By Greg Beacham
The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. - Though Ramon Hernandez's bunt caught the Boston Red Sox by surprise, his Oakland teammates and coaches had their suspicions.

One by one, the Oakland Athletics arrived at the same unlikely conclusion in the 12th inning of their playoff opener: Hernandez just might be crazy enough to bunt with the bases loaded and two outs in a tie game.

Manager Ken Macha thought about it when third baseman Bill Mueller backed up. Third-base coach Ron Washington relayed his suspicions to Eric Chavez, who scored the winning run in Oakland's 5-4 victory Wednesday night.

"I told him (to) be alive in case Ramon dropped a bunt," Washington said. "I told him if (Mueller) goes back, Ramon may drop a bunt. I had a feeling, and I'll be darned if he didn't do it. Gutsy, huh?"

By the time Chavez crossed the plate shortly after 11:45 p.m., the teams were barely more than 13 hours away from the start of Game 2 on Thursday.

At 4 hours, 37 minutes, the game was the longest in Oakland's postseason history, and it ended in the most improbable way: with the hard-hitting A's playing small-ball to eke out a run.

"What an ending. Who would have thought that? A's win with a bunt," Macha said. "Shame on anybody who missed it."

By the time Hernandez won it, the pitchers' duel between Pedro Martinez and Tim Hudson was long forgotten, and Todd Walker's two homers for Boston were mostly inconsequential. Only Hernandez's moxie will be remembered.

"It was the biggest hit in my career," said Hernandez, an All-Star catcher who's known for occasional bunts. "When you're playing a team like the Red Sox that's got good pitching and good hitting, you've got to try whatever you can to win."

After Boston reliever Byung-Hyun Kim's troubles set up a tying single by Erubiel Durazo with two outs in the ninth, Chavez made two exceptional plays to put Oakland in position for an extra-inning win in its fourth straight trip to the division series.

Chavez helped prevent Boston from taking the lead in the top of the 12th, making a tremendous play at third base. On the basepaths moments later, he alertly stole third, forcing Derek Lowe to intentionally walk Terrence Long to load the bases.

Hernandez and Chavez both acted on their own, according to Macha.

"Freaky, just freaky," Chavez said. "It was probably the best game I've ever been involved in."

Walker and Martinez put Boston in position for a win in the AL's toughest road ballpark. Then came the latest postseason misadventure for Kim, whose struggles nearly cost Arizona its World Series title two years ago.

In the ninth, Kim walked a batter and hit another before Durazo drove home pinch-runner Eric Byrnes with a tying two-out single off Alan Embree.

"Both teams were battling, and the game has got to end somehow," Boston manager Grady Little said. "We've had losses like that during the season. We've rebounded well before, and hopefully we'll be able to do it tomorrow."

Little said Lowe will be fine to start on Saturday in Game 3.

In the 11th, Little showed just how much he trusts his bullpen by calling on Lowe. The right-hander got into trouble in the 12th, walking three batters and allowing Chavez's steal with his deliberate motion.

Chavez scored without a throw when Hernandez's bunt caught the Red Sox napping. The A's mobbed Hernandez at first base.

After Keith Foulke pitched three innings of scoreless relief for the A's, they went to rookie Rich Harden. He walked two batters and threw a wild pitch in the 12th, but Chavez saved the inning by fielding Gabe Kapler's sharp grounder and diving to tag third base before Manny Ramirez got there.

Harden, called up to the majors after the All-Star break, got the win in his playoff debut.

Jason Varitek homered and reached base four times for the Red Sox, who added another heartbreaking playoff defeat to the star-crossed franchise's overflowing collection. Boston has lost seven of its last eight playoff openers.

Martinez yielded six hits and four walks in seven innings, throwing a season-high 130 pitches. But Boston's imposing ace was never far from trouble: He allowed three runs in the third, threw out a runner at home in the fifth and barely escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.

Durazo, who had an early two-run double against Martinez, tied it with a clean single to center that delighted most of the 50,606 fans in the packed ballpark.

Walker, a well-traveled second baseman in his first year with the Red Sox, hit a solo homer in his first career playoff at-bat. After two singles in the middle innings, he hit a two-run homer off reliever Ricardo Rincon in the seventh, giving Boston a 4-3 lead.

Hudson allowed 10 hits and three runs. The damage could have been worse, but Ramirez stranded five runners while going 0-for-5.