now, said Friedrich, who gave up five runs, six hits and struck out five in

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 Randy Johnson Jersey . Klitschkos management company says the bout will be the Ukrainian fighters 25th world championship fight. 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William Carrier opened the scoring for Cape Breton (6-4-2), but Andrew Ryan tied the game and Brent Andrews put the Mooseheads (8-6-0) in front for good with a short-handed goal at 13:49 of the second period. Cheap Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations.PHOENIX -- Christian Friedrich had a chance to work out of trouble after allowing a run and two more runners in the third inning.Instead of escaping, he served up a pitch that Ricky Weeks Jr. launched over the wall in center for a three-run homer.It was the worst pitch at the wrong time, Friedrich said after the San Diego Padres lost 7-5 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night.Weeks homer got the Diamondbacks started on a night when 14,110 fans showed up, the smallest crowd in Chase Fields 18-year history.Paul Goldschmidt had an RBI single and a sacrifice fly after being named to his fourth straight NL All-Star team. Jean Segura sparked Arizonas lineup from the leadoff spot, finishing with three hits, three runs and an RBI.Zack Godley (2-0) worked around trouble through five innings and so did Brad Ziegler in the ninth, giving up a leadoff homer to Brad Schimpf and two more hits before striking out Matt Kemp to close out his 18th save.The Diamondbacks had three triples to match a team record and twice scored in the bottom half of an inning after San Diego scored in the top half to win for the second time in 10 games.We appreciate the people who were here. I thought we played well, Arizona manager Chip Hale said. The guys didnt let down because it wasnt a big crowd with a lot of emotion. They created their own emotion in the dugout. Thats baseball.San Diegos Wil Myers had a run-scoring triple among his four hits and drove in a run after being named to his first NL All-Star team before the game. The Padres out-hit Arizona 12-10, but stranded seven runners and couldnt overcome Friedrichs shaky start.Its kind of what its been like the last few times out, Padres manager Andy Green said. He has some crisp innings and then gets into trouble. He misses some pitches and they take advantage of that.Godley made one start and five relief appearances during his first stint with the Diamondbacks and was called up from Triple-A Reno to start against the Padres.The right-hander caused himself some problems when he started the third inning by walking Friedrich. Myers drove him in with a run-scoring triple and later scored on Yangervis Solartes run-scoring single that put the Padres up 2-0.Godley ran into more trouble in tthe fifth, when Kemp and Alex Dickerson hit run-scoring doubles to tie the game at 4.ddddddddddddGodley allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings. He was sent back to Reno after the game and left-hander Zac Curtis was recalled.A lot of mis-hit balls off him, Hale said. His ball moves a lot. If he can get that with the location, down in the zone a little more, hes going to be something.Friedrich (4-4) entered Tuesdays game 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA in 15 career appearances against Arizona.The left-hander did not have the same effectiveness this time, allowing one more run (4) in the third inning than he had the previous 25 combined. Goldschmidt drove in the first with a run-scoring single and Weeks followed with his three-run homer to center.Crooked numbers are hard to get rid of right now, said Friedrich, who gave up five runs, six hits and struck out five in five innings.LAMB ROARINGJake Lamb entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning and fell behind in the count. Players on Arizonas bench said he should take a protective swing with two strikes.Hale knew better and Lamb proved him right, hitting a triple to the corner in right before scoring on Seguras RBI single.They said it when he got two strikes, just put it in play. I said `Hes going to get extra bases, theres no doubt about it, Hale said. Hes just a machine right now.Thats for sure. Lamb has an extra-base hit in seven straight games, longest by an Arizona player since Goldschmidt did it in eight straight games from July 2-9, 2009. Lamb has seven triples to match team record before the All-Star Break, previously set three times.TRAINING ROOMPadres: RHP Tyson Ross (shoulder) is expected to throw his final extended bullpen on Wednesday.Diamondbacks: CF A.J. Pollock started some light throwing with a tennis ball this week, his first baseball-related activity since breaking his right elbow on April 2.UP NEXTPadres: RHP Colin Rea has received 6.61 runs of support per game heading into Wednesdays series finale against Arizona.Diamondbacks: RHP Shelby Miller is 1-1 with a 4.30 ERA in six career games against San Diego. ' ' '