Blackburn (1-0) earned the win over Tampa Bay on Monday, pitching five scoreless innings during which he allowed three runs and one walk while striking out seven.
The fact that Blackburn -- who entered the contest with a career 5.74 ERA -- was the starting pitcher who ended Tampa's season-opening three-game winning streak is improbable in itself, and his effectiveness in doing so is equally surprising. The right-hander racked up a career-high seven strikeouts after posting a K/9 below 7.0 in each of his previous MLB seasons during which he played more than one game. Whether this performance indicates a late-20s turnaround for Blackburn or is merely an aberration remains to be seen, but it is an excellent beginning to the campaign for the hurler. He'll look to build off the performance in his next start, which is tentatively slated to come Saturday in Toronto.