ANAHEIM — Exactly a week ago, Paul Blackburn faced the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium while wearing green and gold, and pitched the Oakland A’s to a win.
Friday night at the Big A, Blackburn faced nearly the same lineup, this time wearing blue and orange and throwing to a catcher he met three hours before the game.
An important trade deadline acquisition for the Mets, Blackburn made a seamless transition in a 5-1 win over the Halos in the first game of a 10-game road trip. It was an impressive debut.
“I’m glad I can kind of just take a breath now,” Blackburn said. “Coming in here, it was awesome.”
With the A’s on the West Coast during the trade deadline and the Mets scheduled to head to Anaheim from New York the day after, the team had Blackburn meet them in Orange County instead of having him fly all the way to across the country for less than 24 hours. Since he was already lined up to pitch for Oakland, the Mets used him in place of Tylor Megill, who was optioned Friday afternoon.
But that meant waiting three days to even meet his new team and the new catcher he was set to throw to. Manager Carlos Mendoza called him after he was traded, but he didn’t meet catcher Francisco Alvarez, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner or catching coach Glenn Sherlock until he got to the ballpark on Friday.
And since Blackburn was scheduled to start, his new teammates had to make him feel as welcome as they could while giving him space to prepare. Pete Alonso left him mostly alone, as did his former A’s teammate Sean Manaea. Others came up and shook hands with him while keeping it brief.
“I came in, saw him, shook his hand and said, ‘Go be yourself, big boy. I’ll talk to you after the game,’” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “So that was it.
The right-hander limited the Angels to just one run on six hits over six innings, walking two and striking out six. Blackburn wasn’t flashy and he didn’t blow anyone away, but he showed new fans and new teammates alike that he’s capable of giving them a quality start with some strange circumstances.
The Mets face plenty of strange circumstances, so he’s already checked an important box.
“It’s been crazy,” Blackburn said. “It’s definitely been crazy. But, you know, I’m here to do a job once those lights go on and the game starts. I take pride in that”
The day started for him when he met Alvarez and the two chatted by their lockers. Alvarez was able to get a sense of what he likes to do and how he likes to work. The catcher came away impressed with Blackburn’s assessment of his stuff, and the pitcher was impressed with Alvarez’s assessment of the Halo hitters and his sense for sequencing.
The two decided to throw more changeups to the Angels than he did his last time out.
“I actually enjoyed Alvy catching me a different set of eyes,” Blackburn said. “I kind of told him, ‘Whatever you see, trust it, and I’ll trust you.’ And I feel like that goes a long way with a country and pitching relationship.”
The Mets gave him a 1-0 lead i the second to work with when Jose Iglesias scored on a single by Alvarez. The Angels came right back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning.
But Alonso hit his 23rd homer of the season off left-hander Tyler Anderson in the third. The two-run bomb put the Mets ahead for good. They’d go on to score two more insurance runs and chase Anderson (8-10) from the game after five innings.
Each member of the startling lineup got a hit. There were chances to break the game open and blow the Angels out, but the Mets went 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.
“We created traffic but we couldn’t come up with the big hit at times,” Mendoza said. “But after the two run homer we continued to put pressure [on Anderson], and we continued to create situations. We were able to add on. Overall, a good night for our offense.”
The defense behind Blackburn also made his job easier. Francisco Lindor and Jose Iglesias combined for two dynamic double plays. In the second, Alvarez gunned down to Lindor when Adel broke for second. The throw was off the line, but Lindor tagged him while falling forward to get his leg before he could slide in safely.
It likely saved a run.
“That was fun to watch,” Blackburn said.
Right-hander Jose Butto turned in another stellar relief outing, pitching two prefect innings and striking out three, and Phil Maton finished things off in the ninth.
It was a challenging end to a challenging week for Blackburn, but he stayed poised throughout.
“He’s a great pitcher,” Alvarez said. “He’s different. He has great stuff. And I think he can pitch like that to any lineup.”