Vegas Play of the Day: Pirates at Brewers

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Friday, July 17, 2015 | 2:33 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 re-started with $10,000 bankrolls to continue using on odds from the South Point.

Pittsburgh Pirates plus-110 at Milwaukee Brewers: $400 to win $440: Pittsburgh, which has the second best record in baseball, is surprisingly the betting underdog today against a Milwaukee team that is simply playing out the schedule.

Yes, the game is at Milwaukee. And, yes, Milwaukee typically plays the Pirates tough. But Pittsburgh is chasing St. Louis in the National League Central and should be motivated today in the first game after the all-star break. This is the week when contenders such as Pittsburgh further distance themselves from teams such as the Brewers (38-52).

Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton won his initial five starts since coming off the disabled list in last May, but doesn’t get respect by oddsmakers because of one poor start.

He didn’t make it out of the first inning June 21 at Washington in helping balloon his earned run average to 4.15. In that inning, though, Pittsburgh had a pair of poor defensive plays to extend the inning — plays not marked as errors, but outs that should have been recorded.

Morton, Pittsburgh’s No. 4 starter, already has a good track record against Milwaukee. On June 10, he pitched 7 and 1/3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts against the Brewers. I’m willing to bet he does it again.

Current Standings: (as of July 1): Brewer (5-1, $11,700), Bern (13, $9,300), Keefer (1-5, $7,260)

Lifetime Records: 2014-15 champion Bern (86-77-1), Keefer (85-90-2), Brewer (76-90-2)

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