OAKLAND — At 10 games under .500 with the hope of avoiding their sixth straight losing series, it’s not as if the Athletics show up to the park expecting good things to happen.

So perhaps it wasn’t all that surprising Monday night when it was learned right-handed pitcher Paul Blackburn, the A’s lone participant in the 2022 All-Star Game, had a setback in his rehab because of a blister incurred while pitching for Triple-A Las Vegas.

“Well, we have another finger issue to talk about,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said before the A’s began a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at the Coliseum. “He’s got a blister on his middle finger and we’re treating it and hopefully it’s only a few days. But it does put his next start in question.”

Of course, that’s the best-case scenario. And “best case” isn’t a scenario that has been seen often with the A’s at 3-13 and having lost each of the first five series they’ve played in 2023.

Blackburn, 29, lasted 2 2/3 innings Sunday for Las Vegas, giving up four runs on six hits with two walks. In three rehab starts — two for the Aviators and one in Single-A Stockton — Blackburn has given up 15 hits in 7 1/3 innings with a 7.36 ERA.

The fact that Blackburn had another problem with the same middle finger is more of a issue than the stats, given that rehab starts are more about pitch counts and building up arm strength than carrying out a game plan designed to get outs.

And Blackburn has had just about everything go wrong with the finger as is humanly possible. His year ended on Aug. 4 last season because of a torn tendon that required surgery after posting a 7-6 record and 4.21 ERA in 21 starts.

During spring training, Blackburn was sidelined by a “fingernail avulsion,” or a torn nail, and wound up opening the season on the injured list. With that behind him, the hope for Blackburn was that  he makes a few rehab appearances and will be good to go.

No such luck.

With Drew Rucinski (hamstring) scheduled to make a rehab start for Las Vegas Tuesday, it looks as if the A’s rotation of Kyle Muller, Shintaro Fujinama, James Kaprielian, James Waldichuk and JP Sears could hold for another turn.

If anything, the Athletics are becoming accustomed to bad news.

Their 3-13 record matches the lowest in franchise history after 16 games and the worst in Oakland. The A’s were 3-13 as the Philadelphia A’s in 1951 and the Kansas City A’s in 1966. It hasn’t helped that A’s opponents — the Angels (8-8), Guardians (9-7), Rays (14-2), Orioles (9-7) and Angels (8-8) — had combined for a 50-30 record going into Monday’s games.

“I don’t assess the teams that we’re playing as much as the way we play and if we have a chance to win and be competitive,” Kotsay said. “Would we like to see another team in our situation that we get to play against? For sure, but this is the big leagues and every team is good and every night you’ve got a chance to go out and beat someone that on paper is better than you.”

After a three-game series against the Cubs (8-6), the A’s will take to the road to face the rejuvenated Texas Rangers (9-6) and then four games in Anaheim against the Angels.

It’s not until the A’s return home on April 28 and host Cincinnati (6-9) that they face a team considered to be in their realm.

Included in the historically bad start, series by series:

March 30-April 2: Went 1-2 vs. Angels at Coliseum — After a rousing 2-1 win on Opening Night in the bottom of the ninth, the Athletics are beaten by a combined 19-1 in the next two games.

April 3-April 6: Went 1-2 vs. Cleveland at the Coliseum — Maybe the best the A’s have played given they could have won all three games against the defending A.L. Central champions. Defensive miscues were costly in the first and third games, losing 12-10 and 6-4 in 10-inning games.

April 7-April 9: Went 0-3 at Tampa Bay — Ran into a buzzsaw of historic proportions. The Rays started the season 13-0, and the A’s were barely in their way. Tampa Bay outscored the A’s 31-5, including back-to-back 11-0 wins. To make matters worse, last season’s home run and RBI leader Seth Brown sustained a left oblique strain.

Kotsay said they hoped for a short stay on the I.L. for Brown, but you know how that goes with the A’s. Brown now could miss 40 games.

April 10-April 13: Went 1-3 in Baltimore — The good news was snapping a six-game losing streak 8-4 in the third game of the series. The rest was agonizing. In Game 3, the A’s led 7-3 but lost 12-8 as Ryan Mountcastle drove in nine runs with a three-run home run and a grand slam.

The slam came because Kotsay didn’t want to pitch to Adley Rutschman, walking him to get to Mountcastle. In the last game of the series, Rutschman hit a solo walkoff home run off Trevor May for an 8-7 win in the bottom of the ninth.

April 14-16: Went 0-3 vs. Mets at the Coliseum — The first game of the series could be one of the low points of the season. The A’s lost 17-6 and pitchers walked 17 hitters, with Kotsay conceding his team was “non-competitive” — which is about the worst thing an MLB skipper can say about his own team.

Kotsay was encouraged, if not enthused, by the way the A’s played in the last two games — losing 3-2 and 4-3 in 10 innings.

“The culture of that locker room is still good,” Kotsay said. “They’re still coming her and working, and that’s what’s important, that we don’t lose that culture of allowing us to focus on the day, be in the present, as opposed to worrying what we can’t control. Which is everything that has happened up to now.”

NOTABLE

— Left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady pitched in his first major league game in over a year against the Mets Sunday after recovering from Tommy John surgery, throwing two scoreless innings.

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Lovelady was released by the Kansas City Royals, picked up by the Braves, and arrived with the A’s as a waiver claim. He was 2-0 with a 3.48 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings with the Royals in 2021 at the time of his injury.

“The first time I had my debut, it was a lot different in terms of not knowing how to control emotions,” Lovelady said. “When it’s taken away, you kind of have to step back, reset and take it in and get back to realizing it’s the same game you’ve played since you were a kid, just more advanced.”

Kotsay said they’ll watch Lovelady’s elbow closely but he was encouraged by his A’s debut.

“He threw the ball great. The sinker is real, the slider is firm and has some sharpness to it,” Kotsay said. “The angle is different for a lefty. It was really impressive to watch him.”

— Infielder/outfielder Jace Peterson was out of the lineup with a wrist injury after diving for a ball Sunday. Kotsay said the hope is the injury is minor.