Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. NFL notebook: Pierre-Paul out at least 5 to 6 months

Tampa Bay Buccaneers pass rusher Jason Pierre-Paul will miss five to six months as a best-case scenario due to the broken neck he suffered in a car accident last week, head coach Bruce Arians told reporters on Friday. A decision on whether Pierre-Paul will need neck surgery hasn't yet been reached. "Very unfortunate," Arians said of the situation. "All we can do is just pray and hope for the best and hope it's one of those five- or six-month things and go from there." Motor racing: Bottas beats Hamilton for pole in Spain by massive margin

Formula One championship leader Valtteri Bottas beat Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to pole position by a massive margin at the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday with rivals Ferrari trailing behind. The pole was a third in a row for the re-energized and smiling Finn, who leads Hamilton by a single point after four of the 21 races, and he did it in a track record time of one minute 15.406 seconds. Federer to play in Italian Open

Coming off his first clay event in three years, Roger Federer announced Saturday he'll play in next week's Italian Open to prepare for the French Open. Federer was stopped by fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem 3-6, 7-6 (11), 6-4 on Friday to fall short of the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open. NBA notebook: Lakers reportedly to interview Bickerstaff

The Los Angeles Lakers were expected to interview J.B. Bickerstaff on Friday for their vacant head coach position, the Los Angeles Times reported. The former Memphis Grizzlies head coach is the second candidate to be interviewed by the Lakers in two days after the team met with former Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic coach Frank Vogel on Thursday. MLB roundup: Verlander, Astros stifle Rangers

Justin Verlander allowed one hit over seven strong innings, and the Houston Astros belted three solo homers while overcoming an injury to star Jose Altuve to beat the visiting Texas Rangers 3-0 on Friday night for their third consecutive victory. Verlander, who improved to 6-1 with a 2.51 ERA, struck out eight and yielded only Asdrubal Cabrera's single to lead off the fifth inning as the Astros won for the sixth time in seven games. It's the third time in Verlander's career that he has allowed just one hit in a start against the Rangers. Former FIFA boss Blatter says money risks ruining the sport

Sepp Blatter, the former boss of soccer's world governing body FIFA who was ousted during a corruption scandal, has said money risks ruining the sport. FIFA's Ethics Committee banned Blatter, who led FIFA for 17 years, from "all football activities" in 2015 after finding him guilty of unethical conduct related to a global corruption scandal which rocked the organisation. Motor racing: Interlagos has contract for 2020, says F1 boss Bratches

Formula One is keen to race in Rio de Janeiro but the current contract with Sao Paulo also covers next year, commercial managing director Sean Bratches said on Saturday. Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro told reporters on Wednesday that the country's grand prix will be held in Rio from 2020 onwards, with a new track to be built in the city's Deodoro region. Athletics: U.S. win both finals on opening day of IAAF World Relays

The United States dominated the opening day of the IAAF World Relays on Saturday, winning both finals of the newly introduced mixed events in Yokohama, Japan. Olympian Devon Allen anchored the U.S. to victory in the mixed shuttle hurdles relay, helping them cross the finish line in 54.96 seconds and ahead of hosts Japan who came home in 55.59 seconds. Australia were disqualified after a false start. Obstacle course racing scaling its way to Olympic inclusion

Crawling under barbed wire, carrying Atlas stones and climbing up ropes may not have been exactly what Pierre De Coubertin had in mind when he envisaged the modern Olympics, but obstacle course racing (OCR) could be the next event to shake up the Games. The International Olympic Committee has been trying to attract a younger audience in recent years in an attempt to keep up with the changing landscape of sports participation. Golden State owner wants Curry, Thompson to stay 'forever'

Golden State owner Joe Lacob said he hopes to keep guards Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in Warriors uniforms as long as they play in the NBA. Lacob made his statement to ESPN after the Warriors eliminated the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals Friday night in a 118-113 victory in Game 6.