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10/04/2002 6:28 pm ET
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A's homer past Twins
Zito picks up win, Oakland takes 2-1 series lead
By Mychael Urban / MLB.com
MINNEAPOLIS -- The A's have a three-pronged philosophy about how to win baseball games, and it's taught from rookie ball to the big leagues. Friday's 6-3 win over the host Twins in Game 3 of the American League Division Series followed the organizational blueprint to the letter, and it has Oakland on the brink of erasing some painful postseason memories.
The A's rely on power, pitching and patience. The Three P's. And as they took a 2-1 series lead in a strange game at the headache that is the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, all three factored heavily. They hit four homers, their Cy Young candidate threw six solid innings, and a seventh-inning walk set the stage for the game-clinching rally.
"This is what we do," said Barry Zito, who won his 24th game of the year and extended his personal winning streak to nine. "We take pitches, we hit homers, and we hope the pitching makes it stand."
For the past two games the formula was worked like a dream, and if they can run that streak to three Saturday with Tim Hudson on the mound for Game 4, they'll move on to the AL Championship Series.
They fell one win short of the ALCS in the past two postseasons, both times losing to the Yankees, and in 2001 wasting a 2-0 series lead. Now they've got two chances to right those wrongs.
"We're right there," said manager Art Howe, "and obviously we feel very good about it. But if there's one thing the past couple of years -- particularly last year -- have taught us, it's that you can't take anything for granted."
And if there's one thing the A's have taught the rest of baseball, it's that their philosophy works. Sure, they lucked out to an extent with the rapid development of players such as Zito, Hudson, Mark Mulder and Eric Chavez. But even the drafting of said stars speaks to the team's commitment to The Three P's.
So did Friday. And for that matter, Wednesday's Game 2.
After blowing a four-run lead on the way to a disheartening loss in Game 1, the A's were in a must-win situation in front of their home crowd, and to a man they spoke of the need to get another early lead. Presto: Ray Durham worked a walk to open the first inning, and Chavez's three-run homer was all Mulder needed to even the series.
Game 3 played out in similar style.
Before Zito even took the mound, he was staked to a 2-0 lead when Durham and Scott Hatteberg became the first-ever duo to open a playoff game with back-to-back jacks.
Zito showed his appreciation by getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and stranding a runner at second base in the third, and Terrence Long made it 3-0 with a shot into the upper deck in the top of the fourth.
"We knew that if we put some runs up early, we'd be all right," said Long. "Zito's been solid for us all year long, so we expected more of the same today. And with a 3-0 lead, it doesn't matter which one of our guys we've got out there. We feel pretty good about it."
But the lead was trimmed when the Twins used a double by Torii Hunter and two bloop singles to score a run in the fourth, and the lead was gone an inning later when Corey Koskie tripled in a run and scored on a single by Hunter.
The decibels grew. Hankies waved. The largest baseball crowd in Metrodome history was afire.
Enter Jermaine Dye, who threw a big wet blanket over everything with a rocket into the left-field bleachers to open the top of the sixth. Energized, Zito gave the A's exactly what they needed: a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth. They call it a shut down inning, and it pretty much shut down the crowd for the day.
"That was the key inning of the game," said A's catcher Ramon Hernandez. "Barry, he was on in the first three innings, but then it started to slip away. After Jermaine's home run, he got it back. That was big for us."
Equally big was the walk Durham drew in with one out in the seventh. Patience isn't very sexy, but the A's are in love with it, and Randy Velarde showed why. His pinch-hit double scored speedy Durham from first, and when the Twins threw home on the play, Velarde took third. Miguel Tejada's sacrifice fly gave Oakland a three-run lead.
"Those were two big runs for them," conceded Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire.
Zito, his pitch count over 100, turned the game over to the bullpen for the final three innings and never did the tying run step to the plate. Ricardo Rincon worked the seventh and eighth, Billy Koch picked up the save, and The Three P's prevailed yet again.
"It's games like these," Zito said, nodding his head, "that make you realize, Damn, we're pretty good at this.'"
Mychael Urban covers the Oakland A's for MLB.com and can be reached at murban@oaklandathletics.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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