Oakland vs. Minnesota
Game 1 Network Associates Coliseum in
Oakland, California {{Linescore| The A's struck first in the bottom of the first off
Brad Radke when with runners on first and second on a walk and fielder's choice error,
Eric Chavez drove in both with a single right. Chavez reached second on another error, then scored on
David Justice's two-out single, all three runs unearned. The Twins cut the lead to 3–1 when
Torii Hunter doubled to lead off the second off
Tim Hudson and scored on
Michael Cuddyer's one-out double. In the bottom of the inning,
Ray Durham doubled with two outs, then scored on
Scott Hatteberg's single. After another Twins error put runners on first and third, Chavez's single scored Hatteberg. In the third, the Twins cut the A's lead to 5–3 on
Corey Koskie's two-run home run.
Doug Mientkiewicz's leadoff home run in the sixth cut it to 5–4 A's. After Cuddyer grounded out,
Ted Lilly relieved Hudson and allowed back-to-back singles to
A. J. Pierzynski and
Luis Rivas.
Jacque Jones's RBI double then tied the game and after a walk, Koskie's RBI groundout put the Twins up 6–5. They added insurance in the seventh when Cuddyer singled with two outs off
Cory Lidle and scored on Pierzynki's triple. The Minnesota bullpen pitched four innings of shutout ball to escape with a stunning 7–5 victory over the Athletics.
Game 2 Network Associates Coliseum in
Oakland, California {{Linescore| Oakland dominated Twin starter
Joe Mays from the get-go and never looked back. Third baseman
Eric Chavez hit a three-run home run in the first inning, and the A's added five more runs in the fourth.
Ray Durham was hit by a pitch with one out, then scored on
Miguel Tejada's two-out double. After Chavez was intentionally walked, Mays was pulled from the game after innings. After
Tony Fiore walked
Jermaine Dye to load the bases,
David Justice cleared them with a triple before Justice scored on
Mark Ellis's double. The A's added another run in the fifth when Durham doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on
Scott Hatteberg's single. The Twins' lone run came on a
Cristian Guzmán home run in the sixth inning as the series was tied 1–1 heading to Minnesota.
Game 3 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in
Minneapolis, Minnesota {{Linescore|
Ray Durham stunned the Twin fans inside the Metrodome by leading off the game with an inside-the-park home run off
Rick Reed, the first in Division Series history.
Scott Hatteberg hit a home run to right field moments later to stake 23-game winner
Barry Zito to a 2–0 lead.
Terrence Long's home run in the fourth made it 3–0 A's. The Twins cut it to 3–1 on
A. J. Pierzynski's RBI single with runners on first and third. Next inning,
Jacque Jones drew a leadoff walk, then scored on
Corey Koskie's one-out double. One out later, Koskie scored on
Torii Hunter's single to tie the game, but in the sixth,
Jermaine Dye's leadoff home run put the A's up 4–3 off Reed. Next inning,
Johan Santana walked Durham with one out and
Randy Velarde's pinch-hit double made it 5–3 A's. Verlade moved to third on the throw to home. Michael Jackson replaced Santana and allowed a sacrifice fly to
Miguel Tejada to make it 6–3 A's. This was just the second postseason loss at the HHH Metrodome for the Twins (11–1 home record coming into the game), the last coming in 1991 to Toronto in the ALCS.
Game 4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in
Minneapolis, Minnesota {{Linescore| The A's struck first on
Miguel Tejada's two-run home run after a two-out walk off
Eric Milton in the third, but in the bottom of the inning, the Twins tied the score on
Cristian Guzman's RBI groundout with runners on second and third followed by
David Ortiz's RBI double off
Tim Hudson. Next inning, an error on
Luis Rivas's ground ball with runners on first and second scored a run and put runners on second and third. A wild pitch scored another run before
Jacque Jones was hit by a pitch. Another A's error on
Cristian Guzman's ground ball scored another run and put runners on first and third.
Ted Lilly in relief allowed an RBI single to
Corey Koskie. After
David Ortiz struck out, a wild pitch to
Torii Hunter scored another run before Hunter's double and
Doug Mientkiewicz's single scored a run each, all seven runs scored in this inning unearned. Mientkiewicz's two-run home run in the seventh after a lead off single off Lilly made it 11–2 Twins. and that was all starter
Eric Milton needed, forcing a decisive Game 5 in Oakland.
Game 5 Network Associates Coliseum in
Oakland, California {{Linescore| The Twins struck first in the second off
Mark Mulder on
Denny Hocking's based loaded two-out single. Next inning,
Cristian Guzman hit a lead off double, then scored on
Matt LeCroy's one-out single.
Ray Durham's home run in the bottom of the inning off
Brad Radke made it 2–1 Twins, which stayed that way until the ninth, when
Dustan Mohr drew a leadoff walk off
Billy Koch, then a home run from
A. J. Pierzynski made it 4–1 Twins. Two outs later,
Corey Koskie' singled, moved to second on a walk, and scored on an RBI double from
David Ortiz. Oakland cut the lead to 5–4 off Twin closer
Eddie Guardado in the bottom of the inning on
Mark Ellis's three-run home run to left.
Randy Velarde singled with two outs to represent the tying run when Ray Durham fouled out to second to end the series. Minnesota's victory secured its place in the American League Championship Series. This was the Twins' most recent playoff series win until 2023.
Composite box 2002 ALDS
(3–2): Minnesota Twins over
Oakland Athletics ==Notes==