Paul Blackburn didn’t steal the headlines when the New York Mets acquired him from the Oakland A’s before the trade deadline last month.
But he might have been a steal for the National League wild-card contenders.
Blackburn enjoyed a solid Mets debut Friday night in Anaheim, Calif., when he held the Los Angeles Angels to one run over six innings in a 5-1 victory. The right-hander will try to build off that performance on Wednesday night when he faces the Colorado Rockies in Denver.
Colorado recorded a 6-3 win in the opener of the three-game series on Tuesday night.
The Rockies will send right-hander Ryan Feltner (1-10, 4.97 ERA) to the mound against Blackburn (5-2, 4.11), who will go from pitching in front of a mostly empty stadium in Oakland to a rabid fan base in New York.
If he pitches like he did against Los Angeles, he’ll fit in fine. Blackburn’s acquisition was a boost to a rotation hit hard by injuries, and he paid immediate dividends. His teammates enjoyed his debut and what he can do for the Mets.
“Pauly’s an All-Star (in 2022) for a reason, and anytime he takes the ball you’ve got a really good chance to win,” the Mets’ Pete Alonso told reporters. “He’s a very polished arm.”
Blackburn has faced Colorado once in his career, last season in Denver when he was pitching for the Athletics. He got the win with six innings of two-run ball.
Blackburn will attempt to get New York back to even on this 10-game road trip. The Mets are 2-3 so far and have lost ground to Arizona and San Diego in the NL wild-card standings.
Colorado is far back in the standings and already is playing for the future. The Rockies are on track for their second straight 100-loss season, but the blame doesn’t rest with the left side of the infield. Third baseman Ryan McMahon and shortstop Ezequiel Tovar are a formidable duo that plays nearly flawless defense.
“Gold Glove caliber,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “(McMahon) and Tovar on the left side — I can’t think of a better shortstop/third base tandem than those two guys. I challenge anybody to show me a better pair.”
Feltner has been on the receiving end of their defense, but it hasn’t been enough to get him out of a personal losing streak. Feltner has not won since April 12 at Toronto, a streak that has spanned 19 starts.
Feltner has experienced some bad luck during the winless streak, mostly in his last seven starts. In those outings he has a 2.88 ERA and is 0-3 with four no-decisions and has not allowed more than three earned runs in eight starts.
Ending his futility Wednesday night might seem remote considering his history against New York. He has faced the Mets twice in his career and took the loss both times. He has given up 10 runs in 11 2/3 innings and lasted just 3 2/3 innings when he faced them in New York last month.
It also was the only time since early June he didn’t pitch at least five innings.
–Field Level Media
