NASCAR DFS Driver Rankings

Warriors coach Steve Kerr started Payton over Brandin Podziemski, with the veteran wing capable of helping out defensively and making the Rockets pay out of the dunker spot. Unfortunately, the change did not result in increased production from either player. Payton shot 40 percent from the field, while Podziemski (10/7/3/1 with two three-pointers) shot 4-of-9. Given how Game 6 played out, it would be unsurprising if Kerr returned to Podziemski as his starter for Game 7 on Sunday.

The Cardinals had no answers for Nimmo in this one, as he reached base safely in all five of his plate appearances and sprayed the ball all over the park. His fifth inning single was right in the middle of the Mets’ rally that chased Sonny Gray from this game and his seventh inning homer was merely icing on the cake. It had been a trying season for Nimmo, until this week. It started with a four hit, two home run, nine RBI game and then this three hit, two walk performance. In just four games, he’s gone from a .575 OPS to a .720 OPS.

Weird things keep happening to Holmes during his starts. Last week, he had to deal with a rain delay in the middle of the first inning that forced an awkward stop and restart to his outing he had to work through. Here, he took a hard line drive off the ankle and his only poor inning of the game followed immediately. Still, he was able to dig deep for six innings and his second quality start of the season. His strikeouts have dried up a bit over his last two starts, but again each had some strange, mitigating circumstances. Also, he’s commanded his sinker much better over those two starts then he had all season to that point. When that sinker is working, he’s getting more weak contact and ground balls earlier in at-bats, which was more the case last start than in this one where St. Louis had nine hard-hit balls and more than a few of which were in the air. Nevertheless, he now has a 2.95 ERA on the season and looks like a very capable starting pitcher. He’s scheduled to face the Cubs next time out.

Only Steven Adams attempted more free throws than Butler in Game 6, and the Rockets’ backup center was being fouled intentionally. Butler was able to attack the basket consistently, but he and Stephen Curry could not do enough to carry the Warriors on a night when many of their rotation players struggled. As a result, Golden State is headed back to Houston to play a Game 7 on Sunday after holding a 3-1 series lead.

Winn has been playing possessed since he came off the injured list last week. This was his third multi-hit game in his last four contests and he has six extra-base hits in his last seven games. Funny enough, he didn’t have a single extra-base hit in his 13 games before heading to the IL. Also, he hit the hardest ball of his season in this game at 109 mph. If this power surge holds, it would dramatically raise Winn’s ceiling as an every day player who’s been moved to the two-hole in the Cardinals’ lineup.

Gray did not have his best stuff in this one. His usually reliable curveball was all over the place as Mets’ announcer Keith Hernandez eloquently described them as “helicopters” after he floated a handful in above the strike zone. He found a bit of a groove in the middle innings, but was chased in the fifth after the top of the Mets lineup laced four straight hits in their third time around the order. He’ll look to get back on track in his next scheduled start against the Nationals.