Blackburn held the Angels' hot offense to just five hits while walking none and striking out one, lowering his ERA to 2.60 over seven starts. The 23-year-old pitched into the seventh and retired the first two batters he faced before allowing a two-out single to Ben Revere. He departed with a 3-0 lead after throwing a career-high 112 pitches.
"He's been about as consistent as anybody we've had," A's manager Bob Melvin said of Blackburn. "He's a guy that you really look forward to getting on the mound now. You know defensively that he's going to throw strikes and he's going to put the ball in play and guys enjoy playing behind him.