Mets' Paul Blackburn pitches six solid innings in rehab start at Triple-A

Mets right-hander Paul Blackburn was solid in his first rehab outing on Tuesday night with Triple-A Syracuse.

Pitching 11 days after taking a line drive (100.3 mph off the bat) off his pitching hand in San Diego, Blackburn allowed one run on four hits and a walk over 6.2 innings with four strikeouts on an efficient 75 pitches (53 strikes).

With that outing going well, this could line him up to rejoin New York's starting rotation by the start of next week when he is eligible to come off the 15-day IL. (Tylor Megill, who took Blackburn's spot in the rotation, is scheduled to pitch for the Mets on Wednesday night at Citi Field.)

Manager Carlos Mendoza said on Wednesday that Blackburn will rejoin the rotation for the series at the Toronto Blue Jays beginning on Monday, Sept. 9.

Pitching against the Yankees' Triple-A side on Tuesday, Blackburn did well against a quartet of hitters with MLB experience the first two times through the order. The righty retired Jon Berti twice (one strikeout), the promising Jasson Dominguez twice (one strikeout), and Oswald Peraza twice (one strikeout). Only Ben Rice managed a hit (a fourth-inning single) in his first two trips.

In the sixth, Blackburn allowed a leadoff double before a pair of one-out hits – a soft Berti single (39.3 mph off the bat) and a Dominguez RBI single (96.5mph).

Blackburn escaped the frame without further damage and got the first two outs in the seventh when he reached his pitch limit.

Overall, he threw a six-pitch mix with six whiffs on 41 swings and 12 called strikes for a 24 percent called-strike whiff rate.

Blackburn, whom the Mets acquired via a July 30 trade with the Oakland Athletics, has allowed 16 runs (14 earned) on 31 hits (four homers) while striking out 21 and walking seven in 24.1 IP over five starts with New York.

The 30-year-old has pitched to a 4.66 ERA and 1.288 WHIP across 75.1 innings and 14 starts for Oakland and New York.