WJPA Sports

HOUSTON (AP) — Oneil Cruz and Brandon Lowe both hit three-run homers and Endy Rodríguez added a two-run shot to power the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 10-6 win over the Houston Astros. Jake Mangum tied a career-high with four hits to help the Pirates to their fourth straight victory. Houston’s Yordan Alvarez had three RBIs and hit his 21st home run, which ranks second in the majors behind Kyle Schwarber’s 22. But his big game wasn’t enough to keep the Astros from their third loss in four games. Pittsburgh starter Bubba Chandler allowed five hits and four runs _ three earned _ in five innings.

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Linebacker Nick Herbig says he wants to be a Pittsburgh Steeler for life. He might be on his way after agreeing to a contract extension with the club. A person with knowledge of the agreement told the Associated Press the deal is for four years and could be worth up to $100 million. Herbig, a fourth-round pick out of Wisconsin in 2023, is coming off a career-best 7 1/2 sacks last season. He skipped some portions of practice during the beginning of mandatory minicamp while his agent and the Steelers ironed out the details. Herbig isn’t the only young Pittsburgh defender seeking a new deal. Cornerback Joey Porter Jr. says he wants to be among the highest-paid players at his position in the league.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Tomas Hertl took a backhand pass from Colton Sissons and beat Frederik Andersen from the slot with 3:24 left, lifting the Vegas Golden Knights past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-4 in Tuesday night’s opener of the Stanley Cup Final. It marked Vegas’ seventh straight win of the playoffs. Game 2 of the series is Thursday in Raleigh. Shea Theodore, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson and Brett Howden also scored for Vegas. Nikolaj Ehlers scored twice for Carolina, while Jordan Staal and Shayne Gostisbehere also scored for the Hurricanes.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — For a few hours on Tuesday, the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks held practices on a floor that had the NBA Finals logo painted at midcourt. They did interviews with the logo as a backdrop. They saw finals mentions basically everywhere they looked. It might have seemed normal. It wasn’t. This stage — the NBA Finals — is new to just about everyone on the Spurs and Knicks rosters, meaning very few players on either side can have any real idea of how the moment will seem on Wednesday night when the 80th title series in league history gets underway in San Antonio.