After looking sharp in his first two starts in a Mets uniform, Paul Blackburn came into Tuesday’s game looking to help his new team bounce back from a lost weekend in Seattle while facing the team that just traded him away, as the A’s arrived for a rare visit to Queens.
Perhaps showing some nerves, Blackburn struggled in an odd first inning. After the first two batters reached on a walk and a sharp single to right, Blackburn picked Lawrence Butler off of second for the first out of the game. An infield single, a 400 foot fly out to center and a hit by pitch followed, loading the bases.