NEW YORK -- Not only did right-hander Paul Blackburn grow up going to Athletics games at the Coliseum, but he ended up playing for them for seven-plus seasons from 2017 until two weeks ago, when Oakland traded him to the Mets for Minor League pitcher Kade Morris before the July 30 Trade Deadline.

Blackburn was off to a good start since joining New York, allowing two earned runs in his first two starts (12 innings). But the A’s put the hammer down on him on Tuesday in Blackburn's first game against them since the trade -- and his home debut at Citi Field.

Blackburn was out of the game after four innings and the Mets ended up losing their fourth straight game, 9-4.

The Athletics didn’t waste time getting to Blackburn. It started in the first inning, when he found himself often behind in the count. Before anyone knew it, the A’s had the bases loaded when Seth Brown stepped into the batter’s box and doubled to right center-field, clearing the bases and giving Oakland a quick 3-0 lead.

Things settled down in the second inning, as Blackburn retired the side. However, things started to unravel the following inning when Oakland scored four runs, highlighted by a three-run homer by Blackburn's former catcher, Shea Langeliers.

"He’s got six pitches and can throw them all for strikes and get guys out,” Langeliers said. “That’s what I was telling guys pregame. He can get guys out every way with every pitch. There’s not one way he’s going to pitch everybody. He’s going to do a bunch of different stuff, so you really just have to do what you can to zone him in, pick a side of the plate and go from there.”

Even armed with that arsenal of pitches including his cutter, four-seam fastball and slider, Blackburn acknowledged that he couldn’t rely on any of them on Tuesday. He knew by the first inning it was going to be a tough day.

"It’s not being able to make a pitch when I need to make a pitch. Going out there and giving up a three spot is not setting up for any kind of success or momentum for the offense,” Blackburn said. “[After a] tough road trip, I was hoping to come here and get through the first quickly and give the guys a chance on the offensive side. That didn’t work out tonight.”

For Blackburn, it felt weird facing the A’s. After all, he suited up with them for seven-plus years, making his first All-Star Game in 2022 as well.

"There were a lot of emotions with that. … I kind of got outside of myself there, which I think kind of led to just being a little sporadic throughout the night," he said. “But by the end of the day, I didn’t get the job done."

Blackburn’s counterpart, right-hander Joe Boyle, was blowing almost everything by the Mets during the first four innings with his blazing fastball that was clocked as high as 100.7 mph, but he didn’t get the win because he left the game in the fifth inning, when New York scored three runs highlighted by a two-run single by Pete Alonso. Oakland put the game on ice by adding two more runs in the sixth.

"Obviously, I wish my home debut went a lot better. Now I have to put that behind me and, in five days, go back out there,” Blackburn said.

The Athletics’ respect for Blackburn never wavered. According to A’s manager Mark Kotsay, Blackburn spent a long time establishing relationships, which tells you the type of person that he is.

"As far as the pitcher, he’s a competitor,” Kotsay said. “Tonight might have had a little more meaning to him. As far as how he goes about his business, he’s a pro. … He’s a big league pitcher. He’s been that for a long time, even though the injuries have limited some of his opportunities over the last few seasons. I’m hoping [the Mets] get a healthy Paul for the remainder of the year and that he has a lot of success.”