keep starting slow, and Boston is the visitor
Games in the Bronx have opened scoreless in 16 of the last 20. Cam Schlittler is expected to start for New York against Patrick Sandoval, first pitch 7:15 PM ET, and it's Boston in the other dugout. No price on this one; it's a derived market, and if the term is new to you, our betting terminology guide walks through what a scoreless first inning bet actually settles on.
Worth a look: the 1st inning staying scoreless.
Xavier Edwards gets on base. That's where it ends.
Here's the fun part: Edwards is hitting .286 this season. He is not the problem. He has still gone without a run in 24 of his last 30 games, and in 8 in a row, while Miami's offense has stayed quiet around him. That's the whole story in one line, a hitter doing his job into an offense that keeps stranding him. The Marlins visit Washington at 6:45 PM ET.
Worth a look: Under 0.5 Runs at -165.
The Marlins games back it up
Same offense, wider lens. Miami's games have produced 4 runs or fewer through the first five innings in 16 of the last 22, including the last 4 in a row. Eury Perez is expected to take the ball for the Marlins against Jackson Kent. Treat this and the Edwards angle as one read rather than two, because they are: both describe a lineup that hasn't been putting runs on the board early.
The lean is First 5 Innings Under 4.5 at -105.
Gunnar Henderson is having the year nobody expected
Baltimore's shortstop has been held without an RBI in 20 of his last 23 games. He drove one in last night, so there's no active run here, and that's worth saying plainly. What's underneath it is a career-worst season: .216/.296/.392 with 19 home runs and 49 RBIs through 119 games, and a league lead in strikeouts he'd rather not have. Baltimore plays a 9:40 PM ET game in Sacramento against Jacob Lopez.
Worth a look: Under 0.5 RBI at -200.
Jarren Duran is the other one swinging back
Boston's left fielder has hit safely in 17 of his last 22, and in 3 straight. He also put a grand slam on the board on August 25 in the 11th inning against Miami, which is a reminder that the quiet-bat theme on this board has exceptions, and they tend to be loud ones. Duran draws Schlittler at 7:15 PM ET in the same game as the Yankees first-inning angle above, which makes this the one spot on the board where a bat trend and a no-runs trend sit in the same ballpark. Both can be true; the first inning is not the whole night.
Worth a look: Over 0.5 Hits at -114.
Quick hits
- Dillon Dingler has stayed Under 1.5 Hits + Runs + RBI in 7 consecutive games, and 13 of his last 14, with the Dodgers in Detroit at 6:40 PM ET.
- At -220 you're paying up, but Ryan Jeffers hasn't driven in a run in 18 of his last 21, and has 6 in a row on the Under 0.5 RBI.
- Nick Gonzales, 5 straight games without scoring, and 15 of his last 19, at -150 when Pittsburgh visits St. Louis.
- Ozzie Albies has been held off the board in 17 of his last 20 at -159. No run in his last game, but no active streak either, so take the rate and not the story.
7 angles, and 5 of them are about runs that didn't happen. Some nights the board hands you a theme whether you asked for it or not. Yesterday's slate leaned the same direction if you want the comparison in yesterday's board.
Records describe what has already happened, never what happens next. Odds move all day, so check the current number before you bet and see our line shopping guide for why the number matters as much as the side. 21+. Please gamble responsibly.