PITTSBURGH -- Clint Hurdle doesnt want to manage the Pittsburgh Pirates unless Neal Huntington is his boss. Huntington doesnt want to help run the club unless Hurdle is in the dugout. The combination thats returned the franchise to respectability will remain intact for years to come. Hurdle and Huntington agreed to new deals on Saturday that will keep them in Pittsburgh through at least 2017, giving the Pirates the kind of internal stability they havent enjoyed in decades. "Theres no place Id rather be," Hurdle said. Financial terms were not disclosed. The contracts include a club option for 2018. Both Huntington and Hurdle, chosen the 2013 National League Manager of the Year after leading the Pirates to 94 wins and a playoff berth, were in the final year of their current deals. Reaching a new agreement was a mere formality after a thrilling season in which Pittsburgh qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1992 and pushed the St. Louis Cardinals to five games in the NL division series. "I think we have a very solid team in place and they deserve the recognition," owner Bob Nutting said. "I think great organizations are stable organizations. Again, never static and never on autopilot ... (but) Im proud of the culture and the tone that the current team has." Its a tone that Huntington set from the day he took over in September, 2007. Faced with restocking a decimated minor league system and constrained by playing in a small market that makes splurging on high-profile free agents nearly impossible, Huntington has painstakingly rebuilt the Pirates from the inside out while stressing that success at the major league level would be the last step. Those steps coincided with Hurdles arrival in December, 2010 and the emergence of talents like homegrown star Andrew McCutchen, the reigning NL MVP. Pittsburgh has upped its win total in each of Hurdles three seasons, from 70 in 2011 to 79 in 2012 to 94 a year ago. Hurdle stressed most of the hard work was done before he was hired to replace Jim Tracy two months after the Pirates lost a whopping 105 games in 2010.. "When I was able to come in, just finding what we had, what had gone on, I felt confident the next move that took place would be here, the renaissance," he said. One the Pirates have no plans on stopping. The 27-year-old McCutchen is signed through 2018 and 25-year-old left fielder Starling Marte signed a new contract last month that could keep him with the team through 2021. Throw in the rapid development of former top pick Gerrit Cole -- who picked up his first win of the season on Friday night -- and the impending arrival of right field prospect Gregor Polanco and the farm system that used to be bereft is now among the most promising in all of baseball. While Hurdle insisted he wasnt concerned about his contract status when the season began, McCutchen called the announcement a relief. "Weve had managers in the past, they were here and they were gone," McCutchen said. "We have someone here thats going to be here and dont have to worry about him leaving or going somewhere else. Thats the change in the team with the success that weve had the past couple years and just doing better on improving." Nutting credited the mutual respect Hurdle and Huntington have for each other as the key to their success. Being able to check their egos at the door helps too. While Hurdle praised Huntingtons vision, Huntington believes the Pirates wouldnt have finished their transformation from laughingstock to contender without Hurdle. "He really was a perfect fit to bring the knowledge the passion the leadership, not just the Xs and Os," Huntington said. "Hes helped us all grow and helped us all get better and hopefully weve returned the favour." Jose Quintana Cubs Jersey . Karlovic of Croatia used his big serve to beat Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7). Kohlschreiber had lost all of his three previous matches against Istomin but the German broke serve for a decisive 3-2 lead in the third set and held on to reach his first final of the year. Brandon Morrow Cubs Jersey . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria. http://www.thecubsteamshop.com/Cubs-Kerry-Wood-Kids-Jersey/. "I never commented to anyone that I wanted out," he explained. "My heart is with this group and making the playoffs." Kesler added that the rumours are "completely false" that he asked to be traded - recently or ever. Jose Quintana Jersey ... as usual. Even with the salary cap being set lower than many general managers expected and hoped for at $69 million and whats considered a shallow pool of top-end players available, this unrestricted-free-agent period figures to follow the familiar script of teams bidding up prices to keep up with each other. Kyle Hendricks Cubs Jersey . Pikul Khueanpet scored early in the second half and Kanjana Sungngoen made it 2-0 in the 65th minute of the playoff. Tuyet Dong narrowed the margin with goal four minutes from time. The win gave Thailand fifth place at the Asian Cup and the last of the continents qualifying spots for the 2015 Womens World Cup in Canada.WATERLOO, Ont. -- Shanshan Feng is alone at the top but she has one goal in mind after the third round at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic. "Im still going for 25 under," said Feng, not particularly worried that she has just a two-shot lead at Grey Silo Golf Course. Feng shot a 4-under-par 67 on Saturday to go to 15 under after 54 holes, a couple of shots ahead of Inbee Park and Michelle Wie, who finished at 13 under. Park came out of nowhere with a 65 to get into mix, while Wie struggled through her round but managed a 68. Feng, who said once again that she ignored the leaderboard throughout the day, admitted she put some undo pressure on herself after going 4 under though the first six holes. "Maybe that actually made myself to think a little more that I wanted to do better and I missed a lot of birdie putts, plus one bogey," she said. Feng added though, that coming into the tournament, she didnt stress about winning. "Last year, I missed the cut, so this year Im here just to have fun and try and play better than last year. I guess I did. I think tomorrow I will have no pressure. If youre leading in the tournament, I dont think you have pressure." The pressure did seem to get to Hee Young Park, who was tied with Feng after the second round but bogeyed three of the last four holes to shoot 1-over 72 and drop to 10 under. That opened the door for Inbee Park, who started off hot with five birdies on the front nine. "I played really well on the front nine. I holed a lot of putts," said Inbee Park. "I feel like I hit the ball great today. I had a lot of opportunities on the back nine also, but just missed a couple putts. I gave myself a chance for tomorrow." Just two shots behind, Inbee Park, the worlds second-ranked player, feels that Grey Silo lends to putting up a good score and making a run at her 10th career LPGA victory. "I dont know where Shanshan is going to finish, but I know there are a lot of opportunities on this golf course. There is a possibility we can go really low and Im just happy to be in contention for the final round." Wie, who had three bogeys to go along with six birdies on thhe day, is hoping that going 2 under on the final three holes will give her some momentum into the final 18 holes.dddddddddddd "I think I tried to go too low in the beginning today. Im just going to go out there and you know theres birdie holes, if I just hit the shots I need to hit, birdies will happen. Nothing good will happen out of me forcing anything," Wie said. Despite the shaky round, Wie was in a good mood afterwards. "I broke a nail out there as well too, which I think I was more pissed about that than bogeys," she joked. There are still several players in the hunt, with Christie Kerr in fourth place after shooting 65 to go 12-under par. Lydia Ko (64) and Anna Nordqvist (69) are at 11 under. Four players round out the top 10 tied at 10 under. Hamiltons Alena Sharp is leading the Canadian contingent in the third round, playing a bogey-free round of 65 to move to 6 under and sit in a tie for 23rd place. Sharp credited her low score to changing her putter after the second round. "I brought the one out I putted with last year and won the Symetra Tour event at the start of this year with," she said. "I just put it in the closet for a little while and I was tired of my other putter, so I brought it out this morning and made a putt on my first hole and I was off to the races. The confidence was right there right away." She added that the weather also factored into her score. On Thursday, high winds wreaked havoc on scores, while crosswinds during the second round made players grind out lower scores. "Its really calm and it makes a big difference. The wind is a little bit different in direction and I think it makes some of the holes a little bit easier. Im just hitting it really well right now and driving it well, so I dont have a lot of long irons into the greens," Sharp said. Sue Kim of Langley, B.C., is right behind her today at 5 under after shooting a round of 67, while Jennifer Kirby of Paris, Ont., and Brooke Henderson of Smiths Falls, Ont., sit at 3 under after identical scores of 69. Nicole Vandermade of Brantford, Ont., shot an even-par 71 to sit at 1 over heading into the final day. ' ' '