Howe Wanted to Save Hudson

It wasn’t exactly Gene Mauch pulling Mike Witt in the ninth inning of Game 5 in the 1986 American League championship series, but Oakland Manager Art Howe took some heat for yanking starter Tim Hudson with the A’s leading, 5-4, the bases empty and one out in the sixth inning Tuesday.

Hudson was very “un-Hudson-like,” in the words of teammate Ray Durham, giving up three runs and six hits in the first three innings, but the right-hander found a groove in the fourth, blowing a 94-mph fastball by Jacque Jones and getting Cristian Guzman to foul out with runners on second and third to end the inning.

Hudson, who took an eight-game win streak into the playoffs, retired the side in order in the fifth before giving up a solo homer to Doug Mientkiewicz to open the sixth.

After Michael Cuddyer’s groundout on Hudson’s 77th pitch, Howe, knowing Hudson will start Game 4, if necessary, on three days’ rest, went to left-hander Ted Lilly, who coughed up the lead by giving up three straight hits and an RBI groundout.

“I was very surprised he took him out--usually you let your horse go longer, and he wasn’t losing,” Durham said. “I’m not the manager, but I felt he was still in control of the game.”

Said Howe: “I just thought he wasn’t as sharp as he could be. He gave up a couple of home runs.... That’s not healthy, and I wanted to get him a win. We had our left-handers ready to come in, and it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.”

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Twin pitcher Brad Radke, who gave up five runs, one earned, and eight hits in five innings to gain the victory Tuesday, was one of four players--Guzman, David Ortiz and Denny Hocking were the others--who boarded the wrong subway train at their San Francisco hotel and didn’t reach Network Associates Coliseum until two hours before gametime. General Manager Terry Ryan was also in the lost party.

Not that this surprised anyone in the Twins’ clubhouse.

“We’ve had guys go to the Astrodome in Houston, and they don’t even play there anymore,” Mientkiewicz said. “We’ve had guys go to Shea Stadium in New York when we’re playing in Yankee Stadium. We’re not the smartest group of guys.”

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Oakland reserve Olmedo Saenz suffered a ruptured right Achilles’ tendon running out a ground ball in the eighth inning Tuesday and is out for the rest of the playoffs. The A’s won’t be able to replace him on their roster unless they advance to the next round.... Torii Hunter’s double in the second inning Tuesday was his first hit in 12 at-bats in his career against Hudson.... The Twins committed three errors in a game only three times during the regular season; they had three errors in the first two innings Tuesday.

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HOW THEY SCORED

FIRST INNING: Athletics 3, Twins 0--With one out, Hatteberg walked. Tejada reached on fielder’s choice and Guzman’s error, Hatteberg stopping at second. Chavez singled to right, scoring Hatteberg, Tejada taking third. On Pierzynski’s error, Tejada scored, Chavez took second. Dye grounded to third. Justice singled to center, scoring Chavez. Ellis struck out. Three runs, two hits, two errors, one left.

SECOND INNING: Athletics 3, Twins 1--Hunter doubled to center. Mientkiewicz flied to center, Hunter taking third. Cuddyer doubled to left, scoring Hunter. Pierzynski singled to left, Cuddyer stopping at third. Rivas grounded into a double play at third. One run, three hits, one left.

Athletics 5, Twins 1--With two out, Durham doubled to left. Hatteberg singled to right, scoring Durham. Tejada reached on Koskie’s error, Hatteberg taking third. Chavez singled to center, scoring Hatteberg, Tejada taking third. Dye popped to first. Two runs, three hits, one error, two left.

THIRD INNING: Athletics 5, Twins 3--With one out, Guzman infield single to short. Koskie homered to right, his first. Ortiz flied to right. Hunter walked. Mientkiewicz grounded to second. Two runs, two hits, one left.

SIXTH INNING: Twins 6, Athletics 5--Mientkiewicz homered to right, his first. Cuddyer grounded to third. Lilly replaced Hudson. Pierzynski singled to left. Rivas singled to left, Pierzynski stopping at second. Jones doubled to left, scoring Pierzynski, Rivas stopping at third. Guzman walked. Koskie grounded to first, scoring Rivas, Jones stopping at third, Guzman stopping at second. Ortiz struck out. Three runs, four hits, two left.

SEVENTH INNING: Twins 7, Athletics 5--Lidle replaced Lilly. Hunter grounded to third. Mientkiewicz grounded to first. Cuddyer infield single to third. Pierzynski tripled to center, scoring Cuddyer. Rivas flied to center. One run, two hits, one left.