Athletics' Paul Blackburn: Hit hard in Triple-A outing

Blackburn (foot) started Triple-A Las Vegas' loss to Salt Lake on Saturday night and was charged with the loss, allowing seven runs (five earned) on eight hits and two walks over 2.2 innings. He struck out one.

Blackburn bumped up his rehab assignment to Triple-A after making his first two appearances with Single-A Stockton. The right-hander immediately got off on the wrong foot by allowing a leadoff homer to MLB veteran Jake Marisnick, who also got to Blackburn for an RBI double in the third inning. In all, Blackburn worked up to 49 pitches, but he located only 26 for strikes. Given he's been ineffective in two of his first three rehab appearances, Blackburn appears set to make at least a couple more starts with an affiliate in an effort to build up some confidence ahead of activation.