Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole was solid in a loss on Saturday to the Cubs. Cole went six innings, allowing two runs on seven hits while matching his season-high with eight punchouts. He left the game with his team down 2-1, but the bullpen gave up two runs in the seventh inning.
Cole (5-2, 2.40 ERA) gave up individual runs in the first and third innings, but was pretty much on cruise-control after that. He threw 107 pitches with 70 going for strikes.
"I would've liked to have pitched a little bit better," Cole said, per MLB.com. "Yeah, I looked forward to try to get us back on track, and (Lester) beat me today."
He's lined up to make his next start on Saturday against the Mets.