Blackburn (2-3) took the loss Friday as the A's were downed 8-2 by the Nationals, giving up four runs on eight hits and four walks over 5.2 innings. He struck out three.
While he wasn't hit all that hard -- only one of the hits off Blackburn, a Keibert Ruiz solo shot in the fifth inning, went for extra bases -- the veteran right-hander tossed only 60 of 103 pitches for strikes as he tied his season high in free passes. Blackburn has stumbled to a 5.19 ERA, 1.70 WHIP and 31:17 K:BB in 34.2 innings over seven appearances (six starts) since the beginning of July, but he'll look to rebound in his next outing, which is likely to come next week in St. Louis.