Nobody has a better idea of the danger that the rebuilding — yet surging — Oakland Athletics offer to the New York Mets better than the only player to spend time with both teams this season.
Right-hander Paul Blackburn will make his first start against his former team on Tuesday night, when the Mets’ newest starting pitcher takes the mound against the visiting Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.
Blackburn (5-2, 3.86 ERA) will make his third start for the Mets, who are in the thick of the National League wild -card race despite some second-half struggles.
The Athletics are slated to start right-hander Ross Stripling (2-11, 5.72).
Both teams were off Monday after playing on the road Sunday. The Seattle Mariners completed a three-game sweep of the Mets with a 12-1 rout, while the Athletics rode their biggest first inning of the season to an 8-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the rubber game of a three-game series.
The loss completed a 10-game, four-city trek for the Mets, who opened the trip by going 4-3 against the Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Cardinals and Colorado Rockies before being outscored 22-1 by the Mariners. Only Jeff McNeil’s sixth-inning homer Sunday prevented New York from being held scoreless in a three-game series for the first time in franchise history.
The Mets have scored four runs or fewer 15 times in 23 games since the All-Star break, a span in which they are 12-11. New York scored at least five runs in 28 of its final 40 games before the Midsummer Classic, a stretch in which it went 27-13 to climb back into the playoff race.
The Mets entered Monday a half-game behind the Atlanta Braves in the race for the final NL wild-card spot. The Braves were scheduled to visit the San Francisco Giants late Monday night.
“There’s good waves and there’s bad waves,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “We’ve got to get on a good wave as soon as we can. Hopefully, (that) starts Tuesday and ride it as long as we can.”
The Athletics continued riding a good wave Sunday, when they scored six times in the first inning and cruised past the Blue Jays. Oakland entered Sunday with a .616 first-inning OPS and hadn’t scored more than four runs in the inning all season.
The Athletics are 6-1-1 in their last eight series and lead the American League with a 15-9 record since July 12. The stretch includes series wins over a pair of first-place teams, the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros, as well as a two-game split with the Giants, who are 1 1/2 games behind the Braves in the wild-card race.
The win Sunday was the 50th for the Athletics, matching their total from last season, and leaves them 13 wins shy of ensuring they won’t lose 100 games in their final season in Oakland.
“I feel like we’re all just on the same page, pulling the same rope,” said Athletics second baseman Zack Gelof, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning Sunday and was one of 12 players 29 years of age or younger to appear for Oakland. “I feel like everyone’s doing their job and we’re having fun doing it.”
Blackburn debuted with the Athletics in 2017 and remained with the team until he was traded to the Mets for minor league pitcher Kade Morris on July 30. Blackburn didn’t factor into the decision last Wednesday after allowing two runs (one earned) over six innings in New York’s 5-3 win over the Rockies. He is 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in 12 innings over two starts since the trade.
Stripling has lost his last two decisions, and hasn’t won since July 25 in a 6-5 victory at the Los Angeles Angels. He is 0-0 with a 3.46 ERA in five appearances (three starts) against the Mets in his career.
–Field Level Media