SEATTLE — Call it a two-star General start.
When the Seattle Mariners’ Sam Gaviglio and Oakland Athletics’ Paul Blackburn take the mound Thursday in the opener of a four-game series at Safeco Field, it will be a matchup of two right-handers who pitched for the Double-A Jackson Generals in Tennessee last season.
They were never teammates, but they share a couple of common threads.
Blackburn, a former first-round draft pick, was acquired by the Mariners on July 20, 2016, along with first baseman Daniel Vogelbach, from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for left-hander Mike Montgomery and Triple-A pitcher Jordan Pries.