Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole earned a win in Atlanta on Sunday, giving up six hits and three walks in seven scoreless innings while striking out seven in his team's 3-0 shutout of the Braves.
"Players heighten their focus when they go up against him. They scratch and claw and fight -- and he was able to push them back every time," manager Clint Hurdle said, per MLB.com. "A very, very strong outing."
Cole (9-2) needed a season-high 116 pitches to get through seven innings, but he was able to keep the Braves off the scoreboard while doing so. It's the third time in his last four starts he hasn't surrendered an earned run, and he's racked up four wins during that stretch.
"I was all over the place, which is not typical of me," Cole said. "I wasn't very efficient and was missing a lot of spots. But we needed to bear down a couple of times, and fortunately things went our way in those situations. We had to put our foot down."
Cole owns a 1.73 ERA and 86:19 K:BB ratio in 78 innings. He's slated to face the Phillies at home on Saturday.