Vegas Play of the Day: Arizona at Cleveland

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2014 | 12:17 p.m.

Here’s the latest installment of the Play of the Day, which uses odds from the South Point. Our three sports writers started with a $10,000 bankroll — fictional, of course.

Cleveland Indians (minus-1.5, +120) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks: $500 to win $600 It’s the time of the baseball season where my handicapping shifts its focus to teams in the playoff race. And Cleveland, despite trading away one of its top pitchers, is still in the hunt. They are just 4.5 games out of the wild card.

They host lowly Arizona tonight in what’s a must-win to stay in the race. Yes, must-win is a bit of an exaggeration in a 162 game season. But to make up ground in the chase for the playoffs, Cleveland has to beat teams it is clearly better than. That’s what makes playing the run line attractive. The Indians should be looking to put up a big number.

Arizona starter Andrew Chafin was promoted from Triple-A to make his big-league debut.

Standings: Bern (42-31-1, $13,292), Keefer (33-39, $8,692), Brewer (29-41-3, $2,350)

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