MLB playoffs continue with 3 former NY Mets players having a rough LCS debut

The MLB playoffs began the second round with four LCS match-ups on Saturday. While New York Mets fans paid attention from afar, maybe rooting for certain teams to lose rather than win, several exes got into games and helped blow the whole thing up.

Former Mets players are present on several of the remaining 8 MLB playoff teams. On Saturday, three negatively impacted their team.

1) Paul Blackburn

Paul Blackburn was on the New York Yankees playoff roster for one reason: eat innings in a blowout. Trailing 6-1, Blackburn entered the game with 2 outs in the seventh. He got the last out but stayed in the game and helped let it get out of hand.

Home run, double, single, double, sacrifice fly, ground out, single, single, lineout. When it was all over, Blackburn pitched 1.1 innings for the Yankees and allowed 4 earned runs. But hey, they’ll have a fresh and better arm available on Sunday.

2) David Robertson

David Robertson was meant to have a much more impactful role on the Philadelphia Phillies playoff roster than Blackburn. Summoned from the bullpen in the sixth as the first line of defense in relief of Cristopher Sanchez, he followed the Blackburn pattern by securing the final out of the inning. The trouble began when he came back again.

A leadoff single followed by a hit by pitch had Rob Thomson calling upon Matt Strahm to face Shohei Ohtani. Strahm got him and Andy Pages out. Then the three-batter minimum rule came into effect when he served up a 3-run home run to put the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead for good, 5-3. Because the leading run was charged to Robertson, he took the loss as well.

3) Rafael Montero

In the night cap, it was one more former Mets player’s turn to struggle. Although the Detroit Tigers would eventually win the game, Rafael Montero’s sixth inning performance lasted just the minimum of 3 batters. Not a single one was retired.

A walk followed by two singles tied up the game 2-2. The score would hold until the 11th inning when Detroit took the lead, saving Montero from being chastised harder.