Vegas Play of the Day: Rays at Twins

Sun, Jul 15, 2018 (9:42 a.m.)

The fifth season of the annual Play of the Day betting competition between the Sun’s sports staff is now under way, effective July 1.

Bankrolls start at $10,000 for each of the four participants, with the objective to increase it as much as possible over the next year. The minimum daily wager is $300, with a $200 penalty assessed for failing to place a bet on an assigned day.

Past winners are Case Keefer in 2017-2018, Ray Brewer in 2016-2017 and 2015-2016, and Taylor Bern in 2014-2015.

Tampa Rays at Minnesota Twins, Total Under 9.5 at minus-110, $550 to win $500:The final game before the all-star break always follows a similar script across Major League Baseball stadiums: Hitters mostly swing at pitches early in the count in an attempt to speed up the pace of play, knowing that once the game ends there’s the reward of a few off days for the all-star break. Plus, both teams — like most Sundays — will have a lineup of mostly reserves.

Tampa and Minnesota are two of MLB’s lowest scoring teams, and Twins starter Fernando Romero has 33 strikeouts in 35 big-league innings during his rookie season. Tampa exploded for 19 runs in Saturday’s game, but lost its best hitter — catcher Wilson Ramos — to a hamstring injury.

But again, this over-under wager has nothing to do with who is pitching, or the playing conditions. Rather, it’s one of my longstanding theories. Look for many games to end quickly today, and for those of us wagering on totals under, plenty of low-scoring.

Keefer (3-0, $11,090), Granger (1-0, $10,155), Grimala (1-2, $9,500), Brewer (1-2, $9,610)

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

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