Cole (10-4) took the loss against the Dodgers on Sunday, giving up three earned runs on six hits over five innings, striking out eight and walking one in the Astros' 3-2 defeat.
It was the second straight defeat for the right-hander, who failed to post one of the dominant stat lines his owners have become accustomed to this season in a difficult matchup against the Dodgers. The first-year Astro has cooled off a bit from his torrid early-season pace, but he's still having a dominant inaugural campaign in Houston, with a 2.64 ERA and 0.99 WHIP over 146.1 innings. He also passed the 200-strikeout threshold in this contest, as the eight punchouts give him 202 on the season -- good for fourth in the league, trailing only Max Scherzer, Chris Sale and teammate Justin Verlander.