CHICAGO -- The Pittsburgh Pirates celebrated Ryan Vogelsongs 10 years of service time with an ovation for the right-hander and a post-game cake.The rest of the night belonged to the Chicago Cubs.Jordy Mercer struck out on the 11th pitch of his at-bat against Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth inning, sending Pittsburgh to a 6-5 loss on Wednesday and completing a series sweep by the majors best team.I wasnt going down without a fight, thats for sure, Mercer said. What do you got to lose, right? He throws the hardest ball ever, so just battle and hope for the best.Mercer finished with two hits and two RBI for Pittsburgh (67-64), which closed out a 4-3 trip that began with a sweep in Milwaukee. It trails the Cardinals by 2 1/2 games for the second NL wild card.Vogelsong (3-4) was charged with five runs and six hits in five-plus innings in his eighth start of the year. The 39-year-old righty broke into the majors in 2000 with San Francisco, but also played professionally in Japan.I never thought Id be able to say I had 10 years of service in the major leagues, he said.Kris Bryant hit his 36th homer and Addison Russell drove in two runs, but it was the defense by the left side of Chicagos All-Star infield that stole the show.Andrew McCutchens bases-loaded walk trimmed Chicagos lead to 5-2 with two outs in the seventh before Gregory Polanco hit a flare down the third-base line that looked like trouble for the Cubs.Russell sprinted over from shortstop and made a terrific catch near the home bullpen, drawing a huge ovation from the crowd of 38,137 at Wrigley Field and several swear words from his incredulous teammates.The play by Russell down the line was fantastic, Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. If that ball gets in the corner you get a couple more runs.Jason Hammel (14-7) pitched six innings of one-run ball as Chicago equaled the best August in franchise history with a 22-6 record, also accomplished in 1932. It was the Cubs first time with 22 wins in a month since it went 22-10 in September 1945.Heading into the final stretch of the season, the Cubs (85-47) are rapidly closing in on their first division title since 2008. They begin September with the majors best record at a season-high 38 games over .500 and a whopping 15-game lead over second-place St. Louis in the NL Central.You never even could imagine that you would have this kind of a lead at this particular point in the season, manager Joe Maddon said.Pitching for the third straight day, Chapman worked a rocky ninth inning for his 32nd save in 35 chances.Bryant went 2 for 4 and reached base three times while extending his hitting streak to 13 games. The second-year slugger is tied with Colorados Nolan Arenado for the NL lead in homers and tops the majors with 111 runs scored.A brisk wind blowing in from left field was no match for Bryant, who drove an 0-1 pitch from Vogelsong into the bleachers in left in the first. It was Bryants 10th homer in August.Bryant made a diving grab to rob Sean Rodriguez of an RBI single in the second. He went behind the bag to take a hit away from Josh Harrison in the third and reached into the stands to retire Josh Bell on a foul popup in the fourth.He just plays well wherever you put him on defense, Maddon said. Hes just a good baseball player.WORTH NOTINGThe Pirates traded LHP Kyle Lobstein to the Baltimore Orioles for LHP Zach Phillips. The 29-year-old Phillips was 9-3 with one save and a 4.45 ERA in 49 appearances for Triple-A Norfolk this season. He will be assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.UP NEXTPirates: Following a day off, the Pirates begin a 10-game homestand with a weekend series against the Brewers. RHP Jameson Taillon (3-3, 3.39 ERA) takes on Milwaukee RHP Junior Guerra (7-3, 2.93 ERA) in the opener on Friday night.Cubs: LHP Mike Montgomery (1-1, 3.50 ERA) gets the ball when Chicago hosts San Francisco in the opener of a four-game set on Thursday night. RHP Jeff Samardzija (11-9, 4.50 ERA), who played for the Cubs for seven years, pitches for the Giants.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Gregor Blanco Giants Jersey . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Brandon Crawford Giants Jersey . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. http://www.sfgiantsbaseballstore.us/Will-Clark-giants-jersey/ . U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield in Manhattan agreed that lawyers on both sides could make their formal requests by Nov. 8. A hearing is scheduled for a day earlier. Jordan Siev, a lawyer for Rodriguez, wrote in a joint letter to the judge from lawyers on both sides that MLB lawyers planned to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. Brandon Belt Giants Jersey . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. Brandon Crawford Jersey . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. CHICAGO -- St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock got what he needed from his top players, and that was more than enough on opening night.Vladimir Tarasenko had two goals and an assist, and the Blues kicked off the season with a solid 5-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday.The guys that have been around did a number today, Hitchcock said. The guys that have been here before and know what its like to play in this building, know what its like to play against Chicago, they played really well today.Kevin Shattenkirk and Paul Stastny each had a goal and two assists for the Blues, who eliminated the Blackhawks in seven games in the first round of the playoffs in April. Jake Allen had 17 saves in his first game since he was handed the lead goaltending job with Brian Elliotts June trade to Calgary.St. Louis went 3 for 5 on the power play.I think that last two days in practice really helped us find our groove, said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who took over as captain after David Backes signed with Boston in the offseason. We kept it simple, try not to be overly complicated. Weve got a lot of guys who can shoot the puck. The big thing is putting the puck toward the net.Richard Panik and Ryan Hartman scored for Chicago, which struggled in the second period. Corey Crawford finished with 29 saves.The Blackhawks had five rookies in the starting lineup, and four players made their NHL debut. And they looked out of sync for much of the night.Theres definitely some learning going on, coach Joel Quenneville said. Well accept mistakes through hard work, because thats how you get better.Hartman put Chicago in front 2-1 with his first NHL goal at 13:57 of the second, but the Blackhawks were whistled for three penalties in a span of 1:34 late in the second. Captain Jonathan Toews was sent off for slashing with 2:06 left in the period, veteran center Artem Anisimov got called for hooking and defenseman Duncan Keith received a high-sticking penalty at 19:28.During the delay after the call on Keith, Tarasenko tied it at 2 wiith a wrist shot that beat Crawford on the goaltenders stick side.dddddddddddd The 24-year-old Tarasenko set career highs with 40 goals and 74 points last season.Hes proven to be a big-time player and obviously these games mean so much to us, Shattenkirk said. He is someone who just shows up in those big games.Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook saved a goal when he swept a bouncing puck off the line late in the second. But the Blues went ahead to stay on Stastnys power-play goal 55 seconds into the third off a rebound from Tarasenkos shot.Chicago had two power-play opportunities in the third, but it was turned away each time. Tarasenko then finished off the Blackhawks with an empty-netter with 1:06 remaining, and Scottie Upshall was credited with a second empty-netter on what looked like an own-goal for Chicago.We didnt do a whole lot of what we wanted to, Toews said. Our energy, our speed and our work ethic wasnt quite there. Weve got to regroup and try to come with that energy in that next one, and play a little bit smarter, too.Game notes RW Nail Yakupov played 10 1/2 minutes for the Blues. He was acquired in a trade with Edmonton on Friday. ... Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa remains stuck on 499 career goals. He assisted on Paniks goal in the first. ... Blackhawks D Niklas Hjalmarsson completed his suspension for charging Blues forward Ty Rattie during a preseason game on Oct. 1. D Michal Rozsival and C Dennis Rasmussen also were scratched. ... St. Louis scratched Rattie, D Carl Gunnarsson and LW Magnus Paajarvi. ... Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles got a standing ovation when she was shown on the videoboard during the first period. She acknowledged the cheering crowd with a wave.UP NEXTBlues: Host Minnesota on Thursday night.Blackhawks: Visit Nashville on Friday and then host the Predators on Saturday night.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '