OAKLAND, Calif. _ With an expedited return to a ravaged rotation, the Oakland Athletics weren't sure exactly what they'd get out of starting pitcher Paul Blackburn Thursday night.
Blackburn surpassed all expectations in his 2018 season debut with six scoreless innings in a 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals at the Coliseum before a crowd of 7,963.
Blackburn gave up three hits with no walks and three strikeouts before A's manager Bob Melvin brought in Lou Trivino in the seventh inning. Blackburn threw 67 pitches, 52 of them strikes. Constantly ahead in the count, Blackburn got his infielders a steady diet of ground balls.
Blackburn, the 10th different starting pitcher for the A's this season, did all this with only one rehab start in which he gave up eight hits in 3 2/3 innings against Modesto for the Single-A Stockton Ports.
One of the few hitters Blackburn got behind was Alcides Escobar, who hit a solo home run off a 2-0 pitch leading off the third inning, the only blemish on his resume.
The Athletics tied the game, 1-1, courtesy of a tape-measure fourth-inning home run by Matt Olson, his 13th of the season, against Jason Hammel (2-6).
The A's got Blackburn the lead in the bottom of the sixth, which began with a one-out single by Khris Davis. Olson followed with a walk, then Matt Chapman skied a fly to deep center that Paulo Orlando appeared to lose track of for a moment. It hit the fence for a double, driving in Davis.
Marcus Semien followed with a soft liner to left for another run-scoring single and Stephen Piscotty singled to left for a 4-1 lead.
Trivino, Yusmeiro Petit and Blake Treinen each threw a scoreless inning for the Athletics, who improved to 32-31, snapping a two-game losing streak. It was Treinen's 14th save of the season. The Royals fell to 21-42.
