AVONDALE, Ariz. - Matt Kenseth did his best to put on a brave face following his worst performance of the season, which just happened to come at the worst possible time in his championship battle with Jimmie Johnson. Dark sunglasses shielded the disappointment in Kenseths eyes when he climbed from his car. His voice cracked just once during what was clearly a concession speech. Instead of harping on the negatives — he was saddled with an ill-handling car all day at Phoenix International Raceway and every fix crew chief Jason Ratcliff attempted only made it worse — Kenseth focused on the positives. His first season with Joe Gibbs Racing has been the best of his 14 years in the Sprint Cup Series. He won a career-best seven races, added a Southern 500 victory to his resume and crossed Chicago, Darlington, Kentucky and New Hampshire off the list of active tracks where hed never won a Cup race. And at 41 years old, a decade removed from his only Cup championship, Kenseth was in the mix again. Although Kenseth is still mathematically eligible to win the title, his 23rd-place finish at Phoenix sends him into Sundays finale at Homestead trailing Johnson by 28 points. It would take a massive failure for Johnson not to win his sixth championship. "You hope to go down to Homestead and race for it on performance," Kenseth said. "On the other hand, Im extremely happy. Im really, really happy with my team. Its a special group of guys. Weve had just an amazing, incredible season and we still have one week left. Hopefully, we can go to Homestead and go down there and contend for a win." It was an admirable post-race performance on an abominable day for Kenseth and the entire No. 20 team that came out of nowhere at a time when there was zero margin for error. The rest of the garage had noted from the opening practice Friday that Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team had shifted into another gear. Coming off a rout of the field at Texas, the No. 48 team gave every indication it was poised to do the same at Phoenix. Joey Logano said Johnson was in "kill mode" and Kenseth teammate Denny Hamlin sounded as if a Johnson title was inevitable. "I think everyone in the garage knows that they can turn it up at will, and this is typically the time of year they start doing that, especially when they are in championship contention," Hamlin said. With the pressure on, Kenseth had to be perfect. Instead, his car was terrible from the start, every adjustment backfired and strategy didnt play into Ratcliffs hands. When the crew chief tried to make a call on the fly, it led to a botched pit stop that put Kenseth down two laps from the leaders. "Itd be great if we came in here and everything worked out like we had on paper, you went out and won the race and go to Homestead tied," Ratcliff shrugged. "Thats why its so hard to win these championships. People work their guts out for them and theyre very rewarding when you do get them." Ratcliff called it "a pretty rough day," but noted the No. 20 team had very few of those this year — Kenseth had two engine failures and a crash that contributed to three of his five finishes worse than 23rd this season — and that on this particular Sunday, things just spiraled out of control quickly in a sport that moves at almost 200 mph. "Everybodys going to say, Oh, the pressure got to them," Ratcliff 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." This is a team that led just 190 laps a year ago when Joey Logano drove the car and Ratcliff won his first race as a Sprint Cup crew chief. This is a team that took Kenseth to New Hampshire, where hed led 89 laps in 26 previous races and hadnt finished in the top-five since 2005, and got him to Victory Lane for the first time in his career. The New Hampshire victory marked back-to-back wins to open the Chase and put Johnson on alert. After Johnson moved into the points lead heading into Martinsville, the No. 20 team went into another one of Kenseths weaker tracks and delivered a second-place finish that tied the championship race. Sometimes, people just have bad days. Sunday was one of them for Kenseth and crew. It was the wrong day against the wrong opponent, and behind his sunglasses, Kenseth had to be wondering if hell ever have an opportunity like this again. But deep down, he knew this season itself was one to be treasured. "Disappointing day here, but yet what a great season," he said. "I really appreciate this whole group. Theres not a car out here Id rather be driving than this one. Im a pretty lucky guy." 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Cilic also lifted his career record in Zagreb to 22-4, winning 20 of his last 21 matches at the event.PHOENIX - The Pittsburgh Pirates didnt just rally, they routed the Arizona Diamondbacks. Josh Harrison — who struck out four times the previous night — tripled, doubled and scored twice and the Pirates erupted in the final two innings to beat the Diamondbacks 9-4 on Friday night. Pittsburgh scored the last nine runs, including eight in the eighth and ninth. It was the 27th comeback win for the Pirates. "Its just what we do," Harrison said. "We know were not done til the last out." Arizonas All-Star Paul Goldschmidt was hit in the left hand by a pitch from Ernesto Frieri in the ninth inning. The hand was covered with a bandage afterward and Goldschmidt said he hadnt gotten the X-ray results. Jordy Mercer had an RBI double, Michael Martinez and Russell Martin RBI singles and Travis Snider a two-run single in the Pirates tiebreaking five-run ninth. "Its backyard baseball," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. "Its nothing spectacular. We just play." Tony Watson (8-1) pitched a scoreless eighth to get the win. Bo Schultz (0-1), recalled from Triple-A Reno on Tuesday, gave up all five in the ninth. While some of Goldschmidts teammates were suspicious he was hit on purpose, he didnt think so. "Guys have to try and get outs. What do you want them to do? Just throw it down the middle? They pitch inside as a team. We do it too. We want our pitchers to be able to pitch inside. You dont want to see anyone get hurt but sometimes it may or may not happen." Ender Inciartes three-run homer had helped Arizona take a 4-0 lead through five innings and Vidal Nuno appeared headed for his first victory in five starts since coming in the trade that sent Brandon McCarthy to the New York Yankees. However, the Pirates battered the Arizona bullpen with 10 hits in the last two innings. In the fifth, Arizona manager Kirk Gibson challenged a wild pitch call that ended up with Didi Gregorius on third, but with two outs. He won the challenge, the review determining that the batter Nuno was hit in the foot by the pitch. Two pitches later, with runners at first and second, Inciarte hit his second homer of the seasonn, and his career, into the right field seats.dddddddddddd After the game was over, the Diamondbacks, upset that Goldschmidt had been hit, got into an argument with Martin about it. The dugouts emptied but no one did more than talk. "I dont think anybody on their side was happy that Goldschmidt got hit," Hurdle said. "It wasnt any intent on Ernestos part. ... Nobody wants to hit a guy in that situation." TRAINERS ROOM Pirates: Right-hander Gerrit Cole, out since July 5 with shoulder fatigue, was scratched from his scheduled rehab start Saturday and will have a bullpen session instead. Outfielder Starling Marte, on the concussion list since July 23, will make a rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Indianapolis and could be back with the big league club within a week. Diamondbacks: A.J. Pollock, on the DL with a fractured right hand since June 1, had one at bat and played centre field in his first rehab game in the Arizona League. Infielder Cliff Pennington, out since June 2 with a sprained left thumb, is 8 for 29 (.421) in five rehab games with the Diamondbacks Arizona League squad. ON DECK The Pirates can gain at least a split of the series with a win Saturday night. Vance Worley (4-1, 2.54 ERA), coming off his first career shutout in a 5-0 win at Colorado, will try to stop the Pittsburgh skid. Rookie Chase Anderson (6-4, 3.34) goes for Arizona. He allowed one run on three hits in seven innings in his last outing, a no-decision at Cincinnati. In Arizonas four-run fifth, Pittsburgh had a hit batter, throwing error by catcher Russell Martin, a wild pitch that scored a run, a throwing error and a walk. NICE PLAY Brent Morel, in his fourth start at third base since coming up from Triple-A Indianapolis, made a diving stop of Jordan Pachecos grounder in the sixth. He got up and threw to first, where Gaby Sanchez stretched as far as he could to his right to make the catch for the out. RARE ABSENCE Goldschmidt was out of the starting ineup for only the second time in 109 games this season. He entered the game on a double-switch in the ninth. TRIPLE-A DIAMONDBACKS: Five of Arizonas starters opened the season in the minor leagues. ' ' '