In his third start with the Mets, Paul Blackburn got burned by his former club.
Blackburn struggled in Tuesday’s 9-4 loss to the last-place-but-surging A’s at Citi Field, exactly two weeks after Oakland traded the former All-Star to the Mets in a deadline-day deal.
The A’s lit up the right-hander for seven runs (six earned) over four innings in what was Blackburn’s worst start in a Mets uniform.
The rough outing underscored an all-around tough night for the Mets (61-58), who lost their fourth game in a row and saw designated hitter J.D. Martinez leave with a left elbow contusion. The A’s (51-69) improved to 14-8 since the All-Star break.
“It was definitely weird,” Blackburn said afterward. “I know everybody over there. A lot of emotions with that really. Not necessarily nervous. It was more excitement, really. Kind of got outside of myself there, which I think kind of led to just being a little sporadic throughout the night.”
Blackburn allowed five batters to reach base in the first inning, including Seth Brown, whose three-run double gave Oakland an early 3-0 lead.
The A’s added to their advantage in the third inning, starting with a Miguel Andujar ground ball that got by third baseman Jose Iglesias for a run-scoring error. Shea Langeliers then crushed a three-run home run off of Blackburn to put the A’s up, 7-1.
“I just honestly struggled with command,” Blackburn said. “There wasn’t a single pitch I feel like I could lean on. … When you can’t get anything over the plate, it’s going to be a tough day.”
Blackburn, 30, spent his first eight MLB seasons with the A’s, with whom he went 21-26 with a 4.83 ERA and earned a 2022 All-Star selection. The Mets traded pitching prospect Kade Morris to Oakland for Blackburn in an effort to bolster a rotation that’s missing Kodai Senga (calf strain) and rookie Christian Scott (UCL sprain).
Blackburn dominated in his first two starts with the Mets, pitching to a 1.50 ERA and 12 strikeouts over 12 innings against the Angels and Rockies on the road.
“There’s definitely emotions,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Blackburn. “Not only he’s facing his former team, but first outing here at home. But he’s been in this league for a long time so I think it’s just one of those outings where he just didn’t have it.”
Martinez suffered his elbow contusion in the second inning, when flame-throwing A’s starter Joe Boyle plunked him with a 99.6-mph fastball. Martinez remained in the game as a baserunner but left in the fourth inning before his next at-bat.
X-rays came back negative for Martinez, who was not expected to receive additional imaging, according to Mendoza.
“He’s day-to-day, but he got him really good on the top of the elbow,” Mendoza said.
Mark Vientos, who began the game on the bench due to a sore left ankle, replaced Martinez as a pinch hitter.
The Mets broke through in the fifth inning against the 24-year-old Boyle, who was making his first MLB start since being sent down in early May. Jesse Winker’s RBI double and Pete Alonso’s two-run single cut the A’s lead to 7-4, and the Mets had runners on first and second with no outs when Boyle exited.
Oakland reliever Austin Adams extinguished the Mets’ scoring threat, however, by recording three consecutive outs, including strikeouts of Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez.
The Mets traded Adams to Oakland in March. After punching out Alvarez, Adams appeared to mimic Iglesias’ “OMG” celebration.
The Mets finished 4-for-17 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 baserunners.
The A’s added two runs in the sixth inning against José Buttó, capping the scoring with an RBI double by Langeliers, who finished 4-for-4 with four RBI.
Tuesday kicked off a nine-game homestand for the Mets, who were fresh off of a three-game sweep in Seattle in which the Mariners outscored them, 22-1.
The Mets are now 4-8 since July 31. They began Tuesday a game behind the Atlanta Braves for the third and final National League Wild Card spot.
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