Blackburn (5-1) was charged with the loss Monday after he pitched 6.2 innings, giving up four runs on five hits while striking out five versus the Astros.
Blackburn surrendered a solo home run to Yordan Alvarez in the top of the fourth and then three more runs in the fifth including a two-run homer by Jose Altuve. The four runs given up were a season high for the right-hander and the home runs were the first he's allowed since May 3, raising his total surrendered to three on the year. He had better strike zone command Monday, not walking a batter for the first time in four starts. The difficult outing raised Blackburn's season numbers to a still impressive 2.15 ERA and 0.98 WHIP with 41 strikeouts over 54.1 innings. He tentatively lines up to pitch again Saturday against the Red Sox.