Cole (9-4) pitched a shutout, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out 12 in nine innings in Saturday's 1-0 win over Houston.
The right-hander put an exclamation point on the end of the first half of the season, as all three hits he allowed were singles. Cole had notably struggled in his last six starts amid MLB's crackdown on sticky substances, but he was in his finest form Saturday, and he retired Yordan Alvarez on a 99 mph fastball to complete the shutout. The stellar outing lowered Cole's ERA to 2.68 with a 0.93 WHIP and 147:22 K:BB across 114 innings. He'll likely take the mound some point in next weekend's four-game series versus Boston coming out of the All-Star break.