Cole (7-7) took the loss against the Astros on Thursday, allowing three runs on six hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out five.
It was a tough-luck loss for Cole, who logged his 11th quality start of the season Thursday. The veteran right-hander has been dealing on the mound as of late, either posting a quality start or pitching at least five innings while yielding two runs or fewer in 10 consecutive outings. Cole will take a strong 3.19 ERA, 1.07 WHIP and 105:21 K:BB over 98.2 innings into his next scheduled appearance in Anaheim against the lowly Angels.