Gerrit Cole struggles in return for Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole allowed five runs in two innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in his return from the disabled list on Monday.

What It Means:

Cole had been out since August 24 with an elbow injury, and this makes five times in his nine starts since the All Star break that he has allowed at least four earned runs.

It has been a rough year for Cole, whose 3.88 ERA, 4.25 SIERA, 19.4 percent strikeout rate and 7.1 percent walk rate are all career-worsts.