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AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Matt Kenseth had one of those rare seasons in which everything seemed to go right every time he got behind the wheel of his car. Until the one day he couldnt afford for anything to go wrong. Kenseth had one of his poorest performances of the season Sunday, finishing 23rd at Phoenix International Raceway to allow Jimmie Johnson to seize control of the championship race. Johnson, who started the day up seven points in the standings, finished third behind Kevin Harvick and Kasey Kahne to pad his lead to 28 points. The five-time champion goes to next Sundays season finale at Homestead needing to finish 23rd or better to win the title. Kenseth, who won his only championship 10 years ago, gave what sounded like a concession speech following his disappointing day. "Of course Im disappointed -- we go there basically without a shot to win," Kenseth said. "On the other hand, I couldnt be happier and more proud of my team and, man, this has been the best year of my racing career. We hoped to go down to Homestead and race for it on performance. On the other hand, Im extremely happy and really, really proud of my team. "Theres not a car out here Id rather be driving. Weve had just an amazing, incredible season and weve still got one week left. So Im really thankful for them putting me in a car and everybody who has given me this opportunity." Johnson, who had a mechanical failure in last years season finale and finished 36th, wasnt ready to claim the title following his workmanlike performance at Phoenix. "Were heading into Homestead in the position we want to be in," Johnson said. "Ill have to go down there and run 400 miles. Its far from over. Youve got to finish that race. Although we have a nice cushion, we still have to go down there and take care of business." Harvick won at Phoenix for the second consecutive year, capitalizing when Carl Edwards ran out of gas coming to the white flag. But all eyes were on Kenseth, who struggled mightily for the first time in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship and for one of the few times this season. Kenseth had only finished lower than 23rd four times this entire season, and three were related to either engine failure or a crash. But his car was off from the very start, and he struggled to even tell crew chief Jason Ratcliff what adjustments to make on a Toyota he described at one point as "just not drivable." "I dont even know what to tell you to fix, to be honest," Kenseth radioed. "I am so aero tight. So aero tight." Figuring track position and clean air was the only fix, Ratcliff opted for a strategy of having Kenseth do the opposite of other drivers: If they pitted, Kenseth did not, and vice versa. It worked as Kenseth cracked the top 10, but then backfired badly on a pit stop at the worst possible time. Moments after contact between Johnson and Carl Edwards knocked Johnson out of the groove and forced him to save his Chevrolet from wrecking, a caution was called for Josh Wises spin. The Joe Gibbs Racing crew botched the pit stop, changing strategy mid-stop, and Kenseth compounded the problem by running over his air hose. His car had to be backed up before it could be serviced. It dropped him to 30th, two laps down, and he restarted behind Johnson at the one opportunity hed had to make up some ground. "I called left sides trying to get some track position, and I looked up and there werent many cars coming down pit road, so I thought we might as well put four on it," Ratcliff said. "But when I called four, those guys had left-side tires in their hands and half of them went over the wall and had to come back to get the right-side tires. Its just a mess. "I let the guys down. They do a great job on pit road and I made them look bad with the mix-up." Johnson, stressed over the incident with Edwards, knew when he saw Kenseth behind him after the caution that he was in great shape. "I was starting to get worried at that point in time, but seemed shortly thereafter we left pit road and (Kenseth) was behind me again ... I felt like I knew I could manage things and it was about trying to get points again," Johnson said. So off in the waning laps, Kenseths frustration could be heard over the radio when he couldnt pass Bobby Labonte and David Gilliland. "Man, this is bad," Kenseth said. "I cant believe I cant even pass these two cars." Although he wasnt great all weekend, Kenseth said he never saw Sundays performance coming. "Honestly, it was the first day like that, that weve had all season long," Kenseth said. "That just, gosh, that speaks volumes about my team, we havent had a day like that all year where weve been far enough where we couldnt stay on the lead lap. It was an unfortunate, disappointing day, but man, we did the best we could do. We just were off." After seven wins this season, Kenseths first driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, Ratcliff did not believe the team choked. "Everybodys going to say, Oh, the pressure got to them, "he said. "Just poor execution on a track thats so hard to pass. Youre trying to make up for something that happened earlier and it just snowballs on you. The car wasnt responding to changes. Wed make another change and it wouldnt help it, so wed put that back and make another change and I dont know if that was better or worse, so I was like Just quit working on the thing, its not responding. "We were just trying to make something out of nothing." Harvick, meanwhile, picked up his fourth win of the season when Edwards ran out of gas headed to the white flag. Harvick sailed by right before the last lap to grab another memorable moment in a career with Richard Childress Racing that will end next week after 13 seasons. The victory also put Harvick in the title race -- albeit as a long shot, 34 points behind Johnson. "Were talking about locking him in the port-a-potty, so that should sum it up," Harvick joked. "Those guys are good at what they do and theyre good at every track." Wholesale Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys . On the day the club activated Casey Janssen from the 15-day disabled list, his return from a strained oblique that cost him the first six weeks of the regular season, it announced Sergio Santos would be placed on the disabled list on Monday with discomfort in his right forearm. Cheap Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys Online . Goldeyes third baseman Ryan Pineda drove in three runs and the pitching staff didnt allow an earned run, as Winnipeg downed Kansas City 6-3 in American Association exhibition action at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas. http://www.cheapchiefs.com/61e-cheap-custom-jersey-chiefs.html . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. Cheap Kansas City Chiefs Gear ." Those traits were clear to the 24,071 at Olympic Stadium on Saturday as the Impact dominated the scoring chances but settled for a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls in a battle of still-winless Major League Soccer teams. Stitched Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys . Kamloops, B.C., the host city of this years Tim Hortons Brier, is where he won his first Canadian mens curling crown in 1996. PITTSBURGH -- Jeff Locke spent a lot of time with A.J. Burnett last year, and then faced his mentor in a pitching matchup in Pittsburgh. Locke got the best of Burnett on Sunday in Pittsburghs 6-2 victory that finished off a three-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies. "It didnt even feel like we were playing a Major League Baseball game," Locke said. "We spoke really briefly before we got in the bullpen, just told each other to have fun today, go get em. Pound down." Locke gave up just three hits and a walk in eight innings, and the Pirates completed their first sweep of the season. Pittsburgh had failed to finish a sweep in eight previous tries this season. Philadelphia was swept for the eighth time. "I didnt know we didnt have a sweep all season," Locke said. "It feels good, especially a team like those guys over there. Especially when (Marlon) Byrd and A.J. come back again." The Pirates (47-41) moved a season-high six games over .500, while the Phillies (37-51) fell a season-high 14 games below .500. Locke (2-1) gave up two runs -- one earned -- and struck out four. He has made six straight quality starts since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on June 8. The left-hander worked mostly off of his fastball and changeup in an outing his manager Clint Hurdle called "fantastic." Byrd gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a single to left. Jimmy Rollins scored an unearned run from second after he reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Pedro Alvarez. Alvarez leads the major leagues with 18 errors this season. Pittsburgh responded in its half of the inning with two runs to erase Philadelphias early lead. Andrew McCutchen beat out a ground ball to shortstop with two outs after Burnett struck out the Pirates first two hitters. Neil Walker followed with a single. Against his former batterymate, Pirates catcher Russell Martin hit a two-run double to right-centre for a 2-1 advantage that wouldnt have been possible without McCutchens hustle. "Thats my game," McCutchen said. "I go up, hit a ball on the ground, and I have an opportunity to do something with it. Thats what I use my legs for and thats what Im going to always be like." The Pirates added another run in the third when Josh Harrison led off with a triple that spllit the gap in right-centre.dddddddddddd Harrison tagged from third on a shallow fly ball from Walker to centre fielder Ben Revere and scored as Reveres throw came in offline. Burnett (5-8) gave up three runs and five hits, walked two and struck out seven in seven innings in his return to Pittsburgh. The Pirates played a "Thank You A.J." video on the scoreboard when Burnett took the mound in the first inning "The video caught me by surprise," Burnett said. "I dont know what to say about it. It was very moving. It was very unexpected." Byrd hit his 18th home run in the seventh inning to draw Philadelphia within 3-2. Locke threw Byrd a changeup low and inside, which Byrd sent over the fence in left field. "He got me," Locke said. "I got ahead of him, threw a changeup, and boom, he hit it. I knew it was a home run." For Hurdle, it was only a matter of time until Byrd would damage the Pirates. "Byrds a good hitter," Hurdle said. "We played with the tigers tail earlier in the series because he had a lot of at-bats with runners in scoring position that we were able to navigate through and around." Byrd finished 2 for 4 with two RBI. "Hes been very steady for us," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "An everyday grinder who forces the chips in. Hes been one of our consistent bats." Harrison scored again in the eighth on a RBI triple by McCutchen, who was awarded third base because of fan interference following a crew chief review initiated by home plate umpire Dale Scott. Philadelphia reliever Justin De Fratus elevated an 81 mph slider over the plate that McCutchen hammered to the opposite field. "I thought it had a chance," McCutchen said. "But like Ive said plenty of times, you just never know what the ballpark is. Some days itll go, some days it wont." McCutchen then scored on a single by Starling Marte, and Jordy Mercer drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. NOTES: Pittsburgh RHP Charlie Morton (5-9, 3.30 ERA) will oppose St. Louis RHP Adam Wainwright (1-4, 1.89 ERA) on Monday when the teams begin a three-game series at Busch Stadium. ... Philadelphia LHP Cole Hamels (2-5, 2.98 ERA) will face Milwaukee RHP Marco Estrada (7-5, 4.94 ERA) as the Phillies continue their road trip on Monday. 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