just couldnt fit everybody in, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. He h

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis coined the phrase Just win, baby.Kevin Harvick and his Stewart-Haas Racing team have made it their credo.For the third time in as many years since NASCAR introduced an elimination format for its Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, Harvick won a race when he absolutely needed to. On the heels of a morale-crushing 38th-place finish one week ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Harvick drove his No. 4 Chevrolet to victory in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway, clinching a spot in the Chases round of eight that starts Oct. 30.Along with Jimmie Johnson, who also is confirmed to advance thanks to winning at Charlotte, Harvick wont have to worry about what happens next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, where the Chase field will be cut from 12 to eight.In some ways, Harvick shares a kinship with the Raiders. Hes brash, often outspoken, and sometimes thought of as one of the bad boys of the Cup Series.But my, oh my, can he back up the swagger. No one comes through in the clutch more consistently than the Bakersfield, California, native and his team led by crew chief Rodney Childers.This wasnt a dominant performance reminiscent of elimination races that Harvick won at Phoenix in 2014 or Dover in 2015. Instead, it was a workmanlike performance that saw the Outback Chevy out front when it needed to be.He seized the lead on a restart with 30 laps to go and pulled away from the field, winning by 1.183 seconds over Carl Edwards in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.I dont know how, but when theyre in a must-win situation, they seem to find a little more speed, observed third-place finisher Joey Logano. Its interesting that they always seem to have a little extra left in the tank.I think as drivers, we all need to get together and block in an elimination race or just pull for something because hes tough to beat in those final races, added Austin Dillon, who finished sixth. Theres no doubt about it, he steps up when the pressure is there.Harvick led three times Sunday for a total of 74 laps, but he didnt feel he had the best car. That looked to be Matt Kenseth, who led most of the first half of the 267-lap contest before fading to ninth with handling issues.That left the challenge to his Gibbs teammates, Edwards and eventual fifth-place finisher Kyle Busch. But on the final restart, Johnson (who finished fourth) pushed Harvick into a lead he would not relinquish, much to the disappointment of hometown hero Edwards.Kevin and Jimmie lined up on the bottom and they just got far enough ahead, Edwards said. I felt we had fastest car at the end and thats what makes it frustrating, because you should win when you have the fastest car, you should win, especially when you start on front row.After seeing several victories slip out of his grasp over the past three years when he demonstrably had the best car, Harvick was delighted to get a win on a day when the No. 4 car wasnt carrying peak speed.?Its good to probably feel you didnt have the fastest car and win the race, he said. I think a lot of times we felt like we had the fastest car and didnt win the race, so its good to get a few of those back.Weve won two races in the Chase, and I feel like we won both of them on restarts and thats something weve worked on for probably a year now, Harvick continued. When we get behind on something, we dive right in on that and try to make it better.Its that kind of can-do attitude that has generally elevated Harvick and the No. 4 team over the rest of the Cup series field for the past three years. Under Childers leadership, theres no closer-knit team in the garage area.We could say that we need to go jump off a cliff in the morning and everybody would be there at sunrise and say, All right, where do we jump? Harvick said. Thats the kind of group this is. Everybody has got each others back and nobody takes offense if somebody tells them they need to do something better.Its just a unique bunch of people, and youre only as good as the people around you. Thats true in every business, and its no different in this garage.Between them, Harvick and Childers have fostered a winning attitude among the No. 4 group. Points racing just isnt in their lexicon.Just win, baby.I had no idea where we were in the points [after the 38th-place finish at Charlotte] or how many we were behind, Harvick said. The only thing we talked about was trying to figure out how to win this race, and if we didnt win this race, what we needed to do at Talladega.For us, its always about reaching for something to motivate us, he continued. If its having to win a race, or going to a racetrack you havent won at, or rebounding from a bad week, weve been fortunate to be on the good side of this deal for three years now. We know we can perform, and we know we can perform in good and bad situations.With Harvick and Johnson locked into advancing, the focus now turns to which other six drivers will join them when the round of eight starts at Martinsville Speedway.Kenseth is the points leader among nonqualified drivers, closely followed by his JGR teammates Busch and Edwards.Meanwhile, Chase Elliott and Brad Keselowski, who both encountered problems at Kansas, are bringing up the rear. Logano is currently the bubble driver, holding a 25-point cushion over 12th-placed Elliott.But even facing long odds, any of the four drivers currently on the outside (Dillon, Denny Hamlin, Keselowski and Elliott) could advance with a victory at Talladega.Thats one thing thats exciting about this chase format -- you never know when your number is going to get pulled, Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Gene Haas said. I think we were pretty nervous going into Talladega next week. When you get behind a little bit, all of a sudden youre down to win or go home.?Obviously were glad we dont have that excitement for Talladega and now we can focus on getting Kurt Busch into the next round.As Al Davis would say, Just win, baby.Toronto Blue Jays Pro Shop . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. Custom Toronto Blue Jays Jerseys . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. https://www.cheapbluejays.com/ . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. Cheap Blue Jays Jerseys .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. Fake Blue Jays Jerseys . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter.CHICAGO -- The San Francisco Giants likely need a better performance from right-hander Johnny Cueto than they got in his last outing if theyre going to split a four-game series with the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.Cueto, a two-time All-Star, allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings on Tuesday in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in his shortest outing of the season for theGiants. He is 14-5 with a 2.98 ERA this year and 9-8 with a 3.34 ERA in 23 career starts against Chicago.I think the pitches caught up with him, Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters after that game. His command was a little off, he started missing his spots. It just got away from him.The Cubs (87-48), who lead the National League Central and own the best record in the majors, won the first two games of the series, 5-4 on Thursday and 2-1 on Friday. The Giants held off the Cubs 3-2 on Saturday behind Madison Bumgarners 10-strikeout performance.The victory in a playoff-like atmosphere in front of 41,250 fans boosted the Giants spirits. Theyre just 16-29 since the All-Star break.Its a tough group, Bochy said. Despite what happens, I really like the way theyre coming out and staying focused. Theyve had their backs to the wall and been through difficult times. But theyre going to keep fighting. Sure, weve had some issues in the second half, but its all about going out there every day with the same effort.The Giants (73-62) lead the National League wild-card standings but have won just five of their last 13.It was one we definitely wanted and needed, Giants catcher Buster Posey said about Saturdays win. It was good to score some runs off (Jake) Arrieta and then for our bullpen to hold the lead the last tthree innings.ddddddddddddOn Sunday, Cubs right-hander John Lackey (9-7, 3.41 ERA) is expected to make his first start since he went on the disabled list Aug. 15 with a right shoulder strain. He allowed an unearned run in 6 2/3 innings on Aug. 14 against the St. Louis Cardinals before he exited with the injury in his last start. He is 6-4 with a 2.47 ERA in 13 home starts.Lackey is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in two regular-season career games against the Giants.Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and right fielder Jason Heyward were out of the starting lineup Saturday against left-hander Bumgarner but are expected back Sunday against Cueto.Veteran reliever Joe Nathan could soon make his first appearance for the Giants, who drafted him in 1995 and purchased his contract fromDouble-A Richmond on Saturday. The Giants signed the 41-year-old as a free agent on Aug. 16 after the Cubs released him on Aug. 8. Nathan previously pitched for the Giants from 1999 to 2003 before he and left-hander Francisco Liriano were traded to the Minnesota Twins for catcher A.J. Pierzynski and cash in 2003.It made everything a lot more comfortable, a lot easier to come back here, a little less to have to kind of prove myself, Nathan said of returning to the Giants.Nathan went 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three games with the Cubs.At that time, we just couldnt fit everybody in, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. He had one really good game up in Milwaukee where we got a couple guys on and he struck out the side. His pitches got up to the low 90s (mph) with some really good break. ' ' '