Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski jumps into the arms of Twins stopper Eddie Guardado. The Twins will face Anaheim in the ALCS. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        OAKLAND, Calif. — Different opponent, same result. For the third straight year, the Oakland Athletics' season ended in the decisive Game 5 of the AL division series.

        The previous two years, they lost to the powerful New York Yankees. This time, it was the underdog Minnesota Twins, who held on 5-4 Sunday to advance to the AL championship series against Anaheim.

        “Don't remind me,” A's manager Art Howe said of the last three years. “I'm not looking forward to the offseason thinking about it, but it's better being there than being home at the end of the season. We'll find a way to get it done.”

        The A's, who won a league-record 20 straight games late this season and tied for the major league lead with 103 victories, had a 2-1 lead in this series.

        But the Athletics allowed seven unearned runs in the fourth inning of an 11-2 loss Saturday in Minnesota, and seemed much tighter than the Twins on Sunday.

        Catcher Ramon Hernandez seemed to epitomize Oakland's struggles on Sunday. Mired in a series-long batting slump, he failed to move from his position on a foul pop in the sixth inning that fell harmlessly behind the plate.

        The A's rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth and had the winning run at the plate when closer Eddie Guardado got Ray Durham to foul out to end the game. The Twins had scored three in the top of the ninth off Oakland stopper Billy Koch.

        “This one is difficult because we got some tallies in the bottom of the ninth,” Howe said. “I feel for Billy. Billy's done a tremendous job for us all year long, and this is one of the times he didn't get it done.”

        Koch declined to speak with the media after the game.

        After losing in the first round to the Yankees in 2000 and blowing a 2-0 lead over New York in the division series last year, Howe tried to change things this year by going with a three-man rotation.

        Howe figured his three young starters — Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito — were as good as any in the league. He also gambled that Hudson and Mulder would be fresh enough to pitch on three days' rest.

        But Hudson lasted just 3 1-3 innings on Saturday in Game 4, and Mulder got off to a slow start on Sunday. He allowed eight hits in the first four innings, including a double in each of those innings.

        Mulder said he wasn't bothered by starting on short rest.

        “In fact, I had a little too much energy in the beginning. I was overthrowing,” Mulder said. “Then I settled down and I was fine.”

        The Twins only got two runs out of those eight hits, and Mulder settled down after that, but Minnesota had a lead it would not give up.

        Mark Ellis tried to rally the A's, hitting a three-run homer off Guardado with one out in the ninth. But Terrence Long flied out and, after Randy Velarde singled, Durham fouled out to end it.

        “We had some opportunities that we didn't take advantage of,” Durham said. “It's tough to swallow.”

Once again, Oakland loses Game 5 in opening round San Fran knots it up Home alone: Yankees not used to early exit MLB playoffs notebook

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