Cookson, the head of British Cycling who is challenging P

HOUSTON -- Colby Rasmus used his bat and his arm to make a big difference in his return to the lineup Tuesday night.Collin McHugh threw six scoreless innings, Rasmus and Evan Gattis homered and the Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1.Rasmus put Houston up 1-0 with a homer in the second inning in his first at-bat since returning from the 15-day disabled list.Its about as good a feeling as you can have being a baseball player, Rasmus said. I was just glad to be able to get out there and contribute and do some good for the team in a time where we needed a little spark.Rasmus went on the DL on Aug. 5 with a cyst in his right ear. He has a scar behind his upper right ear.We all said welcome back to him, Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. That was a nice way to get back on the active club. Thats exactly why you want him in the lineup.In the second, Oakland put runners on the corners with one out, but Rasmus caught Max Muncys flyout and threw home in time to get Ryon Healy and end the inning.That was a really big hit tonight for the team, but also for him to be able jump back in and pick up right where he left off was huge, McHugh said. Hats off to him. Then he made that great play in the field. I think he made that either right before or right after that, so that was in my opinion, the play of the game. It was his game.Gattis hit a solo homer in the seventh to make it 3-0.McHugh (9-10) allowed four hits and struck out five. He had allowed at least three runs in each of his previous six starts.It feels good to have a good outing to help the team, McHugh said. Especially in a game where their guy was throwing good, too. It was a tight game. Our guys put us on the board early, and to be able to hold steady was huge.Houston remained two games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card.Alex Bregman had an RBI single in the third for Houston.Will Harris threw a perfect seventh, and Luke Gregerson allowed an unearned run in the eighth before Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his sixth save.Marcus Semien cut the lead to 3-1 with an RBI groundout to short in the eighth.Kendall Graveman (10-9) allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings. Graveman had allowed one run in his previous two starts.He was great, Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. Up until the second home run, they hit three balls hard the whole game off of him. We just didnt do enough offensively to give him support. Well take that stuff every night.AS DEAL CRISPOakland is nearing a deal to trade outfielder Coco Crisp to the Cleveland Indians, according to a person familiar with the trade. The exchange has been agreed to by both teams, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has to be approved by Major League Baseball.The trade would have to be official by Wednesday for Crisp to be eligible for the postseason.The 36-year-old Crisp is batting .234 with 11 homers and 47 RBI in 102 games this season.FRONT OFFICE PROMOTIONSThe Astros promoted Mike Elias to assistant general manager, scouting and player development. Elias had been the director of amateur scouting. In addition to Elias promotion, the Astros promoted Pete Putila to director of player development and Armando Velasco to assistant director of player development.TRAINING ROOMAthletics: LHP Sean Manaea (left rhomboid strain) will likely miss his next start, Melvin said.Astros: The Astros optioned RHP Brad Peacock to Triple-A Fresno to make room on the roster for Rasmus.UP NEXTAthletics: LHP Ross Detwiler (1-3, 5.74) takes the mound Wednesday in the finale of the three-game series. Detwiler has allowed 14 runs in his last three starts, covering 14 innings.Astros: RHP Mike Fiers (9-6, 4.40) makes his 25th start of the season Wednesday. Fiers pitched into the seventh in his last outing Friday against Tampa Bay, allowing three runs. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . In what the team had called a retirement, Ryan said Thursday that he is resigning as chief executive of the Rangers in a move effective at the end of this month. Fake Nike NFL Jerseys . -- Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis was charged Thursday with driving while intoxicated, a day after he was suspended for an NFL substance-abuse policy violation. https://www.chinajerseysnfl.us/ . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Nike NFL Jerseys China . -- Ohio States Urban Meyer has never had any issue acclimating to the biggest stages in college football. Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Free Shipping . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence.PARIS -- A French inquiry into sports doping has uncovered proof that 1998 Tour de France champion Marco Pantani and runner-up Jan Ullrich used a banned blood booster to fuel their performances. Frances senate, after a five-month investigation focused on fighting sports doping, released a report Wednesday that confirms what many riders have long said: use of the banned substance EPO was rife in cycling in the late 1990s, before a test for the drug had been developed. Pantani was suspended in 1999 from the Giro after failing a random blood test, and his career was damaged by several doping investigations. He died in 2004 at 34 of an accidental drug overdose. Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner, has admitted to blood doping and last year was stripped of his third-place finish in the 2005 Tour. The 1998 Tour de France was notable for the major scandal that emerged with the discovery of widespread doping on the French Festina team. The subsequent police crackdown led to seven of the original 21 teams either withdrawing or being ejected from the Tour. Other star riders whose positive doping tests were disclosed by the senate report Wednesday include double stage winner Mario Cipollini of Italy and Laurent Jalabert of France. Kevin Livingston, an American who finished 17th in that years Tour, also tested positive for EPO, according to documents included in the senate report. Third-place finisher, American Bobby Julich, last year admitted to his own EPO use during the 1998 Tour. In 1999, Lance Armstrong won the first of his seven straight titles, which he was stripped of this year after admitting to using banned substances for all of those victories. Senators took pains to point out that the 1998 Tour de France disclosures represented only a few pages of the 800-page report released Wednesday, which mainly focused on establishing the size of the sports doping problem and identifying ways of improving anti-doping measures. The senate inquiry heard from 138 athletes, drug testers and officials from 18 sports, including rugby and soccer. The report comprises 60 proposals for improving anti-doping measures, including establishing "truth and reconciliation commissions" within each sport; making sure that all sporting events taking pplace in France fall under the watch of French anti-doping authorities; and testing for a wider range of illicit substances.dddddddddddd Senators also propose taking disciplinary power away from sports federations and giving it to the French anti-doping body AFLD. The positive tests disclosed in the senate report were uncovered via retrospective testing in 2004 and 2005, by French anti-doping authorities seeking to perfect their test for EPO. The results had since been stored without the identities of the riders being released. Senator Jean-Jacques Lozach, one of the reports authors, said retrospective testing is one of the ways authorities can stay ahead of cheating riders. "Given the performance of Chris Froome, the winner of the 2013 Tour de France, there were doubts expressed and suspicions raised. In light of todays controls these suspicions are not legitimate or justified," Lozach said. "Who knows if in three or five years these doubts wont be justified or legitimized by retrospective controls." Brian Cookson, the head of British Cycling who is challenging Pat McQuaid for the presidency of the sports governing body UCI in September elections, called the senate report "a terrible indictment of the people responsible, and those with the most responsibility for the culture within the sport are the UCI." In a statement, Cookson pledged to implement a fully independent investigation into doping in cycling. "We owe it to those who chose to ride dope-free and to the fans to understand the mistakes of the past and make sure they are not repeated," Cookson said. Another former French pro whose positive doping test emerged Wednesday said senators risked tarring a cleaner new generation of cyclists with the disclosure of 15-year-old doping revelations. "Im thinking of Thibaut Pinot, who finished 10th in the Tour at 22, or Romain Bardet," said Jacky Durand, winner of one stage of the 1998 Tour as well as the prize for most combative rider. Durand, now a cycling commentator on Eurosport, said that in his day, "we needed to salt the soup, as the older riders said." "Our sport is much cleaner today, I want people to understand that," Durand said. ' ' '