Blackburn (finger) allowed four earned runs on six hits and a walk over two innings during Triple-A Las Vegas' win over Albuquerque on Sunday. He struck out one.
Blackburn's return to the mound after an extended pause to his rehab assignment featured plenty of rust, as the right-hander was hit hard over 41 pitches. Blackburn was tagged for a pair of home runs by Coco Montes along the way, and he's now carrying a 9.64 ERA and 2.68 WHIP across 9.1 innings down on the farm. Given the 2022 All-Star's poor form in three of his four minor-league starts, it remains to be seen if the Athletics will want to see him turn in at least one confidence-building outing before he's deemed ready for activation.