After more than six years in the minor leagues, Mike Yastrzemski -- the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski -- made his major league debut Saturday after being called up for the first time.

Yastrzemski started in left field for the San Francisco Giants and is batting seventh against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Yastrzemski, 28, was traded to the Giants in March by the Baltimore Orioles, with whom he made his first big league spring training this year.

Drafted by Orioles in 2013, Yastrzemski rose quickly in the organization before his career stalled. Three years after he was drafted, he was playing for Triple-A Norfolk but then split time between Norfolk and Double-A Bowie, never making the leap to the majors.

"It's all a learning experience," Yastrzemski said in March, prior to the trade. "Everybody's got their own path to get where they want to go; whatever path that is for me, I'm fine with it. As long as you see some light at the end of the tunnel and you put everything into it, it's rewarding in that sense."

In seven minor league seasons, Yastrzemski has a .263 average but has never hit more than 15 home runs or had more than 75 RBIs. He was hitting .316 with 12 home runs and 25 RBIs for Triple-A Sacramento this season.

His grandfather, 79-year-old Carl Yastrzemski, spent all 23 years of his major league career with the Boston Red Sox and retired having played the most games (3,308) of any player in major league history to that point. He was an 18-time All-Star, seven-time Gold Glove winner and won the Triple Crown in 1967, when he helped lead the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox to a World Series appearance.

To make room on the roster, the Giants designated outfielder Mac Williamson for assignment. Williamson was hitting .118 in 15 games this season.

The Giants have also placed right-hander Trevor Gott on the 10-day injured list with a right forearm strain and recalled righty Dereck Rodriguez from Sacramento.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

BALTIMORE -- As he angrily picked himself up off his belly in the ninth inning Thursday, Aaron Hicks put a scowl on his face and took his mind to one place: over the fence.

"I wanted to get up and hit a homer," the New York Yankees center fielder said.

About 100 feet away in his dugout, other Bronx Bombers shared that mindset, hoping after the 94-mph brushback fastball that miraculously missed hitting him -- thanks to some last-second, body-bending bailing -- Hicks might crush a ball into oblivion.

They were all looking for him to hit yet another Yankees big fly. What many of them might not have known was that a grand slam there would have been the team's 81st homer of the year, putting it practically homer-for-homer on the same pace of their torrid record-setting campaign of a year ago.

Remember the 267 home runs the Yankees hit in 2018, with the likes of Aaron Judge, a healthy Giancarlo Stanton, Didi Gregorius, Miguel Andujar and Hicks? Believe it or not, this year's B-team Bombers are not far off that pace.

If this year's team -- which will eventually get Judge, Stanton and Gregorius back from stints on an injured list currently populated by 14 Yankees -- keeps homering at this current clip, it will go yard 264 times by season's end. That would put the 2019 Yankees in a tie for second on the all-time single-season team homer list with the 1997 Seattle Mariners. Only last year's Yankees have hit more.

"It's crazy how guys come up [from Triple-A], hit a lot of homers. It's crazy, man," said outfielder Clint Frazier, who has nine home runs in an injury-shortened season, including his fifth-inning drive to left Thursday. "I don't think the league has really adjusted to some of the players yet, so you've got a ton of guys with a lot of talent, and they are making adjustments if they were pitched different than they were before.

"And, dude, we're good."

When it comes to the long ball so far this season, the Yankees certainly are. They currently have only three fewer homers than they did at this exact point last season. If they homer three times at Kansas City on Friday, they'll be step-for-step with last year's Bombers.

Four teams are currently outpacing the Yankees' 80 homers, including Minnesota, which is leading the way with 98. Still, New York this year has made it a habit of hammering pitches.

"We just put our concentration and our focus to do damage, like we did [against Baltimore]," shortstop Gleyber Torres said.

With their injured list now overflowing with pitchers, including CC Sabathia's addition early Thursday, the Yankees could stand to get several more offensive explosions. Until Sabathia returns from an anticipated week and a half of rest to let a cortisone shot settle, the Yankees will be bullpenning possibly their next two times through the rotation. All of that could heavily tax their pitching staff.

So it will be up to the position players to pick up the slack, which is exactly what they did these past four days.

All week, Camden Yards was a veritable Yankees launching pad. In all, 13 home runs left Bombers bats in the four-game series. Had three more been struck off Orioles pitching, New York would have set a record for home runs hit in a single series in franchise history. At home against the White Sox in 2007, the Yankees hit 15 bombs in a three-game set.

Still, this marked just the fifth time in Yankees history that they hit at least 13 homers in a road series.

All of this week's homers versus the O's led the Yankees to a key early-season sweep as they tried to stretch out their recently acquired division lead. Since returning home from a three-city West Coast road trip at the start of this month, the Yankees have won 15 of 19 and overtaken the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the American League East.

"These guys, the focus each and every day is on the game and playing winning baseball, and everyone kind of pulling their weight, and the mantra of come in and do your job," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "They've really taken to that, and a lot of them really well."

The star of the past week was Torres, who had multihomer games Monday and Wednesday before being kept out of the starting lineup Thursday. He didn't have much of a rest day, though. With two outs in the ninth, Torres and fellow O's killer Gary Sanchez came up to pinch hit.

Orioles reliever Mychal Givens kept both in the ballpark this time, though, allowing Torres to draw a clutch tie-game walk before giving up a single to Sanchez. By the time Hicks came up two batters later with a chance to blow the game wide open, Torres and Sanchez were in scoring position after starting a two-out bases-loaded rally.

"You always like when they're in the lineup, but to have them sitting over there in that spot was nice," Boone said of both young hitters. "And the fact that they were ready. It's not always easy for guys that are regulars like that, that have been sitting over there all day."

"It's crazy how guys come up [from Triple-A], hit a lot of homers. It's crazy, man. I don't think the league has really adjusted to some of the players yet, so you've got a ton of guys with a lot of talent, and they are making adjustments if they were pitched different than they were before. And, dude, we're good."

Clint Frazier

Combined, Torres and Sanchez have hit 19 home runs off the Orioles this season. That's only 11 fewer than the entire Miami Marlins team has hit against every opponent it has faced this year. Of the 12 homers Torres has hit this season, 10 have come against the Orioles. Of those 10, five came in the three games he started this week in Baltimore.

After hitting his 12th homer of the season Thursday, first baseman Luke Voit joked about Torres being given an off day, saying, "Gleyber's letting us hit -- or maybe Aaron's letting the rest of us hit home runs."

While Sanchez's 15 homers in an IL-affected season lead the team, Torres and Voit each have 12. Frazier has nine, and Brett Gardner -- who had 12 homers all of last season -- is next on the list, with seven. DJ LeMahieu and Mike Tauchman have four homers apiece. Thairo Estrada and Gio Urshela, two players who began the season at Triple-A, have three and two homers, respectively.

"I'm happy for all these guys that are getting these chances, because sometimes, a lot of these guys don't get chances," Voit said.

Voit was one of those unknown players who was looking for a break last season. After a brief stay in the minors following his trade-deadline arrival in the Bronx last summer, Voit went on to homer 14 times in the final month and a half last season. Only Milwaukee's Christian Yelich had more home runs (15) within that stretch.

When spring training started, it wasn't a given that Voit would be the Yankees' Opening Day starter at first base. But he earned the job after a competition with Greg Bird, who later got sidelined with a bout of plantar fasciitis.

Before the wave of injuries set in, LeMahieu was viewed as a complementary piece, playing a rover type role to help give some of his fellow infielders occasional relief. Like Estrada and Urshela, Frazier began the year in the minors.

"Even though we have some guys that aren't the main starters, they're still able to come up here and do damage, too," Hicks said. "The guys that we have are the same as the starters we're missing, guys that hit homers. They like to drive the ball a lot.

"It also helps to have guys that are extremely hot."

With the two hottest hitters on the team on second and third, Hicks' ninth-inning plate appearance continued after that far-inside pitch. Still hunting his chance to hit a homer, he fouled off a pitch and took another two balls. That final ball led to a bases-loaded walk that brought in Torres from third with what later proved to be the game-winning run. It's the league-leading eighth bases-loaded walk he has drawn since the start of 2017. While that wasn't the ending Hicks had hoped for, it was one he welcomed.

Perhaps that play helps explain why it has seemed so hard to fathom this team being as competitive with the long ball as it was last year. Small ball, drawing walks and using speed to succeed has been the 2019 Yankees' most recognized calling card.

"That's what's making this great," Voit said. "I don't want to say it was like that last year, but we kind of relied on the three-run homer all the time. And now we're getting walks, we're moving guys over when they need to be, hitting sac flies and playing really good defense.

"It's just stepping up and doing your job and not being a selfish player."

British heptathlete enjoys strong start at prestigious Hypomeeting, while Damian Warner runs world decathlon 100m best on impressive first day

Katarina Johnson-Thompson leads the Hypomeeting heptathlon by an impressive 177 points following a strong first day of competition in Götzis.

The Commonwealth champion’s 4034-point tally after the first four events is her second best ever day-one score, behind the 4059 points she achieved on the first day in Götzis in 2017 when she went on to score 6691.

The Briton leads ahead of Americans Kendell Williams (3857 points) and Erica Bougard (3809 points).

Johnson-Thompson had opened with a PB-equalling performance as she clocked 13.29 in the 100m hurdles to match her best run from Götzis two years ago.

She went on to clear 1.95m in the high jump which, like her hurdles mark, matches her best performance in Götzis, also set in 2017. Just three centimetres off her PB and British record set in Rio, the mark was 12 centimetres higher than any of her rivals could manage and put her into the overall lead.

She then threw 12.95m in the shot put before running 23.21 in the 200m on a rainy afternoon.

Behind the top three, Germany’s world silver medallist Carolin Schäfer sits in fourth place with 3765 points, with Hungary’s Xénia Krizsán in fifth with 3741 and Netherlands’ Nadine Broersen in sixth with 3723.

Niamh Emerson claimed European indoor pentathlon silver behind her GB team-mate Johnson-Thompson in Glasgow but will be unable to try to build on that in Götzis after being forced to withdraw from the competition after two events.

After clocking 13.85 in the 100m hurdles, she cleared 1.83m to sit in sixth after two events but could not continue after aggravating a knee injury.

In the decathlon, Canada’s Damian Warner got his bid to win a fifth title in Götzis off to a record-breaking start as he ran a world decathlon 100m best of 10.12 (+0.9m/sec).

He followed that with 7.67m in the long jump, a PB throw of 15.34m in the shot put, a 2.00m high jump clearance and a time of 47.38 in the 400m.

The Olympic and world medallist’s 4596 day-one tally is 31 points better than he achieved last year en route to setting his Canadian record of 8795.

Speaking trackside after his 100m, Warner said: “I never expected to run that fast, but I’ll certainly take it!”

Another impressive day one performance came from Australia’s world under-20 decathlon champion Ashley Moloney, with the 19-year-old ending day one in second place with a score of 4436 points.

Germany’s Kai Kazmirek and Grenada’s Lindon Victor sit in joint third with 4385 points, while Germany’s Manuel Eitel is in fifth with 4342.

Britain’s European indoor silver medallist Tim Duckworth is placed sixth after the first five events, after a 10.61 100m, leading long jump of 7.72m, 12.80m in the shot put, a 2.09m high jump clearance and time of 50.06 in the 400m.

The European Championships fifth-placer set his PB of 8336 points when claiming the NCAA title last year, with that mark putting him third behind Daley Thompson and Dean Macey on the British all-time decathlon list.

Results can be found here.

Chelsea are braced for Real Madrid to step up their pursuit of Eden Hazard after the Europa League final with the player still hopeful of a swift resolution, sources have told ESPN FC.

Hazard wants his move to Madrid finalised before he joins up with the Belgium squad for their Euro 2020 qualifiers on June 4, but the two clubs remain far apart in their valuations of the 28-year-old.

- When does the transfer window close?

Chelsea have told Madrid they want as much as £130 million for Hazard, while the Spanish giants have so far refused to go higher than £88m for a player about to enter the final year of his contract.

Any agreement is likelier to be struck in the region of £100m, though Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia is determined to secure the best deal possible for her club's prized asset.

Chelsea are not expected to significantly lower their asking price even if Hazard inspires his team to victory against Arsenal in the Europa League final, and are hoping that Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane's desire to secure the Belgian will encourage the Spanish giants to raise their offer.

Speaking after Chelsea's final Premier League game of the season against Leicester City earlier this month, Hazard revealed he had informed the club of his desire to join Madrid two weeks earlier and is now waiting for them to act upon his wishes.

Sources told ESPN FC earlier this month that Hazard is in regular contact with Zidane and has looked into housing and school options in Madrid. Personal terms are not expected to be an issue.

Innings break Hampshire 244 for 8 (Northeast 56, Fuller 55*, J Overton 3-48) v Somerset

Royal London Cup holders Hampshire face a task on their hands with the ball if they are to retain the trophy after scrapping their way to 244 for 8. Shorn of three of the mainstays of their campaign by World Cup call-ups, a pair of half-centuries from Sam Northeast and James Fuller was as good as it got after Hampshire had chosen to bat, as Jamie Overton, Josh Davey and Somerset captain Tom Abell shared seven wickets between them.

Hampshire's batsmen struggled to impose themselves from the outset - perhaps unsurprising when two players of the calibre of James Vince and Aiden Markram, now with England and South Africa respectively, had been removed from the top three - and but for Fuller's late salvo during a 64-run stand with No. 10 Mason Crane, they might have left Somerset a target below 200.

At around the time Hampshire lost their fourth wicket, Liam Dawson was coming on for his first bowl in England's World Cup warm-up match at the Ageas Bowl. How Hampshire fans would have preferred to see him walking out to the middle at Lord's, following a Royal London campaign in which he claimed 18 wickets and averaged 45 with the bat. Instead it was Gareth Berg, with a List A highest score of 75, who came out at No. 6 to join Northeast.

Boundaries were at a premium as Somerset's bowlers bustled about their business - given the scoring rate, this could almost have been a final from 2001, when Somerset last won a 50-over trophy at Lord's. Jamie Overton broke a 49-run stand when Berg picked out deep backward square and Hampshire's hopes of an imposing target seemingly departed with Northeast as he hacked across line, patience exhausted, to be bowled by Abell for 56.

Abell had only delivered one over in the format previously but also hit Kyle Abbott's stumps in a tidy spell, while Chris Wood fell tamely to Jamie Overton, before Fuller and Crane begged and stole what they could during the last ten overs. A pair of clean-struck blows beyond the ropes from Fuller in the final over - the only sixes of the innings - suggested the pitch had runs left in it at halfway.

Perhaps hoping to follow the template of their victory over Kent last year, Hampshire chose to bat beneath low-slung cloud on a humid morning at Lord's. While not exactly a green nibbler in September, there was enough in the surface for Somerset's battery of right-arm medium bowlers to take advantage of.

Anuerin Donald struck a couple of early boundaries before hitting Davey straight to cover and although Tom Alsop and Joe Weatherley resolved to play their way in, it was ultimately to no avail. Alsop was dropped by James Hildreth at slip on 16, but obligingly recreated the chance off Davey's very next ball and this time the Somerset veteran clung on.

Lewis Gregory strove for similar virtues of line and length when replacing Craig Overton and he found enough movement back in to defeat a loose push and remove Weatherley's off stump in his second over, with Hampshire an anaemic-looking 50 for 3.

There followed a volley of retaliatory boundaries as Rilee Rossouw - Man of the Match for his 125 here a year ago - and Northeast dashed off 46 in 6.3 overs. Rossouw introduced himself to Gregory with a brusque force through the covers and then a swat over mid-on for four more but, having barrelled to 28 off 17 balls, he fell to the extra pace of Jamie Overton, cramped into edging a back-foot drive on to his stumps.

The onus now rested heavily on Northeast, Hampshire's stand-in captain, and he packed away the shots to reach an 85-ball half-century. However, Abell was to steal his Lord's limelight and help leave his team well-placed in pursuit of a first limited-overs title since 2005.

The Toronto Raptors are one win away from advancing to their first NBA Finals in franchise history.

What do Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks need to do to force a Game 7 and potentially advance to the next round? What's the key for Toronto in Saturday's Game 6? Does Kawhi Leonard have any real competition as the best player in these playoffs?

Our NBA experts dive into the big questions, including postseason MVPs, who has the most at stake and predictions for this series.

1. What are you watching most closely in Game 6?

Kevin Arnovitz: How Giannis Antetokounmpo reacts to Toronto's defense. How does he respond to the double-teams? How well is he reading the help (where, when and whom)? What is the quality of his decision-making with the ball? The extent to which Antetokounmpo performs these tasks decisively and intelligently will largely influence whether this series returns to Milwaukee.

Tim Bontemps: The role players on both sides. At this point it should be safe to assume Kawhi Leonard and Antetokounmpo are going to play well and produce numbers. As in the other five games in this series, who wins Game 6 will come down to which supporting cast is better. For the past three games, that edge has gone to Toronto. If it remains that way Saturday, the Raptors will be going to the NBA Finals.

André Snellings: The Raptors' 3-point shooting and their ability to get to the rim to draw fouls. Those things are related, and they've been the hallmarks to Toronto's success against Milwaukee this season. In the Bucks' five wins, the Raptors have shot only 29.5 percent from downtown and have averaged about one free throw per six field goal attempts. Meanwhile, in the Raptors' four wins, they have shot significantly better from deep (39.4 percent) and drawn twice as many fouls.

Malika Andrews: Antetokounmpo. For the most part, Antetokounmpo has been good -- not great -- in this series. The Bucks will be tested in Game 6 in a way they have yet to be this season. If the Bucks want the series to return to Milwaukee for Game 7, like Antetokounmpo said would happen after the Game 5 loss, Antetokounmpo must be exceptional. Yes, he will need help from Milwaukee's shooters to space the floor, but Antetokounmpo will set the tone for his team. Also, he tweaked his ankle in Game 5. His health will be of interest.

Kevin Pelton: Whether the Bucks can get the stops necessary to get out in transition. Teams generally score better after a defensive rebound, but Milwaukee's offense has been stuck in the mud after Toronto makes. Per Inpredictable.com, the Bucks have averaged 1.14 points per possession after a defensive rebound and just 0.96 after a made shot. (Leaguewide during the regular season, those averages were 1.09 and 1.06, respectively.) So Milwaukee needs to get stops and run. The Bucks are 9-0 in the playoffs when the pace exceeds 100 possessions per 48 minutes (using Basketball-Reference.com's definition) and 1-4 in their five slowest-paced games.

2. What has been the biggest surprise in this series?

Snellings: Either the Raptors' ability to find another gear or the Bucks' inability to adjust. The Bucks won five of the first six matchups against the Raptors this season by beating them at their own game, with Antetokounmpo having his way inside despite the dominant Raptors defensive frontcourt. In the past three games, the Raptors have tightened the screws on Antetokounmpo, which should have opened up opportunities for the other Bucks -- but they haven't been able to take advantage. If head coach Mike Budenholzer can't find the right counter for Milwaukee, this series will end Saturday.

Andrews: Fred VanVleet's Game 5 performance. As incredible as Leonard was in the fourth quarter of Thursday's game, it is hard to imagine a scenario where the Raptors win without VanVleet's clutch 3-pointers. Time after time, he hit the deep shot that Toronto needed to maintain its edge. That sort of performance is expected from Kyle Lowry or Leonard. But, as Nick Nurse said before Game 5, what separates the good teams from the great teams is how the "non-superstars" play.

Pelton: Antetokounmpo's sudden inability to make free throws. Since making 75 percent of his foul shots in Games 1 and 2, both Milwaukee wins, Antetokounmpo is 12-of-26 (46 percent) in the past three games. That has made it difficult for him to score efficiently against a Toronto defense allowing nothing easy, and those points are crucial in games that have mostly been close.

Arnovitz: The inability of the Bucks to find consistent offense. By no means is it a surprise that the Raptors are executing their defensive game plan, but the Bucks typically demonstrate the spacing, penetration and flow to unlock the half court. Not so in this series. Milwaukee has been thwarted at the point of attack, and its offense has lacked the order and rhythm we've been accustomed to seeing all season.

Bontemps: The sudden reemergence of VanVleet. It's hard to overstate how dramatic his turnaround has been. In the 10 games from the start of the conference semifinals through Game 3 against the Bucks, VanVleet shot 7-of-44 from the field and 3-of-25 from 3. Over the past two games, VanVleet is now 12-of-19 from the field -- including an absurd 10-of-12 from deep. If the Raptors continue to get production from VanVleet and Norman Powell off the bench in Game 6, they'll feel great about their chances of advancing to the NBA Finals.

3. Fact or fiction: Kawhi Leonard is the postseason MVP so far

Bontemps: Fact. At this point, I'm not sure how anyone could argue otherwise. Leonard has been a one-man wrecking crew in these playoffs, following up on his historic output against the 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals with a stellar showing against Antetokounmpo in this series. Anyone who forgot just how great Leonard was in San Antonio, or thought he couldn't reach those heights again after his lost season a year ago, has been given a crystal-clear reminder of just how good he has been.

Snellings: Fact. This should be unanimous. Leonard has put together a storybook run so far. He's the leading scorer among all conference finals players (31.4 PPG), he has the iconic moment with the immortalized crouch in the corner and his defensive play on Antetokounmpo has helped swing this series.

Andrews: Fact -- but the Finals reveal all.

Arnovitz: Fact. All postseason long, the Raptors have been variable in their shot-making with one exception: Leonard. Whether he's rattling in one of the more historic shots in recent league history to close out Philadelphia, or embracing the assignment of Antetokounmpo, he has been both the most reliable and most memorable performer across both conferences. The individual numbers are astounding: 31.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists, with a true shooting percentage of 63.1 -- and that's before you factor in his defensive work.

Pelton: Fact. I don't think it's particularly close. Long-eliminated Nikola Jokic is the only player within one win above replacement (WARP) of Leonard in the postseason by my metric. Antetokounmpo and Leonard rate relatively similarly on a per-minute basis, but given how much more the Raptors have needed from Leonard -- averaging 38.5 minutes in the playoffs to Antetokounmpo's 33.8 -- and his Game 7 heroics against Philadelphia, this seems like an easy choice.

4. Who has the most at stake on Saturday?

Pelton: It has to be the Raptors, who with a loss would flip from heavy favorites to huge underdogs to reach the NBA Finals for the first time given the importance of home court in a Game 7. The Bucks can't take additional opportunities for granted, but with Leonard, Kyrie Irving and two 76ers starters all free agents, the East could be less challenging next season. It might be now or never for Toronto.

Snellings: Obviously, it's Drake. But among the actual entities on the court, the Raptors have the most at stake for two key reasons. First, this is their moment after years of heartbreak. But, more importantly, there is Leonard's looming free agency. A win Saturday night and a trip to the Finals could seemingly go a long way toward convincing him to stay this offseason.

Bontemps: The Raptors, on several levels. This is their chance to close out the series. If they do, they go to the NBA Finals for the first time and become the first international team to do so. President of basketball operations Masai Ujiri will be given even more vindication for his decision to trade for Leonard last summer -- and probably will have a better chance of retaining him as a free agent this summer. For veterans like Lowry and Marc Gasol, this presents the best chance of their careers to reach the league's championship round.

Sure, Toronto could still win this series if it loses Game 6. But with a home game and a chance to close out this series, the Raptors cannot afford to let it slip away.

Arnovitz: The Raptors. Nobody knows the precise criteria Leonard will apply when determining whether he will make Toronto his long-term home. But it's fair to say the probability of his staying North increases if the Raptors are playing in June. The Bucks will be crestfallen if they lose, and though it will impact a busy offseason, we can expect them to be contenders for the foreseeable future.

5. Who wins the series and advances to the NBA Finals?

Andrews: I predicted the Bucks would win in six games before the series started. There is no scenario now that allows the Bucks to fulfill that prediction. Although teams that win Game 5 in an even series go on to win the series 82 percent of the time, according to ESPN Stats & Information, I will be consistent and stick with the Bucks. For that to happen, Milwaukee needs its bench to step up the way it did in Games 1 and 2. Also, Eric Bledsoe must play at least as well as he did in Game 5.

Arnovitz: Toronto, because it is far easier to win once than win twice.

Snellings: At this point, the Raptors have to be the favorites. They've won three straight and been the better team for the majority of the series. They're playing at home and this is their window to win. With that said, I picked the Bucks at the start of the series because if Antetokounmpo is in MVP form, and his supporting cast plays to its level, they have the higher upside. So if Toronto doesn't win Saturday, the Bucks become the favorites again moving into Game 7.

Bontemps: Toronto. I thought coming into the series the Raptors were the better team, and throughout the majority of the first five games they've proved that. With home-court advantage, an edge in experience and having Leonard on their side, the Raptors should win Game 6.

Pelton: Toronto in 6 is now the most likely outcome given home court, followed by Milwaukee in 7 with Toronto in 7 the least likely remaining result.

World number nine Elina Svitolina, who has won 13 singles titles on the WTA Tour, will be writing columns for the BBC Sport website during the French Open, which runs from 26 May to 9 June.

The Ukrainian, seeded nine, is hoping for a successful run in Paris, having become known as one of the WTA's leading players on the clay, twice reaching the quarter-finals at Roland Garros.

The 24-year-old, who was a career high ranking of three last year, has struggled with a knee injury in recent months, meaning she has not won on clay this year.

In her first column, she talks about how she felt being drawn against Venus Williams in the first round, how the injury has affected her form and her much-publicised romance with fellow tennis player Gael Monfils.

I grew up on clay courts in Ukraine and playing on the surface is almost like playing at home - so that's why Roland Garros is my favourite Grand Slam.

But in the first round I've probably got one of the toughest draws I could have got - Venus Williams.

I also started my title defence at the Italian Open in Rome against Victoria Azarenka so it is another tough draw.

I don't know why I got this punishment!

I was actually talking recently with Gael about drawing Venus, about drawing someone who is a great champion, a legend of our sport and has won seven Grand Slams.

Gael told me it would be quite some draw for someone - and now I'm playing her. It's so funny!

She's a role model for many athletes and girls in general, both her and Serena, what they do for our sport is great. They are still competing, Serena coming back after having a baby, they are still top players.

You need to have lots of willpower to keep coming back and having such a great and long career.

I have played her a couple of times, and Serena as well, and as I know a little more about this experience, I'm more relaxed and focusing on what I'm doing and what is in my power.

You have to be ready mentally and physically when you're playing one of the world's greats.

'Every match will be like a final after injury problems'

We had some thoughts that I might not be ready for Roland Garros because of my knee injury, but I was 99% sure I was going to play because it is my favourite Slam.

I would be really disappointed if I didn't make it so we did everything in our power to really focus on recovery and being at least 80% ready.

But that means I don't have any expectations for this tournament.

What I have been through has not been easy because it is the first time I've had such a setback like this and struggling with a pain like that.

I have to take it one match at a time. Every match that I get to play here will be like a final for me.

When I got injured it was in the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships against Belinda Bencic where I led 5-3 in the deciding set before losing 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-3).

I started feeling worse and worse towards the end of the match and then I had some scans in Indian Wells. They told me the patella was a little bit damaged.

I needed to play Indian Wells and I was in good form, so reaching the semi-final there too was a good result. Then my body said 'no'.

I couldn't really play in Miami which was disappointing because I thought I had good form and then I took six weeks off.

Slowly I tried to practise on the clay but clay is harder to move so you have to be really physical and trust your body. That's what we've been working on and trying to prepare.

When I decided to play in Madrid and Rome - where I lost both matches - I said to myself I have to think about what I do on court, not about injury.

Blocking out injury can be very difficult but it is about experience, being strong mentally and not letting negative thoughts take over.

'Hiding our relationship would be waste of energy'

Gael and I have been very public about our relationship and that includes having a joint Instagram account.

It's tough to escape when you're both famous tennis players, it is tough to be really private and I think it is a waste of energy hiding things.

Gael is a very open person and for me it is natural too. If fans want to see something then we will show them and try to share.

It is important not to close yourself and make it uncomfortable.

Every week we are under the camera, we can be seen on television supporting each other, so I didn't see the point of hiding on purpose.

I'm sure there are some people, some 'haters', who are saying I've been playing worse since I've been dating Gael, but for me I don't think it matters.

I feel happy at the moment and for me it is important. When I'm on court I'm thinking only about what I have to do and when I'm off court I'm enjoying my life and my time for him.

This is the first time I'm playing in front of a French crowd with Gael as my boyfriend so I'll have to see if I get more support because of him. Although I know I won't get as much support as he does, obviously.

Star-studded gala provides inspiration for Ukraine work

On Thursday I went to Cannes to attend a gala for AmfAR - it is a charity which fights Aids and they hold a famous annual fundraising event.

It was amazing to see so many stars - Eva Longoria, Milla Jovovich, Antonio Banderas and Tom Jones were all there - coming together to help fight what is important in the world.

I have a foundation in Ukraine and have been looking to hold a similar type of event which would raise money for new tennis facilities to be used by Ukrainian kids.

That would mean building new courts all over Ukraine, which is important because some cities need them in schools.

We are working really hard to find resources, it is not easy, but we are slowly trying to get a good team to reach our goal.

I also have connections now with tennis academies across Europe so another goal is to see if we can get kids, who need help with practice or a training base, into places in France or England or Germany.

So it was important to attend the event in Cannes to see how it was organised, talk to people how they run the event, and it was a great experience.

Elina Svitolina was speaking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko.