Zito outduels Santana; Big Hurt, A's take Game 1 from Twins

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Barry Zito kept the Twins off-balance with his big curveball and an effective mixture of pitch location and speed. Frank Thomas hit two huge home runs.

Game 1 Breakdown

Unsung Hero Barry Zito. The left-hander outdueled Johan Santana, allowing one run in eight innings. Zito gave up four hits and tossed 92 pitches. Goat The Twins offense were 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and drove in just one run in those situations on a run-scoring groundout in the bottom of the ninth inning. Turning Point The second inning. Frank Thomas hit a solo home run to lead off the inning, and then the A's tacked on a second run thanks to a two-out RBI double by Marco Scutaro. Oakland never surrendered the lead after that. Law's Take The Twins really gave this game to the A's, although Oakland deserves credit for battling Johan Santana all day. The Twins are often praised for being a fundamentally sound team, but they played a sloppy, unintelligent game , starting with a horrible approach at the plate. More from Keith Law On Deck Game 2 is Wednesday in Minnesota. Esteban Loaiza, who was 3-2 with a 5.11 ERA in six September starts, will go for the A's. Rookie Boof Bonser was 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in six September starts.

It is possible to beat Johan Santana at the quirky Metrodome, as Zito, Thomas and the rest of the A's proved.

Zito quieted Minnesota and the crowd for eight innings, besting Santana in Oakland's 3-2 victory over on Tuesday afternoon in the first game of this division series.

"First blood, I think, means a lot -- especially when you're playing on the road," said Zito, who gave up four hits, three walks and one run and struck out one.

Minnesota rookie Boof Bonser will start against Esteban Loaiza in Game 2 on Wednesday afternoon. A season-ending elbow injury to All-Star Francisco Liriano and right-hander Brad Radke's shaky shoulder have left the rotation looking a little thin.

This is a team that was a whopping 10½ games behind Detroit on Aug. 7, though, before overtaking the Tigers to win the AL Central on the final day. Comebacks are nothing new for them.

Minnesota Twins in Game 1: Postseason since 1987
Year	Series	Opponent	Result
2006	ALDS	vs. OAK	L, 3-2
2004	ALDS	at NYY	W, 2-0
2003	ALDS	at NYY	W, 3-1
2002	ALCS	vs. ANA	W, 2-1
2002	ALDS	at OAK	W, 7-5
1991	WS	vs. ATL	W, 5-2
1991	ALCS	vs. TOR	W, 5-4
1987	WS	vs. STL	W, 10-1
1987	ALCS	vs. DET	W, 8-5

"Same as we've been doing all year," said first baseman Justin Morneau, who went 0-for-4. "Everybody's going to say we're done again, but we don't believe that."

Still, Oakland emerged in excellent shape after beating Santana, who was 16-0 over a span of 23 regular-season starts in which the Twins won every time since Aug. 1, 2005.

"Santana's probably going to win another Cy Young," A's first baseman Nick Swisher said. "For us to overcome the noise and all that stuff and win against him is something special."

Thomas went 3-for-4, homering in the ninth off Jesse Crain. The 38-year-old became the oldest player to have a multihomer game in postseason history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

"It was a big day," Thomas said. "I'm just happy to win this first game, because this is a tough place to win ballgames."

Stark's Take
ESPN.com senior baseball writer Jayson Stark feels that the Twins need to get the ball back in Santana's hands, but his loss today could have a ripple effect. • To listen to all of Stark's comments, click here

Closer Huston Street gave one back after a leadoff triple by Michael Cuddyer was lost in the ceiling by right fielder Milton Bradley. Torii Hunter drove in Cuddyer with a groundout, but Rondell White -- who doubled in the fifth and homered in the seventh -- flied out to center to end the game.

"This team's pretty resilient," catcher Joe Mauer said, the major-league batting leader who went 0-for-3 with a walk. "We've dealt with coming from behind before. We're not going to quit until it's done."

The stadium was filled, of course, with 55,542 fans wiggling those white Homer Hankies and roaring every time Santana so much as made a move on the field in the minutes before the game.

But one out after Thomas homered in the second, Jay Payton singled and Marco Scutaro smacked a two-out double down the left-field line to give Oakland an early 2-0 edge.

Zito ran with it, no-hitting Minnesota through 4 2/3 innings and only twice letting a runner get past second base. The left-hander with the big leg kick and even bigger curveball consistently kept the Twins from hitting their sweet spots.

"Everybody's aware of it, but Zito's in the same category as Santana," Street said.

Santana went eight innings and finished with a career playoff-best eight strikeouts.

"Everything was working out pretty good," said Santana, who allowed five hits and walked one. "I was throwing my fastballs in the corners. Everything was fine. Unfortunately you make one mistake, and you pay for it. Today we weren't able to come back."

After his 16-year career with the Chicago White Sox ended badly -- injured ankle, attitude and all -- Thomas has enjoyed a resurgence in his first season with the A's, racking up 39 homers and 114 RBI.

He talked with the Twins, ironically, about joining them to serve as the designated hitter, but they were concerned about his health on the artificial turf and Thomas signed with Oakland instead for $500,000 plus incentives.

"All 30 teams could've had him," A's manager Ken Macha said.

Thomas is 8-for-19 with three homers and five RBI in his career against Santana. The Big Hurt now has 50 homers and 132 RBI in 171 career games against Minnesota, his most against any opponent and the second-most hit by one player against the Twins behind Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson (51).

"It seems like he always gets hot when he comes to play us," Mauer said.

Zito and third baseman Eric Chavez are the only players who were a part of each of Oakland's first-round losers from 2000 to 2003, teams that failed a total of nine times to win games with a chance to eliminate the opponent.

In fact, Ellis, the second baseman, is the only other guy left from 2002, when the A's were beaten in five by the Twins. Zito won Game 3 that year at the Metrodome, Oakland's most recent playoff victory.

With Zito, a pending free agent, likely in his last month with the team, the time might be right for the A's to finally break through.

"We're here to win it," Thomas said.

Game notes
The last postseason homer hit by Thomas was in the 1993 AL Championship Series, in Game 4 against Toronto. ... The teen children of late Twins great Kirby Puckett, who died in March following a stroke, threw out the ceremonial first pitches. ... Minnesota's last loss in a postseason Game 1 was in the 1970 ALCS to Baltimore. The Twins had won eight straight openers.