Paul Blackburn made his season debut, and Ryan Noda homered again to help the Oakland Athletics to a 7-2 win in their series opener against the Atlanta Braves.
Blackburn needed just one pitch to retire Ronald Acuña Jr. in the first, but a pair of ex-Oakland A’s quickly had him in a tough spot. Matt Olson walked and then advanced all the way to third on a single by Austin Riley. Sean Murphy then guided a grounder back through the middle to score Olson to give Atlanta a 1-0 lead. Blackburn finished the inning strong though striking out Marcell Ozuna and Eddie Rosario to end the frame with no further damage.