Liebe, Lust und Leben » could be out a couple days and well

In this space last week, I pointed out the trend of three straight Darlington races in which a driver led at least 190 laps -- and then I picked Kevin Harvick as the most likely to continue that trend.Then, on the weekend preview, I was scared off by Harvicks lackluster practice speeds and opted for Brad Keselowski from the front row.The lesson here is to trust your first instinct.Harvick led 214 laps, and even though he became the third driver in the last four Darlington races to lead more than half the race but not the final lap, he still put up 118.5 DraftKings points -- 37 more than actual race winner Martin Truex Jr.Among my other picks last week, I opted for Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson for my top upper-value picks. Keselowski and Hamlin were both among the top-five fantasy plays, but Johnson wrecked trying to come back from a pit road mishap, leading to a negative 9.5 points.Hopefully you stuck with me for my low-cost picks. Chris Buescher started 31st and finished 17th -- good for 41 points; Regan Smith was the next-best under $7,000, with 39 points for $5,300; and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., was also good for 30.5Lets look ahead to Saturday night in Richmond, which is a short track race -- just three-quarters of a mile in length. In terms of banking, its flatter than Bristol, where we raced just a few weeks ago, but higher-banked than Martinsville, where well race in a few weeks.Earlier this season at Richmond, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers finished first, second, sixth and seventh, combining to lead 232 of the races 400 laps.Last year in this race, JGRs Matt Kenseth led 352 laps in the win, with teammate Kyle Busch finishing second (with nine laps led). Denny Hamlin (sixth, 14 laps led) and Carl Edwards (11th) rounded out the JGR attack.So, yeah, Im keen on the Gibbs drivers this week, but you cant just start all four and expect to have a well-rounded roster. Lets figure out whos the cream of the crop, then, and start you on your way to a solid fantasy weekend.Remember to check back in this weekend for my final picks and fades.Im starting my team with:Kyle Busch doesnt have the gaudy laps led numbers that Kenseth, Edwards or a couple other drivers have had recently at Richmond, but he does have three top-three finishes in his last four races there. He is coming off of a solid 78 laps led and 62 fastest laps-performance in the last Richmond race for 99.5 points. He led just 81 laps in the previous eight Richmond races combined.Lets not forget a crazy fantasy stretch for Busch starting in 2005, when he won four times with 12 top-five finishes in a 15-race stretch at Richmond -- averaging 79.5 DraftKings points per race. I think thats a form he can regain.Keep an eye on these four:Matt Kenseth: While other drivers have had strong runs recently, offset by cold streaks in the two or three races leading up to those big runs, Matt Kenseth has been consistently excellent at Richmond. In seven races at the track since joining Joe Gibbs Racing, Kenseth has averaged 65.4 fantasy points per race, leading all drivers.Kurt Busch: Buschs value has fallen, and will likely to do so after he got involved in a wreck at Darlington. But that could make him an affordable piece of your roster. Busch has six top-15 finishes in the last seven Darlington races, and he also had a dominant day recently at Richmond, leading 291 laps in a win in the spring race in 2015.Jamie McMurray: McMurrays fighting just to make the Chase, NASCARs version of the playoffs, so expect him to make every effort to stay in the top half of the field. McMurray is a fixture in the top 15 at Richmond; in the last six races at the track, he has three fourth-place finishes, a pair of 13ths and a 16th. He often moves through the field too, with a start/finish differential of plus-29 in his last two races there.Austin Dillon: Dillon is also racing to make the Chase field, and hes done excellent work on the shorter, flatter tracks this season. At Richmond, Phoenix, New Hampshire and Martinsville, Dillon is four-for-four in top-20 finishes, with a pair of top 10s. Overall, Dillon is on a stretch of putting up more than 30 fantasy points in eight of nine races, with the one exception coming on a road course.Thats all I have for you this week, enjoy the race with a feast of your choosing. Authentic Matt Pryor Jersey . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. Authentic Jordan Mailata Jersey . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. http://www.cheapeaglesjerseysauthentic.com/ . Vaives lawyer Trevor Whiffen claims the former 50-goal man wasnt provided with a copy of the claim beforehand and that he would not have agreed to the allegations made against the NHL had he been asked to review its contents. Eagles Jerseys China . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Authentic Josh Sweat Jersey . By having more great seasons. Manning was the only unanimous choice for the 2013 Associated Press NFL All-Pro team Friday. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Mike Zunino tried making adjustments when he went into a batting slump.When that didnt work, the Seattle Mariners catcher went back to what just felt natural, and so far thats paid off.Zunino had two key hits and Ketel Marte hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning as the Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 Sunday for their fifth straight win.The Mariners remained 3 1/2 games behind in the AL wild-card race.Marte had three hits and Zunino homered and doubled.I tried to make some little tweaks to try to improve on what I was doing and they sort of took me in the wrong direction, so it was just sort of going back to what was working the whole year, Zunino said.It was nice, because when you have so many at-bats and taken that swing so many times it was pretty easy to go back to it, he said.Zunino doubled off Ryan Madson (5-5) to begin the ninth and pinch runner Ben Gamel moved up on a single by Leonys Martin. Marte followed with his go-ahead single.We had a decent report on him saying the first pitch is usually the best pitch to get, so I didnt want to waste any time, Zunino said. I was able to get on top of it and drive it.Mariners starter James Paxton pitched through a fingernail injury for his first quality start in more than a month, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks in six innings.The left-hander couldnt throw his cut fastball and didnt have good command of his fastball because of a problem with the nail on his left middle finger.We worked around it well, though, Paxton said of the injury. We used the curveball more, and the curveball was really good today, so that was good. And we used the change-up a little bit more too, got some swings and misses on that also.Zunino hit a two-run homer in the second off rookie Raul Alcantara. He left with two outs in the sixth to an ovation from fans and was greeted by fist bumps in the As dugout.It was just another at-bat where I felt like I got to two strikes pretty quick, but he showed me the slider early and I was able to lay off of it, and he tthrew another one that was in the zone and up.dddddddddddd I was just able to get up in the zone and barrel it.In his major league debut Wednesday, he became the first As pitcher to hit three batters and issue a balk in one game since Howard Ehmke did it in 1930.Alcantara allowed two runs on seven hits, one walk and a hit batsman.He has an electric fastball, his changeup is a plus pitch and he threw some good breaking balls, too, As catcher Stephen Vogt said. I think the stuff is really, really good, its definitely an indication of what we thought and what I thought going into this week it would be.Steve Cishek (3-6) pitched a scoreless eighth. Edwin Diaz closed for his 15th save.TRAINERS ROOMMariners: 1B Adam Lind left the in the fifth inning with a finger sprain, manager Scott Servais said. Its not broke, Servais said. He had X-rays. He could be out a couple days and well see where it goes from there.Athletics: RHP Sonny Gray, on the disabled list since Aug. 7 with a right forearm strain, threw about 10-12 pitches off a mound on Sunday, As manager Bob Melvin said. The 2015 All-Star is hoping to be activated before the end of the year, but Melvin said the As will be cautious before making such a move.Itd be nice to get him into a game, but I wouldnt say its the most important thing in the world, Melvin said. His health is the most important thing for us.UP NEXTMariners: LHP Ariel Miranda will pitch the opener of a three-game series in Anaheim. He will be facing the Angels for the third time in his eighth appearance and seventh start with Seattle since being acquired from Baltimore on July 31. Miranda is 1-0 with a 5.73 ERA in two previous outings against the Angels.Athletics: LHP Ross Detwiler will be making his sixth start since being called up from Triple-A Nashville on Aug. 10 in a series opener in Kansas City. He allowed one run in seven innings of three-hit ball in his last start on Aug. 31. ' ' '