CLEVELAND -- Carlos Carrasco's smile remains bright, his mood and outlook as positive as ever.

Outwardly, the Indians right-hander doesn't seem different. He's determined not to let cancer change him.

"I never put anything bad on my mind," Carrasco said. "Everything's good. So I don't feel different. I just push myself to work more and get stronger."

Diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia last month, the 32-year-old Carrasco spoke to media members Thursday for the first time since his life took a dramatic, unexpected turn. As he dealt with so many unknowns, Carrasco said he's never once asked "why me" after learning of his condition.

"I'm not that kind of person," he said. "If it's happened, it's for a reason."

Carrasco said he first knew something was wrong after he took his annual physical at the start of spring training in Arizona. But after more blood work was done, doctors at The Cleveland Clinic told him he had a treatable form of leukemia and that he could continue pitching as long as he felt up to it.

He has barely slowed down.

Carrasco has been throwing bullpen sessions, doing some recent workouts at nearby Lake County (A) while Cleveland hosted the All-Star Game.

While he said everything feels normal when he's on the mound, Carrasco doesn't know if he'll be able to pitch for the Indians again this season.

"Man, I don't know," he said. "I'm just here. I'm just going to take it day by day. I don't know. I don't have the answer, but I'm glad to be here around my teammates."

Carrasco said he has been overwhelmed by the support he has received from teammates, coaches and Cleveland's fans.

During his interview session, manager Terry Francona stood just a few feet away from the popular starter, another sign of the club's devotion.

On Tuesday night, Carrasco felt all of baseball's love.

During the fifth inning of the All-Star Game, Carrasco walked on the field for Major League Baseball's "Stand Up To Cancer" salute along with Francona and All-Star teammates Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana, Shane Bieber and Brad Hand.

As the group stood in the third-base coach's box, Carrasco held a sign that read: "I Stand" while the other Indians held placards that said: "Cookie," Carrasco's nickname.

When the group was shown on the ballpark's giant scoreboard, the crowd erupted with loud cheers.

Francona described the powerful moment as perfect.

"Holy smokes," he said. "You talk about putting an exclamation point on it. It was incredible."

Indians pitcher Mike Clevinger, who was sitting in one of the dugout suites, said seeing Carrasco embraced like that was special.

"As hard as it was to watch, it was really moving," Clevinger said. "It was good to see him feel that. I know he knew how much support was out there, but to really feel that not just from the league, but feel it from across America, behind the scenes even when you looked at Twitter afterward.

"That was big for him and definitely big for us."

When he arrives each day at Progressive Field, Carrasco said he's quickly greeted with hugs from teammates.

Shortly after the Indians learned about his condition, a meeting was held without him at which Lindor, Santana and others pledged to win for their ailing teammate.

"Everyone from the team, if I could show you, I had like 300, maybe 500 texts from them every day, asking how did I feel," Carrasco said. "They are special to me. They feel like home. They feel like family. They always send me a text, even the guys that played here before, they send me a text every day. It feels great."

Carrasco chose not to disclose the type of medical treatment he's receiving.

In the meantime, the Indians are being mindful not to rush him.

"There isn't a plan and I don't mean that like we don't care," Francona said. "But the idea is for him to do as much as he can -- or as much as he can tolerate -- because it will be good for him. Other than that, we're not pushing him. We're just trying to be supportive."

And as his teammates have backed him, Carrasco has returned the love.

For Monday's All-Star Home Run Derby, Carrasco wore a customized jersey with the names of Santana, Lindor, Bieber and Hand on the back.

"The way they've been supporting me, I just came to the game to support them, too," he said. "Why not?"

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens re-signed Finnish forwards Joel Armia and Artturi Lehkonen to two-year contracts Thursday.

Armia's contract has an average annual value of $2.6 million, while Lehkonen's has an average of $2.4 million.

Armia, 26, set career highs for goals (13), power-play goals (two) and power-play points (six) in his first year with the Canadiens this past season. He also added 10 assists. Armia has 39 goals and 42 assists in 237 career NHL games for the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets and Canadiens.

Lehkonen, 24, appeared in all 82 games for the Canadiens last season, setting career highs in assists (20), points (31), game-winning goals (four), shots (176) and differential (plus-10). He has 41 goals and 30 assists in 221 career games, all with Montreal.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has reiterated that the club will be measured rather than spend massively this summer following their opening 6-0 pre-season victory over Tranmere Rovers.

The club's latest acquisition, 16-year-old Harvey Elliot, was in the Prenton Park stands to witness several of his teenage teammates stand out.

Rhian Brewster, Yasser Larouci and Ki-Jana Hoever were particularly impressive as Liverpool got their preparations for 2019-20 underway.

Klopp admitted it will be a testing conditioning period for the European champions on account of their absent world-class talent.

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Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Alisson have only just begun their off-season break following exertions at the Africa Cup of Nations and Copa America, respectively.

Sadio Mane's Senegal are in the AFCON semifinals to be contested on Sunday and are favourites to reach next Friday's showpiece in Cairo.

Naby Keita and Xherdan Shaqiri are nursing injuries and Klopp admitted that while Liverpool are keeping an eye on the market, there is unlikely to be major business.

"The transfer market is open. We will see what we do, but I don't think it will be the biggest transfer window of all time," he said.

"Rhian Brewster, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and all the young boys didn't play for us last year.

"It is a difficult pre season for us -- Sadio is in the semifinal, which means he has two more games and will come late.

"The Brazilians have finally finished a 13-month season. We will not have a pre-season together, only just a week before we start the games.

"We looked tonight like we can find some solutions. It was a good sign for us, but we have to be better than last season."

Brewster, the standout player against Tranmere with two goals and an assist in the first half, was one such solution to alleviating the attacking burden on Firmino, Salah and Mane.

"Rhian is a top striker, he is a top talent and I have told him already that he has an important role this year, but how important depends on him," Klopp said.

"We will see. He has to play different positions as well -- the centre, the wing is possible I think. We will see how we line up, but there will be opportunities for him, I am sure."

Thursday night provided the first opportunity to see Liverpool in action again following their Champions League triumph, but Klopp reminded his players that their focus should be on the objectives for the season ahead rather than the success already attained.

"They should be happy and get confidence from it, but it is not like we are running around saying we are Champions league winners 24-hours a day," the manager said.

"It looked tonight like they are all confident.

"During the season we have to go for winning something new and not look back. We want to play the best season we can play."

Manchester United may be forced to end their pursuit of Sean Longstaff after Newcastle slapped a £50 million price tag on the midfielder, sources have told ESPN FC.

United value the 21-year-old, who has made just nine Premier League appearances, at between £18m to £20m but Newcastle are asking for more than double.

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Sources have told ESPN FC that chief negotiator Matt Judge, head of corporate development, spoke to Newcastle managing director Lee Charnley over the weekend but a formal bid was not submitted because the two clubs are so far apart.

Newcastle, according to sources, are using the £50m paid to Crystal Palace for Aaron Wan-Bissaka as a barometer for their valuation, a stance that has stunned United chiefs considering Longstaff's lack of experience.

United have prioritised the signing of Leicester defender Harry Maguire while talks are continuing with Inter Milan over the sale of Romelu Lukaku.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants at least one new midfielder before the transfer deadline after Marouane Fellaini departed in January and Ander Herrera joined Paris Saint-Germain at the end of the season.

If Newcastle refuse to compromise over Longstaff, who is under contract until 2022 after signing an extension in December, United are prepared to move on to other targets.

Meanwhile, Inter bosses have flown to England in a bid to negotiate a deal for Lukaku, who was absent from training in Perth on Thursday evening.

The striker has told United he is keen to move to the Serie A side despite assurances from Solskjaer that he will get opportunities next season.

Inter are keen to sign Lukaku on loan with an obligation to buy in two years but United are holding out for a fee of around £80m after paying Everton £75m two years ago.

Eoin Morgan has admitted the prospect of playing in a World Cup final seemed laughable by the time England were knocked out of the 2015 World Cup.

England endured a miserable campaign in New Zealand and Australia four-years ago sustaining a series of crushing defeats and failing to make it to the quarter-finals.

But a resounding victory over Australia at Edgbaston on Thursday means England will play their first World Cup final since 1992 at Lord's on Sunday. All of which left Morgan, the England captain, reflecting on a remarkable improvement in his side's ODI cricket during the last four years.

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"If you had offered us the position to play in a final the day after we were knocked out of the 2015 Cup, I would have laughed at you," Morgan said. "Looking back where we were in 2015 to where we will be on Sunday, it is a dramatic improvement in the style of play and the level of expectation which we've created.

"In 2015 we were way off the mark. We struggled against the top teams - and the teams below that level - so there was quite a drastic change in the way we played and the way we looked at playing our 50-over cricket. The last four years have been a process."

Chris Woakes was named Player of the Match for his return of 3 for 20, but Morgan was equally full of praise for Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy, who recorded their fourth century partnership in succession.

"Chris is a cool customer," he said. "He goes about his business, day in and day out, exceptionally. Today was his day. He and Jofra Archer were outstanding. It was one of our bowlers' standout performances in the last four years.

"Jason and Jonny are in the form of their lives. They are imposing when they get in. And they set the tone for the whole group."

While Morgan accepts Sunday's final will be a high-profile affair, he is urging his team to embrace the occasion and continue to play the bold style of cricket that earned them victory on Thursday.

"Sunday's not a day to shy away from," Morgan said. "It's a day to look forward to. We have created the opportunity to play in a World Cup final. It will be a matter of trying to produce everything that we can performance-wise, but enjoy the day.

"It's an opportunity for us on Sunday. A huge one. Making the most of the opportunity of getting to the final would be fantastic, but just getting there is awesome.

"Everybody out there on the field and in the changing room loved every ball that was bowled [against Australia]. There was no lack of commitment, application and we had a bit of a day out. It's cool when it happens like that, particularly when the bowlers bowl like that. It is awesome."

Morgan is particularly pleased that Sunday's final will be broadcast free-to-air on Channel 4 or, while the British Grand Prix is in progress, on More 4. He says his own experiences of watching cricket on free to air television helped inspire his love for the game and hopes more people will now have the same opportunity.

"It's very cool," he said. "Particularly given that the 2005 Ashes [which was the last series broadcast free-to-air in the UK] was, for me, sort of the day cricket became cool. Throughout the whole summer, the game was on the front and back page of every newspaper and everyone was talking about it. That is really good for the game and it's the game I love, so it's great news that it's on free-to-air."

New Orleans Saints rookie defensive end Carl Granderson was sentenced to six months in jail Thursday after a judge rejected the terms of his plea agreement on sexual assault charges.

Granderson, who was accused of inappropriately touching two women while they slept at his apartment in 2018, went undrafted out of the University of Wyoming while facing charges of third-degree sexual assault and sexual battery.

It appeared that Granderson might avoid jail time on Thursday morning when he reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to lesser charges of sexual battery and unlawful contact. However, according to reports by the Casper Star-Tribune and others, Judge Tori Kricken rejected the proposed deal of one year of probation and a mental evaluation. Granderson was ordered to immediately begin serving his sentence, and he was led away in handcuffs following a brief discussion with his attorney.

Granderson was also sentenced to one year in jail on the sexual battery charge, but that will be suspended with one year of supervised probation once he has completed his six months in jail, according to the Star-Tribune.

Granderson, a two-time all-Mountain West selection, appeared to have a chance of making the Saints' roster, since he spent some time with the first-string defense as an injury replacement during OTAs and minicamp and drew praise from coaches. The Saints guaranteed $85,000 of his salary, including a $15,000 bonus, when they signed him to a three-year deal at the minimum salary level.

When asked in May about the Saints' decision to sign Granderson, coach Sean Payton said they "felt real comfortable with everything we knew, and so far he's done a good job here."

The Saints said Thursday that they are aware of the latest developments but had no further comment.

Granderson's alleged victims made statements against him Thursday during the court proceedings, which were described as emotional. According to the Star-Tribune, they both said they were under the impression that Granderson was going to plead guilty to the new charges instead of no contest.

One of the alleged victims, who was identified as a University of Wyoming athlete, said she was hospitalized for depression and suicidal thoughts after being "harassed and bullied" by members of UW's football team and Granderson's girlfriend, according to the Star-Tribune.

"He's 100 percent guilty," she said, according to the Star-Tribune. "I literally almost lost my life because of him. I want him to face every consequence he can get."

Granderson's girlfriend, UW track athlete Ja'la Henderson, said in her own statement that Granderson has never been inappropriate with her and has never been accused of this type of behavior, according to the Star-Tribune.

As Danny Green -- perhaps Kawhi Leonard's closest teammate, having paired with him to win championships in both San Antonio and Toronto -- waited on Leonard's decision last week, he was left in the dark just like the rest of the world.

Except he was pretty sure of one thing: Leonard would not be joining the Los Angeles Lakers.

"I think all of it was a shock to me," Green said on a conference call with reporters Thursday. "Except not as much of a shock Kawhi going to L.A. The Clippers, anyway. I didn't see him coming this route [to the Lakers].

"I feel like he wanted to go his own route. I think it was between them and going back. I think the year that he had and what those fans brought this season and everything it was hard for him to turn it down and leave Toronto. But I knew he wanted to be closer to home."

Leonard, a native of Riverside, California, orchestrated the Paul George trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Clippers behind the scenes, spurning the Lakers -- who had $32 million in cap space on hold for him -- and the Raptors, who wanted to retain the 2019 Finals MVP and defend their championship. And Green became the Lakers' top target.

Shortly after Leonard informed the Lakers they were out of consideration, L.A. pivoted to offer Green a two-year, $30 million contract, and followed that deal by reaching agreements with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, Alex Caruso, Quinn Cook, DeMarcus Cousins and eventually Avery Bradley to fill out the roster.

Green, a 10-year veteran with a career 40.4 percent mark on 3-pointers, said that deciding on the Lakers was simple.

"It wasn't very hard, man," he said. "LeBron [James] and Anthony Davis are here. Obviously when you're with a winning team and you've won, you want to run it back if it's possible. But that wasn't going to happen. And even if it did happen, I don't think they had room for me there [in Toronto]. So you go to the next-best team you think in the league is and that was here."

Not that the wait until he got to make that decision wasn't excruciating. Free agents could begin negotiations with prospective teams on June 30. Leonard didn't make his choice until July 5. And Green -- knowing there could be a pretty payday waiting for him in L.A. if Leonard didn't form a superteam alongside James and Davis -- had no choice but to stand in line until Leonard punched his free-agency ticket first.

"Those five days seemed like five months," he said. "And each day that went by, I checked in with 'Whi and I'm like, 'Yo, what's going on with your meeting?' 'I have a meeting tomorrow.' So, like, 'Tomorrow? So I have to wait another day?' You think a day, it goes by pretty fast, but the way it was happening, the way I was talking to him, you would think it was a week. Like, 'I got to wait another day, dude? Like, come on!'"

Green, who played alongside James in Cleveland during his rookie season in 2009-10 and later battled him in back-to-back NBA Finals when James played for the Miami Heat, is happy to be back on the four-time MVP's side.

"I've had a chance to play with him, play against him, compete and now compete with him," Green said. "Kind of come full circle. It's crazy how some things work out."

Rather than run it back with the Raptors or play for another Texas team in the Dallas Mavericks, who expressed interest, Green will now become part of the hallway series between the Lakers and Clippers at the Staples Center, facing off against his old comrade in Leonard.

"I think it'll be a lot of fun," he said. "I think this is a rivalry growing back to where it was before. But I think both teams are very good on paper, we have to see how it's put together. I think it'll be something that's going to grow into something, hopefully something that's unbelievable for the fans to watch. I'm excited about it. You never know, it could be two teams in L.A. playing against each other [in the playoffs] which we wouldn't have to travel anywhere. Might be interesting."

While he feels fortunate to have landed on the Lakers, Green says that Leonard and George felt they pulled a fast one too.

"I had brief conversations with them after it, they think they got lucky with it," Green said. "Nobody knew about it. I had no idea. I checked in with [Leonard] all the time. He gave me no updates. I had no idea where he was going."

Sifan Hassan and Laura Weightman are among those back in action as they race in the Brave Like Gabe Mile

Despite having moved into the second half of the Diamond League season, organisers are managing to avoid the start lists looking repetitive.

Particularly given the long season, some athletes are only properly starting their seasons around now, adding interest to this Monte Carlo leg of the series at the Monaco Herculis EBS meeting on Friday (July 12).

In the non-Diamond League 1500m, a track which has seen 10 of the top 25 times in history sees a line-up that includes world silver medallist Timothy Cheruiyot, Jakob and Filip Ingebrigtsen, Rabat winner Vincent Kibet and Britain’s Charlie Da’Vall Grice.

The “Brave Like Gabe Mile”, named in honour of US international Gabe Grunewald, who died last month from cancer, has a strong line-up.

After clocking the fastest ever non-Chinese time in the 3000m at Stanford, Sifan Hassan (pictured) is back in action alongside Britain’s Laura Weightman, who enjoyed her own breakthrough in that historic race with 8:26, and Melissa Courtney.

European champion Laura Muir confines herself to the non-Diamond League 800m, where Ajee Wilson is the main threat and the field features Lynsey Sharp and Raevyn Rogers.

Three of history’s six 18-metre triple jumpers will be in action as the newest member of the club, Will Claye, pits himself against Olympic champion Christian Taylor and Pedro Pablo Pichardo.

Mariya Lasitskene will be seeking to continue her dominance in the high jump following her 2.06m last month, while the men’s pole vault features world champion Sam Kendricks, Lausanne winner with 6.01m Piotr Lisek, world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie and European champion Armand Duplantis

Sydney McLaughlin is the stand-out name in the 400m hurdles, with perhaps the world lead of 53.61 under threat, while world record-holder Kendra Harrison goes in the 100m hurdles.

In the 200m, Olympic champion Elaine Thompson again races world champion Dafne Schippers plus Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo.

World champion Justin Gatlin, who ran 9.87 in Stanford, will want to continue on a high in the 100m, but two athletes who have run quicker this year – at 9.86 – will be in other lanes: Diamond League 200m champion Noah Lyles and Divine Oduduru, who makes his Diamond League debut following his NCAA breakthrough last month.

Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba is set to be back in action after a bout of bursitis, contesting the flat 400m rather than his specialist hurdles.

The 800m has the fourth fastest in history, Nijel Amos, plus season debutant Pierre Ambroise-Bosse, who has been making headlines off the track rather than on it since his world title win in London in 2017, after being assaulted in Paris, and Britain’s Jake Wightman.

The Herculis action got under way with a women’s street triple jump event on Thursday evening, with all 11 athletes jumping further than 14 metres for the first time outside of a major championships.

World champion Yulimar Rojas claimed the win with a leap of 14.98m.

Entry lists and live results can be found here.

An auction of trophies and memorabilia from former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker's career has raised in excess of £680,000.

The highest bid of £150,250 was recorded for the US Open replica trophy Becker won against Ivan Lendl in 1989.

Also included amongst the 82 items was a replica of the Davis Cup which was sold for £52,100.

Becker, 51, now a coach and TV pundit, was declared bankrupt by a London bankruptcy court in June 2017.

The auction was organised to pay his debts and also included watches, signed memorabilia and some of the playing clothes from his career.

In January 2018, the German issued an appeal to help find five Grand Slam trophies he said had been misplaced, along with an Olympic gold medal won for the doubles in 1992.

The auction began in June last year but was put on hold when Becker claimed diplomatic immunity against an attempt to sue him, insisting his appointment as a diplomat by the Central African Republic (CAR) gave him protection from any legal claims.

Becker dropped the claim in December.

Smith and Williamson's Mark Ford, lead trustee to Becker's bankruptcy estate, said: "The highest bid in 2018 for the US Open Trophy was £36,000 and this year it is £150,250, which is fantastic.

"We still hope to locate and recover the missing trophies including six relating to Mr Becker's successes at Wimbledon and his two Australian Open titles. If anyone has any information relating to these, please contact the trustees in bankruptcy."