WJPA Sports

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Trevor Zegras, Rasmus Ristolainen and Nick Seeler scored three goals on four shots in the second period, pushing the Flyers to the brink of a sweep with a 5-2 Game 3 win against the Penguins. The Flyers won their first home playoff game in eight years on Wednesday night. Game 4 is Saturday night in Philadelphia. Dan Vladar stopped several shots despite an apparent hand injury. Erik Karlsson scored on a power play, but Noah Cates sealed the Flyers’ victory with another power-play goal.  The Flyers and Penguins put a squeeze on the penalty box in Game 3 of the playoff series — try, 11 total players cramped inside their designated punishment areas. Both teams could have snapped a team photo after a melee broke out in the second period of their Eastern Conference first-round series. Penguins forward Bryan Rust slammed Travis Konecny to the ice behind the net and smothered the Flyers forward in a hit that sparked all the lines to join the fray. Konecny ripped off his helmet and dropped his gloves and beckoned Rust to fight him. The Flyers sent six players to the box and the Penguins five.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Oneil Cruz had the hardest-hit homer in the majors this season, a three-run shot off the top of the right-field foul pole in the ninth inning that powered the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers. The Pirates took a 5-4 lead in the ninth when Nick Gonzales broke for the plate on pinch-hitter Jake Mangum’s one-out chopper to third base off Cole Winn. Josh Jung’s throw home pulled catcher Kyle Higashioka into foul territory, and Higashioka could not make the tag. Cruz followed with his 116.9 mph liner that bounced off the top of the foul pole and into the stands.

NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Vientos blooped a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning and the New York Mets snapped their 12-game losing streak, beating the Minnesota Twins 3-2 after getting one superstar back only to see another exit with a similar injury. Juan Soto went 1 for 3 with a single and a walk in his return from a strained right calf, but shortstop Francisco Lindor was removed with left calf tightness after laboring around the bases while scoring from first on Francisco Alvarez’s go-ahead double in the fourth. Byron Buxton tied it 2-all with a leadoff homer in the sixth against Mets starter Clay Holmes.