NEW YORK — Mets right-hander Paul Blackburn was sleeping when pitching coach Jeremy Hefner called him late Tuesday night.

Blackburn was in Rochester, resting ahead of his rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday. But the Mets had news to deliver to the pitcher.

Unable to reach him by phone, they decided to visit him directly.

“I woke up and somebody’s banging on my door,” Blackburn told reporters standing at his locker in the Mets’ clubhouse. “It was like 11:15 p.m.”

The news: he was being scratched from his start in Triple-A and instead being activated off the injured list. After 44 days on the IL with a right shoulder impingement, Blackburn was finally headed back to the big leagues.

“Definitely surprised,” Blackburn said. “Happy to be back.”

The Mets intend to use Blac

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