Paul Blackburn News: Makes brief relief appearance

Blackburn retired one batter and was charged with four earned runs on four hits in a relief appearance in Friday's 7-5 loss to the Rays.

Prior to the contest, manager Carlos Mendoza told Mike Puma of the New York Post that Blackburn would enter the rotation Wednesday in Atlanta in place of the injured Kodai Senga (hamstring), but the Mets still elected to make Blackburn available out of the bullpen for one more game. He replaced starter Clay Holmes to begin the sixth inning and promptly squandered the Mets' 5-1 lead. Despite the poor showing, Blackburn still remains on track to start Wednesday, but his spot in the rotation will be in flux after that. Frankie Montas (lat) had a rough rehab start at Triple-A Syracuse on Friday, but he's on the same pitching schedule as Blackburn and could be activated from the 60-day injured list to replace Blackburn in the rotation later this month.