Blackburn (finger) covered three shutout innings in his rehab start Tuesday with Triple-A Las Vegas, scattering two hits and issuing no walks in the 34-pitch outing.
Blackburn didn't strike out any batters in the rehab start, but making bats miss typically isn't part of his game plan for success even when he's not building back up from an injury. Since opening the season on the 15-day injured list with a right middle fingernail avulsion, Blackburn has made two rehab starts, but he'll likely need to increase his pitch count to the 75-to-90 range over the course of one or two more minor-league outings before he's cleared to join the Oakland rotation.