Vegas Play of the Day: Oakland at New York Yankees

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Tuesday, July 7, 2015 | 2:38 p.m.

We’ve reset the Play of the Day with fresh bankrolls and turned it into a yearly competition. Our three sports writers have restarted with $10,000 bankrolls to continue using odds from the South Point.

New York Yankees plus-120 vs. Oakland A’s: $400 to win $440:: It’s never a good idea to bet against Oakland pitching ace Sonny Gray, who has a 9-3 record with a 2.08 earned run average this season and is considered one of the best young pitchers in baseball. But it’s worth the risk to wager on New York today because Oakland simply isn’t a good team. The A’s have a 38-47 record and are 11 games out of first place in the American League West, meaning they are far from a sure-thing when Gray starts.

More important, performing adequately in their first game after traveling across the country to play a series at New York might be asking too much of Oakland, especially its younger players. And, some will surely be overwhelmed of playing in the Big Apple.

The Yankees are third in the American League in runs scored and sixth in slugging percentage. I’m guessing they’ll piece together enough offense to win and give bettors a good payday from taking them at plus-money.

Current Standings (as of July 1): Brewer (2-0, $11,000), Bern (1-0, $14,000), Keefer (0-2, $9,410)

Lifetime Records: 2014-15 champion Bern (86-74-1), Keefer (82-89-2), Brewer (73-89-2)

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21