Cole struck out 11 and allowed five hits and walked none over seven scoreless innings against the Padres on Saturday.
In his season debut on April 1, Cole changed his pitch mix by moving away from his two-seam fastball in favor of heavier slider usage. That continued in his start Saturday, with excellent results as he got nearly a 17 percent whiff rate on 24 sliders thrown. He has looked absolutely dominant in his first two starts as a member of the Astros and it appears that his change in pitch mix is here to stay.