Solomon: Gerrit Cole looked at home in Minute Maid Park return

The possibility of a no-hitter that he has never thrown — he is arguably the best pitcher in the sport without one — was eliminated by an Abraham Toro single to center in the fifth.

Thus, it was in non-historic fashion that Cole dominated his former team Saturday, tossing a shutout while allowing only three hits in a 1-0 Yankees’ victory.

Cole delivered an outing that was very much like those he put in for the Astros in 2018 and ’19. He has now won 11 straight games at Minute Maid Park.

This is not a sticky situation. Cole is a bad man, not a bad guy.

He could still be one heck of an Astros’ pitcher.

His welcome back should always be warm and inviting. (The Astros’ soft and supple bats Saturday aren’t necessarily part of the deal).

When the Yankees, the enemy, are in town, Cole gets a pass.

Yeah, we’re talking about his dream team, his dream uniform, but the Yankee pinstripes are terrible on him. He looked so much more dominant in an Astros uniform.

Well, aside from Saturday. He was ridiculous in this one, striking out 12 batters.

Everything he threw was on the money. Astros’ hitters have been struggling – just one run in the last three games – but no team in baseball was going to get to him on this night.

Cole, a 30-year-old who broke into the majors with the Pirates in 2013, is one of the great pitchers of his generation.

He was absolutely superb in two seasons with the Astros, but it matters not for whom he performed in 2018 and ’19, he was outstanding in that stretch.

With fastballs that had just enough subtle movement to turn an oh-yeah guess into and oh-no moment, Cole looked so at home Saturday at Minute Maid.

Every time Cole stepped onto the mound in an Astros’ uniform, victory was expected. That the Astros were 50-15 in his starts is impressive and shocking.

Impressive because those wins represent a lot of happy endings. Shocking because those losses seem high in number. Those were good times.

The worst ERA of his career (4.26) was the year before he joined the Astros. His best was his second year in Houston (2.50).

Cole’s masterful 15-strikeout night against the Rays in Game 2 of the 2019 ALDS is one of the most dominant pitching performances in Astros’ postseason history.

Only twice in baseball history had pitchers struck out more hitters in a playoff game.

As traumatic as it might be for some of you, the Padres’ Kevin Brown turned the Astros’ Killer Bees into harmless butterflies, with 16 strikeouts in eight innings, during which he allowed just two singles to the 102-win Astros, who were the highest-scoring team in the National League that season.

(The Cardinals’ Bob Gibson set the playoff record with 17 strikeouts in Game 1 of the 1968 World Series against the Tigers.)

In two seasons with the Astros, Cole grabbed fans’ hearts with dominance and consistency.

Cole is so good that a recent dip in his numbers was evidence for many that he was among those who needed illegal substances to mow down hitters.

Indicators are that sticky substances such as Spider Tac played a role in Cole’s excellence. So, when MLB began to enforce its rule against substances that improve the baseball’s spin rate, Cole was supposed to be affected.

He is probably guilty as charged, but Saturday night, he looked like he was pitching with Super Glue.

Cole threw some pitches that rendered Astros’ hitters helpless. He was in command and control.

Were he still in Houston, the Astros would be a strong World Series favorite.

Saturday was a taste of what the Astros are missing.