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CHICAGO -- A National League division title might almost be out of reach for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but they remain alive for Octobers postseason party.The Pirates (67-61) are in the thick of the NL wild-card chase after a 3-1 victory on Sunday and four-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.Pittsburgh has won five of its last six, is 30-20 in its last 50 games and stands just a half game out of the second wild-card spot.Were going to leave here in a good place, but weve got to show up in Chicago, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said after Sundays win at Miller Park. Well look forward to it. I dont think you could ask for much more here at the end of August. We get to play meaningful games. It should be fun.The Pirates open a three-game series on Monday against the division-leading Cubs (82-47) at Wrigley Field, the start of a seven-game homestand.But theyll be without right-hander Gerrit Cole, originally slated to start in the opener. Cole (7-9) is 0-3 since Aug. 7 and departed Milwaukee on Sunday for Los Angeles and a reported examination of an ailing right elbow.He will miss at least his next start, Pirates GM Neal Huntington told reporters on Sunday.Instead, right-hander Steven Brault (0-1, 3.60 ERA) is expected to be recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to make his third career start and third appearance this season with the Pirates.Hes going to be in the big leagues, hes going to be excited to be here, Hurdle said. Its his third start and hes got a little experience doing this. We just want him to pound the zone and mix his pitches. Weve seen him be able to use the fastball to both sides of the plate. Hes an intelligent guy who game plans with the catchers well.Also up from Triple-A Indianapolis is right-handed reliever A.J. Schugel. Originally an expected September call-up, Schugel has a 3.69 ERA in 49 previous appearances this season.Brault faces Cubs ace Jake Arrieta (16-2, 2.62 ERA).After a midsummer slump going 1-4 in seven starts, Arrieta is 4-0 in August and is coming off an eight-inning shutout effort over the Padres on Aug. 23.Arrietas 16 victories top the league and hes 9-2 in his career with a 1.99 ERA in 13 starts against the Pirates, including a 4-1 record at home.He had a similar run in August 2015, going 6-0 in the month and completing the regular season with an 11-0 record en route to NL Cy Young Award honors.The Cubs dropped a 1-0 decision on Sunday to the Los Angeles Dodgers to conclude a 5-4 West Coast swing but maintain a 14-game lead over the second-place St. Louis Cardinals and are 14 1/2 ahead of the Pirates. With 33 games to play, the Cubs own baseballs winningest record and their division lead is the big leagues largest.Along with the three-game series at Chicago, the Cubs and Pirates will play a four-game set Sept. 26-29 at PNC Park. Matt Calvert Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Ian Cole Jersey .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. http://www.hockeyavalanche.com/authentic-tyson-jost-avalanche-jersey/ . -- Eastern Kentucky thrives off creating havoc for others. Teemu Selanne Jersey . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Nikita Zadorov Jersey .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. ESPNs Buster Olney is on vacation this week, but hes still compiling roundups. View Thursdays roundup here.There are two guarantees every time the Los Angeles Dodgers win a home game. First, Randy Newmans I Love L.A. will blare throughout the stadium as our fans stand to cheer and we slap hands behind the pitchers mound in celebration of the victory. Simultaneously, my 6-year-old son, Luke, will begin his descent toward the home clubhouse. For us, securing the final out means another tally in the win column and one step closer to our postseason goals. But for Luke, a Dodger home win means only one thing: chocolate milk!After a home win last week, Luke walked into the clubhouse and, as usual, danced his way over to my locker as our post-win playlist boomed over the speakers. Instead of his beeline to the players lounge, he asked me a question.Dad, who is the man who talks about the Dodgers on TV?Do you mean Vin Scully? I replied.Yeah, Vin Scowee. I saw him on the elevator. He gave me a high-five and a hug. Hes a nice guy.With that, he was in search of his spoils of victory-- a new fan of the nice guy who talks about his dad and the Dodgers.Someday in the future, Luke will ask me about Vin. I could start by telling him about perhaps my first baseball memory -- that of a 7-year-old boy who got to stay up extra late to watch the first game of the 1988 World Series. How I can still remember Kirk Gibson slugging a 3-2 backdoor slider into the right-field pavilion. How I still remember the voice on the television telling me about the high fly ball into right field and how she is gone! But then I will tell him about how I was recently directed to watch the entire bottom of the ninth inning from that night, and how perhaps our sports most memorable World Series home run call was actually part of the greatest half-inning ever called.I will tell him about joining the Dodgers and how nearly all of my nights ended with me on the MLB app, listening to the highlights of our game, and the chills I got as I heard Vin utter my name describing an RBI single or throwing out a would-be base stealer or how he got me trending on Twitter. Luke will ask, Whats Twitter? (as there is sure to be some new hip social-media device his dad will be too old to understand).I will tell Luke about the man of faith Vin is. How I could count on him to be in our clubhouse every Sunday morning making a cup of coffee as he was on his way to Mass. About how I secretly hoped he was a few minutes early so we could sit and talk in our players lounge about anything.I will tell him about how I built up enough courage over time to ask him a sarcastic questtion.dddddddddddd I asked him which perfect game was his favorite to call. Was it Don Larsens, Sandy Koufaxs or Billy Chapels? He chuckled as only Vin can chuckle and dove into a story about sitting in a studio and doing play-by-play for the movie For Love of the Game while watching the film on the screen.I will definitely tell my son about being part of a nearly perfect game myself. How I was behind the plate as Clayton Kershaw threw a no-hitter and struck out 15 Colorado Rockies in June 2014. I will show him the game but also show him the link I ran across and watch regularly of Vin calling all 27 outs in the game. Hopefully he will see the way Vin allows the tension and drama to build. The way he allows the game, and especially the conclusion, to play out through the buzz of the stadium and the work of the cameras: 0 and 2 ... got him! Hes done it! Thats the way Vin described the final pitch of the dominant performance. And then, 30 seconds of silence as he allowed the pictures and crowd to tell the story.Mostly, and very regularly, I will tell Luke how special it was to be part of the Dodger organization. How the organization that gave us Jackie, Newk and Campy, Sandy and Clayton, had allowed me to wear its uniform. And while wearing that uniform, competing in front of baseballs best fans in baseballs most beautiful ballpark, I was humbled and honored to know that Vin Scully was sitting right above home plate, painting the picture of our great game and, at times, even using me as the paint for his brushstrokes.This past Sunday I spent about 10 minutes with Vin up in his booth. I had to wait for a few moments as he was finishing up meeting with Gerrit Cole of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who made the five-floor journey up to the press box to spend time with Vin in his 67th and final season as the Dodgers broadcaster. Cole joined a long list of visiting players, including Bryce Harper and David Ortiz, who wanted to say goodbye to the greatest sports broadcaster, let alone baseball broadcaster, of all time.We posed for a picture with the perfectly manicured playing surface in the background. We chatted about family and home. I told him about my children, and he proudly told me about his 11-year-old grandson who is a young catcher. I thanked him for his time and made sure to let him know this wasnt goodbye and that I would see him around the ballpark. With that, it was time to go. We both had a ballgame to prepare for. We shook hands and hugged, just like my son had a few days before. ' ' '