A's sweep Twins for first playoff series win since '90

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Barry Zito did his best to avoid the party, fearing a flying bottle might accidentally cost him a start on his biggest stage yet: the AL Championship Series.

"I don't want to get hurt celebrating," said the soaked left-hander, who has never missed a start.

The Oakland Athletics swept away years of first-round futility and then partied hard enough to make up for all those missed chances and then some.

Milton Bradley homered and threw out Torii Hunter in a disputed play at the plate as the A's snapped a stretch of nine straight losses in potential playoff clinchers, beating the Minnesota Twins 8-3 on Friday to reach the ALCS for the first time in 14 years.

The A's never trailed in finishing off the Twins in three games and will face either the Detroit Tigers or New York Yankees starting Tuesday night.

Marco Scutaro doubled twice and tied an A's postseason record with four RBI and Eric Chavez homered as the Athletics won a playoff series for the first time since 1990.

"Unbelievable," Chavez said. "It's been a while. We've had a lot of chances at it, and we've finally been able to do it."

Dan Haren escaped two early jams to win in his first postseason start and the A's avoided all of the gaffes that led to their previous postseason flops.

And when closer Huston Street got Luis Castillo to fly out to end it, the A's rushed onto the field for a big group hug.

Minnesota, meanwhile, again had problems. Even the usually reliable Hunter, a five-time Gold Glove winner, ran into trouble.

"Oakland played mistake-free baseball," Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer said. "We usually don't make those mistakes."

After his ill-advised dive led to Mark Kotsay's tiebreaking, inside-the-park homer in Game 2, Hunter got thrown out in a key sixth-inning play Friday.

Down 4-1, the Twins were rallying when Rondell White hit an RBI single. The speedy Hunter also tried to score on the play and Bradley made a strong throw home. Hunter attempted to avoid catcher Jason Kendall's tag and reach the plate with his left hand, but plate umpire Mike Everitt called him out.

Hunter and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire argued to no avail, leaving the Twins trailing 4-2. Hunter said afterward that Kendall never tagged him.

"It was tough to swallow watching those guys celebrate," Hunter said. "We got outplayed. Simple as that. When I saw them jumping up and down it was tough but they deserved it. They outplayed us. I hate it. We hate it. It stunk."

Through all his injuries this year, Bradley kept trusting his arm.

"It's never let me down," he said. "It has stayed strong and it came through for me today."

Hunter and Justin Morneau homered for the Twins, who surprisingly won the AL Central on the season's final day but couldn't stage the kind of first-round comeback they pulled off

against the A's four years ago -- when Brad Radke won the opener and then outpitched Mark Mulder in Game 5.

"This isn't what we came here to do," Morneau said. "It's tough. We didn't play the way we played all year. They outplayed us and that's why they're moving on. In a short series, you can't afford to miss those chances."

Oakland took a surprising 2-0 lead in this series by beating Johan Santana and Boof Bonser in the menacing Metrodome and then scored first again against a reeling Radke in what was likely the retiring right-hander's final career outing.

The A's failed twice to clinch the AL West in their home ballpark but this time got to enjoy a postgame party in their own clubhouse -- which had been alcohol-free since June after pitcher Esteban Loaiza's drunken driving arrest.

Elias Says

Chavez Eric Chavez and Barry Zito tasted victory for the first time after playing on the losing team in each of their four previous postseason series. In postseason history, the distinction of playing in the most series without ever being on the winning side belongs to Ellis Burks, whose team lost each of his six postseason series. Rafael Furcal can join Burks if the Dodgers fail to win three in a row against the Mets. • For more Elias Says, Click here.

"This is special for me," fourth-year A's manager Ken Macha said. "Not many guys get in this position."

Chavez, who played through a variety of injuries this season that affected his swing, had been 1-for-30 in his last two postseasons before connecting off Radke in the second for his first hit of the series. Jay Payton followed with a single and Scutaro doubled him home two batters later.

"I've always been a streaky hitter over my career," Chavez said.

The A's added four more runs in the seventh, three on another double by Scutaro.

Bradley, inconsistent and injured for much of his first season in Oakland, hit a two-run homer in the third for his first hit of the series and a 4-0 lead. He was quickly greeted by hitting coach Gerald Perry. The two exchanged words during Game 2 after Bradley

tossed his batting gloves onto a dugout shelf and accidentally spilled coffee on Loaiza.

Oakland returned home only five days after the NFL's Oakland Raiders played their last game in the Coliseum, leaving large brown spots in the outfield along with visible yard lines.

Yet that didn't make a difference, and a sellout crowd waved white rally towels -- these fans' version of the Metrodome's white Homer Hankies.

The A's kept on the tarps that have covered the stadium's upper deck all season, reducing the capacity to 35,077 that included 1,000 standing-room only tickets. The philosophy: smaller venue, increased demand.

The demand will surely be there now.

Chavez and Zito, the Game 1 winner, are the only players to have experienced all the division series disappointment this decade -- and Chavez acknowledged the A's would have to win this time to avoid future questions about all the failures.

"We've experienced this a few too many times here," said Zito, expected to leave as a free agent after this season. "It's good to get over that hump."

Haren gave up a pair of singles in the first but the A's escaped unscathed after Michael Cuddyer grounded into an inning-ending double play. Morneau reached third with one out in the second and was stranded.

Haren, who pitched twice for St. Louis in the 2004 World Series, was a 14-game winner this season. He pitched eight shutout innings at Minnesota on Sept. 13 and earned this start over Rich Harden,

who missed much of the season with two different injuries.

"It feels great," Haren said. "Nobody expected us to do anything here."

Two of Oakland's nine clinching losses were by Mulder, the pitcher Haren replaced in the rotation. Haren allowed nine hits and two runs in six innings, struck out two and walked one.

The 33-year-old Radke, pitching with a torn labrum and stress fracture in his throwing shoulder that caused him to miss more than a month this season, was done after four innings. He allowed five hits and four runs, struck out two and walked one. He had said he planned to call it quits after a 12-year big-league career but left the door open a crack and said he would make a final decision in the coming days.Game notes
Cuddyer had a seven-game postseason hitting streak snapped. ... Chavez's homer ended an 0-for-12 playoff slump, which included

eight at-bats this series. ... The Twins were hitless in 16 chances with runners in scoring position before White's single.