year-old Relikh (21-0, 19 KOs), a five-year professional from Belarus, wh

PITTSBURGH -- Ryan Vogelsongs resilient return from the facial fractures that cost him two months in the middle of the season is remarkable.The veteran pitchers stuff at the moment, however, is not. And the 39-year-old knows it.The Chicago Cubs pushed Vogelsong around for five choppy innings and Pittsburghs ninth-inning rally fell short on Tuesday night in a 6-4 loss.Pittsburgh was eliminated from postseason contention when San Francisco won later Tuesday, ending a run of three-straight playoff appearances.Vogelsong (3-7) struggled with his command, giving up four hits, walking five and hitting a batter. He threw just 51 of his 102 pitches for strikes and fell to 0-3 with a 9.55 ERA this month, a downturn thats coincided with his teams fade out of playoff contention.Just an unacceptable start, really, Vogelsong said. Just no excuses. Unacceptable.Vogelsong managed to get out of a two-on, two-out situation in the first but couldnt in the second. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases before Chris Coghlan sent an offering off the wall in right-center to clear them to give the Cubs the lead. Chicago won for the seventh time in its last eight games to improve to 101-56, the clubs highest victory total since it won 104 games in 1910.Much of that success has come against the Pirates. A year after the two reached the postseason as wild cards, Chicago is 14-3 against the Pirates this season, outscoring them 109-64 in the process.Dexter Fowler added an RBI double for Chicago. Lackey (11-8) worked around five hits and three walks to win his last regular season start.Felix Pena recorded the final two outs for his first career save after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run single off Justin Grimm to get the Pirates within two. Pena struck out Sean Rodriguez with the bases loaded to end it.Chicago manager Joe Maddon is experimenting with his lineup over the seasons final week with the Cubs already assured of home-field advantage in the NL playoffs. That means plenty of playing time for Coghlan, who has been mired in a season-long slump but is hitting .423 (11 of 26) since Sept. 16.Lackey made sure the early lead stood, though not without some shaky moments. He needed a double play to thwart a potentially big inning in the second and his defense bailed him out when Jordy Mercers line drive with the bases loaded in the fourth went straight to second baseman Munenori Kawasaki, who flipped to second to double off Rodriguez.The Pirates went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position -- both hits coming in the ninth -- and left 11 men on base.NO Ks FOR NICASIOPittsburgh reliever Juan Nicasio gave up two runs in the ninth and failed to record a strikeout for the first time in 34 appearances, ending his club-record streak.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: LF Starling Marte remained out of the starting lineup with back stiffness and grounded out as a pinch-hitter in the fifth. The All-Star has just three plate appearances -- all as a pinch hitter -- since Sept. 5. Theres a chance Marte could get back in the lineup before the series with Chicago ends. Things are moving quickly and Im feeling a lot more better than things were before, Marte said after the game. Right now, Im just submitting to my trainers and what they have me doing and hopefully Ill get back and be able to bounce back as soon as possible.UP NEXT:Cubs: Jake Arrieta (18-7, 2.85 ERA) makes his final start of the regular season. The 2015 Cy Young Award winner is 9-1 with a 1.46 ERA in 12 career starts against the Pirates.Pirates: Rookie Jameson Taillon (4-4, 3.49) faces the Cubs for the second time this season. Chicago touched him for four runs in four innings of a 10-5 loss on June 19. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Jersey . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. Stanley Johnson Raptors Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to halt their longest losing streak of the season when they host the struggling New York Islanders in tonights clash at the Bell Centre. https://www.raptorsrookiesshop.com/Pascal-Siakam-City-Edition-Jersey/ . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. C.J. Miles Jersey .Y. -- Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had little trouble picking up his first shutout of the season against a Buffalo Sabres team thats having trouble scoring goals. Kawhi Leonard Raptors Jersey . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Ricky Burns will make the first defense of his junior welterweight world title against mandatory challenger Kiryl Relikh on Oct. 7 at the SSE Hydro in his hometown of Glasgow, Eddie Hearn announced on Friday.Burns, who has also won world titles at lightweight and junior lightweight and is one of the most successful boxers in Scottish history, is returning to the same arena where he knocked out Italys Michele Di Rocco in the eighth round on May 28 to win a vacant 140-pound world title.Many thought Burns?was just about done when he lost three out of four bouts in 2014 and 2015. All three losses were to top opponents: Terence Crawford, who took his lightweight title, Dejan Zlaticanin, who went on to win a lightweight world title, and former lightweight titlist Omar Figueroa Jr.But Burns (40-5-1, 14 KOs), 33, has won three fights in a row since, all by knockout against lesser opposition. One was the strong performance to claim the belt against Di Rocco.My face at the end of the fight [against Di Rocco] said everything, Burns said. It meant so much to me that win and prove I still have so much to give. It was great to be back in Glasgow, and I said before I had to win to get those nights back again, not just for me but for the future of Scottish boxing.We have some talented kids coming through in Scotland, and its important they get the chance to show what they can do live on [United Kingdom broadcaster] Sky Sports. I put more pressure on myself in that fight than any other. I took plenty of stick before that, as I was apparently finished and on the slide. Everyone had written me off and it felt good to prove them wrong. I cant thank my trainer Tony Sims enough for what hes done. Weve really worked hard together and when I was offered the Di Rocco fight -- I grabbed it with both hands as I knew I could win.Now comes his first defense aagainst 26-year-old Relikh (21-0, 19 KOs), a five-year professional from Belarus, who will be facing the first opponent of any consequence.dddddddddddd.Relikh is a very tough fight as a first defense. Hes got a high KO ratio, so he will be very dangerous throughout, Burns said. Trust me -- he has my undivided attention, and I will have to be at my best to get through this. There are some massive fights out there in the future against some huge names in the 140-pound division, but were taking it one step at a time, and that starts on Oct. 7 at the Hydro.Relikh, who has registered a knockout in his past 12 fights in a row, is trained and promoted by one of Englands most famous and popular fighters, retired former welterweight and junior welterweight world titleholder Ricky Hatton.Kiryl is one of those cool, unflinching boxers -- nothing fazes him, Hatton said. This is a big opportunity for him, and hes not bothered about being the underdog. Kiryls been training and boxing away from home for years, so hell have no problem going to Scotland for the fight. I think having the crowd against him will bring the best out of him.Ricky Burns is a top-class fighter. You dont win three world titles by being anything less than world class, but there always has to be a changing of the guard, and I think this could be Kiryls time. Hes been working with me in the gym for a while now and every day hes been getting better and better, so I believe people with be a little bit surprised with what they see when gets it on with Burns.In one of the key undercard fights, Scotty Cardle (20-0-1, 6 KOs), 26, will defend the British lightweight title for the third time when he squares off with 32-year-old Kevin Hooper (19-3, 4 KOs). ' ' '