Cole fans 16 during 1-hit gem
ASTROS 8 DIAMONDBACKS 0
PHOENIX — Gerrit Cole steadied himself and drew a breath. Jarrod Dyson picked up a bat and strode from his dugout. This was the final impediment toward an immaculate night.
It is still early May and running a pitch count north of 120 is unwise, even given the dominance Cole displayed on a 90-degree Phoenix evening. Manager A.J. Hinch informed him anything less than a 1-2-3 inning, like the three that preceded it, would warrant a reliever.
Dyson stood in. Cole unloaded a 98.5 mph four-seam fastball that bisected home plate for a called strike. Dyson fouled off the next one, which bumped 98.8.
“He sensed the finish line,” Hinch said after Friday’s win.
The final out of this extraordinary evening wasn’t befitting of the 26 preceding it. Dyson popped up Cole’s final pitch — at 99.3 mph — into Alex Bregman’s glove. Cole shook his catcher’s hand, an 8-0 win complete and the ace’s legend growing.
There was wonder of how this could improve, how Cole could follow the best month of his Major League career. May arrived Friday and the National League’s best team awaited. Cole would be forced to hit in this first road, Interleague series. A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt dot the middle of a potent Diamondbacks order.
Cole eviscerated it. He twirled a one-hit, complete game shutout against the National League’s best team, striking out a careerhigh 16 and required just 114 pitches to do so. The last one was his fastest of the game.
“I think it would have been the same outcome if any team in the league faced him today,” said Carlos Correa, who had two hits and three RBI. “He was just filthy, hitting the spots, every pitch was working. There was no plan that could work against him today.”
Not since Randy Johnson’s 1998 dismantling of the Pirates in a 16-strikeout night at the Astrodome had an Astros pitcher struck out 15 or more hitters. Cole did so in his seventh game with the franchise, authoring another historic chapter of the stunning start to his club career.
Cole has 11 double-digit strikeout games in his career. Five have occurred in his first seven starts as an Astro. His 77 strikeouts in the first seven starts with a new club are the most by a player in Major League history.
“I’m in such a good spot physically, like the best I’ve been in my career,” Cole said. “My direction to the plate, my core, I’m able to repeat at such a high level.”
Cole carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Christopher Owings’ double to left field ruined it.
The Diamondbacks mustered two baserunners. Only Owings reached scoring position.
Cole commanded a four-seam fastball to each side of the plate, incorporating more of his secondary pitches than he’s been accustomed. The Diamondbacks are a proven fastball hitting bunch. Cole countered it with curveballs early and sliders late.
Twelve of his 27 curveballs were called strikes. Seven of his 21 sliders were swung upon and missed. The 22 swings and misses he generated were the most in his career.
“He kind of had them where he wanted them, he could do anything,” Hinch said. “Had a good fastball, had great location — even when he missed, he barely missed. One or two hard contacts but even after that, he was controlling the whole game.”
After a seven-pitch first inning that contained none, each of Cole’s next nine outs were strikeouts. Only David Peralta reached base during that span, the beneficiary of a borderline full-count four-seamer that home plate umpire Dan Iassogna deemed ball four to lead off the fourth inning.
Cole leered into the plate seconds after the call, not flinching from the finish of his followthrough. A strike would have kept history intact. Jim Deshaies and Don Wilson share the singlegame franchise record with eight consecutive strikeouts.
Peralta would have been Cole’s seventh straight. A perfect game was lost and so too was another chance for history. Cole acknowledged after the game his fastball did miss.
Not many others did. Each inning aside from the first and ninth contained at least one strikeout. He retired the final 14 men he faced.
Cole’s spot in the batting order arrived with two outs in the eighth inning and position player Daniel Descalso opposing him. Descalso placed three strikes. The bat did not leave Cole’s shoulders, disinterested in anything aside from finishing the gem..
“I have put in a lot of hard work since 2016,” Cole said. “I was at a point where I knew I could still pitch, but I didn’t know what direction I was going. I wasn’t going in the direction that I wanted to and I really have put in a lot of effort the last two years and it’s really coming together.”