Cole (8-8) took the loss against the Padres on Sunday, allowing four runs on six hits and no walks in seven innings. He struck out three.
Cole started his outing with giving up back-to-back-to-back home runs to the first three batters he faced. This was actually the second time in Cole's career that he allowed three consecutive homers to start a game -- the first of which happened in 2022 against the Twins. The fourth run he surrendered also came via a solo homer as he tied his longest outing of the campaign. Cole has issued two or fewer walks in each of his past five starts, though he hasn't had his strikeout stuff lately with just 13 punchouts in his past three outings (18.1 innings). The right-hander lines up for a matchup with the Mets his next time out.