turns the ball more than Yasir, he does not have

WASHINGTON -- With Stephen Strasburg joining Joe Ross as sidelined members of the Washington Nationals starting rotation, the teams young prospects like A.J. Cole are filling the void.Coles latest effort was done in by one bad inning as he surrendered two third-inning homers in Washingtons 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.Peter Bourjos led off the third with a blast off the left field foul pole and, with two outs, Ryan Howard lifted a fly ball that carried over the fence in center.He just made a couple of pitches that he wished he had back tonight, manager Dusty Baker said. One homer hit the foul pole and the other one scraped the wall. He seems kind of unfazed by the challenges of the big leagues.Cole (1-2), coming off his first major league win, allowed four runs and five hits in five innings. He struck out eight batters without a walk.Ive always believed in myself as being a big league pitcher, Cole said, and Ive got to be able to show that, and thats what Im doing right now.The Nationals received hopeful news regarding Strasburg, who left his start in the third inning Wednesday night after feeling a pinch in the back of his elbow.Strasburg has a strained flexor mass in his elbow and the Nationals dont know when he will pitch again, but Baker and director of athletic training Paul Lessard voiced optimism after an MRI revealed no ligament damage.We have young guys here that I know they can throw, catcher Jose Lobaton said. Hopefully (Reynaldo) Lopez and A.J. can be good for the team.Alec Asher (1-0) pitched six innings of two-hit ball coming off a suspension for the Phillies.Asher, acquired from the Rangers in the trade for Cole Hamels, ended last season in the Phillies starting rotation and went 0-6 with a 9.31 ERA in seven starts.The right-hander pitched to contact, walking one batter without a strikeout, and throwing 75 pitches in earning his first major league victory.I felt like I wasnt myself at the end of last year and I kind of let the moment get to me, Asher said. I just said Im going to go out there and have fun.Asher (1-0) was suspended for 80 games while on the disabled list with Triple-A Lehigh Valley in June after a positive drug test. He made four minor league appearances beginning in late August and his suspension ended Sept. 4.Everythings in the past now, Asher said. Its unfortunate what happened. Theres nothing I can do but come up here and pitch now.The Phillies snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Nationals.Trailing 4-0, Washington loaded the bases with one out in the eighth inning. Daniel Murphy hit a sacrifice fly to the warning track and Bryce Harper struck out.Jeanmar Gomez pitched the ninth for his 36th save.Howards homer was career No. 378, tying him with former Nationals manager Matt Williams for 72nd on the all-time list.DOUBLE DOINGSMurphy picked up his 40th double of the season, matching his career high. Hes the first second baseman in Nationals history (2005-present) to post a 40-double season.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: Normally (these injuries) come around very well with treatment and strengthening programs, Lessard said of Strasburgs elbow. Its not a season-ending injury, but we still need to take time (so) that hes nice and strong because of his past.... Baker said RHP Ross (right shoulder inflammation) is progressing well and the team is trying to determine where hell pitch next with few minor league games remaining.UP NEXTPhillies: RHP Jake Thompson (1-5, 6.48) makes his seventh career start and second against the Nationals. He allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings of a 4-0 loss to Washington on Aug. 29.Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (14-8, 2.89) looks to continue his recent mastery of the Phillies. Hes 3-0 with a 0.64 ERA versus Philadelphia this season. His career mark against them is 5-5 with a 3.81 ERA in 11 games, including nine starts. Cheap Edmonton Oilers Jerseys . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. Wholesale Oilers Jerseys . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. http://www.cheapedmontonoilersjerseys.com/ .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. Cheap Oilers Jerseys China . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Cheap Oilers Jerseys Authentic . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. It was the emphasis that was telling. Alastair Cooks stressing of the word this in the sentence Moeen Ali is our first-choice spinner for this game told us more than the words used.It wasnt quite a last chance warning, but it wasnt far from it.Moeen cannot have too many complaints. He has only passed 25 twice in seven Tests (though one of those was a pleasing century at Chester-le-Street less than two months ago) this year and he is averaging 92.00 with the ball in the same period. Even a larger sample size, going back to the start of 2015, is not flattering: he averages 29.23 with the bat and 47.86 with the ball. He has never been dropped in his Test career - though he has missed games for other reasons - but he goes into the Old Trafford game needing a performance to ensure he in the side for his home Test at Edgbaston.It is possible that England will go into the second Investec Test with two spinners. But, bearing in mind that they have not won a game at home with two specialist spinners since 1985 (and the spinners bowled one over between them in the final innings), bearing in mind that Joe Root was bowling more than usual in training, bearing in mind how well Pakistan play spin - Adil Rashid averaged 69.50 with the ball in the series in the UAE - and that approach seems unlikely. Besides, Manchester has been overcast since England named their XII with a view to seeing how the pitch developed in the next 12 hours.Rashid has impressed in training, though. He bowled Gary Ballance (deceived in the flight and losing his middle stump as a consequence) in the nets on Thursday and then took the edge of Chris Woakes bat. As Woakes played Yasir Shahs legspin as well as anyone at Lords, that is a decent effort. Hes coming along nicely, Cook said. He is improving all the time and he bowled really nicely in the nets today.In current form, Rashid is not miles behind Moeen as a batsman, either. He may be unorthodox and he may have been the No. 11 in Englands recent white-ball teams, but he has 10 first-class centuries to his name and, crucially, he has a confidence in his game that Moeen does not.Moeen looks a little lost at present. He has paid for his versatility and the failure of the English system to produce spin bowlers. He doesnt quite know what he is or how he should play. The natural confidence he once had in his batting has evaporated. The bits and pieces allrounder tag sits uncomfortably on a man who once oozed class as a batsman.He has become confused in his role - especially batting in the low middle-order and being asked to produce aggressive cameos with the tail for company - and lost some of the mentality and rigour that a top-order batsman should possess. His selflessness, a quality that is respected by his colleagues, has led to him selling his wicket too cheaply, too often. Thats a bad habit for a batsman.But he has had opportunities. There have been times when he has been asked to bat higher up the order - notably when he opened in the UAE - and times when he has had the opportunity to build innings with recognised batsmen. He has not taken many of those opportunities.In early Tests, he benefited from the opposition underestimating him as aa bowler.dddddddddddd Remember Steve Smith and Michael Clarke in the first innings in Cardiff? At times, batsmen seemed to want to hit him out of the attack and sacrificed their wickets in the process.But then they learned better. They learned not just that he is a dangerous bowler armed with drift and flight, but that he bowled enough loose deliveries that there was no need to go after him; if they waited, the release ball would come along soon enough.His doosra, one of the attributes that made his package of skills attractive to the selectors, has become almost irrelevant. With the ICC cracking down on bowling actions, Moeen became reluctant to bowl it in matches (even though there has never been a whisper of a suggestion that his action is suspect and even though few could see any change of action between his offbreak and doosra) and, as a result, practised it less often in the nets.He did not, by any means, bowl badly at Lords. It was more that he bowled against very good players of spin on a pitch that offered him nothing. Many spinners would have paled by comparison next to Yasir Shah.But Moeen has struggled to come to terms with the fact that, even bowling well, there are times when he faces batsmen who are too good for him. And, while he might vary his pace a little more in such circumstances, there are times when a player hits a ceiling; when their best isnt good enough.Again, he is paying the price for others faults here. In a richer playing age, Moeen would not have played almost 30 Tests as a first-choice spinner. But English cricket has made a fearful mess of its spin development and it will take time to get it back on track. Moeen really is among the best there is at present but in trying to be something he may not quite be to gain his chance in Test cricket he may have sacrificed his real talent.The team management have a choice of trying to make him feel secure and valued - as they clearly have - or allowing him to regain some form and confidence in county cricket. They also know that, when Rashid does get his chance, he will soon be put under the same pressure. Bowlers of his pace are rare in international cricket and, while he probably turns the ball more than Yasir, he does not have the same accuracy.Whatever happens over the next few days, though, it may well remind us of the adage that players reputations often improve for not playing. The selectors have come in for some fearsome bashing in recent days - much of it unfair - but it might be worth reflecting on how they would be perceived right now if James Anderson had played at Lords against medical advice and sustained an injury.Writing in the Telegraph, Michael Vaughan claimed he decided to go into Tests with a 50 percent fit Andrew Flintoff on several occasions. Thats the Andrew Flintoff who was obliged to retire from Test cricket aged 31 and whose last few years in the game were blighted by injuries. Maybe playing him when unfit wasnt so clever, after all? Thankfully, Anderson is treated as the precious, but increasingly fragile, asset that he is. ' ' '