Blackburn is elite ... away from the Coliseum. 'I have no clue why'

OAKLAND -- Between the spacious foul territory and East Bay marine layer, the Coliseum has long been considered one of the more pitcher-friendly environments in baseball. That’s what makes Paul Blackburn's home vs. road splits so difficult to comprehend.

No pitcher in the game has dominated on the road quite like Blackburn, whose 1.28 ERA over 10 starts on the road is the lowest mark among qualified Major League starters, largely attributing to his unexpected emergence this season. It’s his starts in Oakland where he seems to be a much more hittable pitcher, the latest example coming in the A's 8-3 loss to the Astros on Friday night.

Roughed up by Houston for six earned runs on seven hits and a walk with six strikeouts across four-plus innings, Blackburn’s home ERA inflated to 6.75 on the year. Furthermore, opposing hitters are now batting .297 with seven home runs against him at home, in contrast to just .211 with two home runs on the road.

The most jarring statistic, however, is the disparity between Blackburn’s home and road ERA, which is currently the largest of any pitcher in MLB.

How does one even explain such a bizarre development?

“I don’t know,” Blackburn said. “Honestly, it’s very frustrating. It’s not something that I think about out there. But I feel like every time I walk off that mound, I’m not giving our fans what they came to see. They come to see a good game, and I go out there and I just feel like I don’t give them an enjoyable game to watch.”

Of his 17 starts in 2022, Blackburn has allowed four runs or more just four times. Each of those came at the Coliseum. In 10 road starts, Blackburn has held opponents to two runs or fewer nine times and has yet to allow more than three runs in an outing.

So what can be done to turn things around at home?

“If anyone has any suggestions, please,” Blackburn quipped. “I have no clue why. That’s something I need to figure out.”

The early portion of Friday’s contest brought promising signs of possibly bucking the home woes. Blackburn flawlessly worked through a potent Houston offense, holding the Astros hitless with five strikeouts -- all swinging -- his first time through the order. The fourth inning, however, was when Blackburn hit a wall.

After retiring his first 10 batters faced, Blackburn was hit hard shortly after. The Astros did all their damage in their second turn through the order, going 6-for-9 with two doubles, two homers and six runs.

“Paul came out in those first three innings really dominating with the curveball,” said A’s manager Mark Kotsay. “The curveball had some depth. He was mixing the changeup in and throwing the cutter well. Second time around, just a few mistakes.”

Perhaps the most costly mistake by Blackburn came in the fifth, when he followed up back-to-back singles to lead off the inning with a three-run homer surrendered to catcher Martín Maldonado.

Though Blackburn had already allowed a two-run homer to Alex Bregman one inning prior, the fact that it came on a first-pitch sinker inside that the Astros third baseman pounced on made the result a bit more bearable. But on Maldonado’s homer, Blackburn worked a 1-2 count before hanging a slider that caught far too much of the middle of the zone.

“The pitch to Maldonado was a bad pitch,” Blackburn said. “But the pitch to Bregman I thought was a good pitch. I got them the first time through and they got me the second time through. I know they’re really hot right now. Sometimes you just get beat.”

Even in defeat, though, Blackburn’s quality of pitches, the marquee aspect of what's been a breakout campaign for the right-hander so far this season, was still evident to those in the opposing dugout.

"We were trying to stay off the breaking balls he was throwing because this guy can pitch,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker. “We started hitting his fastball and we got some good swings. We got some very tough at-bats against him."

"He's tough,” Bregman said of Blackburn. “He's really good. ... He's got stuff that moves super late, so you've got to really stay on the baseball."

Blackburn didn’t exactly improve his case to be selected to the All-Star Game, which takes place July 19 at Dodger Stadium. Still, holding a 3.36 ERA, Blackburn has a shot at his first career All-Star selection. Despite possibly being on the All-Star bubble, though, he won’t lose much sleep from now until Sunday, when rosters are announced.

“If my name is called then my name is called,” Blackburn said. “I feel like there’s other things I need to worry about right now. If my name is called, I’ll be extremely happy for it.”