Oakland, CA (My Sportsbook) - The Oakland Athletics hope to avoid falling behind by a two-games-to-none margin in their best-of-five American League Division Series this afternoon, when they tangle with the Minnesota Twins at the Coliseum.

Corey Koskie slammed a two-run homer and finished with three RBI to lead the Twins to a 7-5 come-from-behind victory in Game 1 of this set on Tuesday. A.J. Pierzynski finished 4-for-4 with an RBI and Doug Mientkiewicz blasted a solo home run for Minnesota, which survived three errors and overcame a four-run deficit.

"We embarrassed ourselves for the first three innings there, not catching the ball and sort of looking like follies," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We always talk about playing nine innings, though. Today, we played six, and it was good enough."

Mike Cuddyer contributed two hits, a run scored and an RBI for the Twins, who are in the playoffs for the first time since winning a thrilling World Series against the Atlanta Braves in 1991.

Brad Radke picked up the win, surrendering five runs -- one earned -- on eight hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out three. The Twins' bullpen combined for four shutout frames, with Eddie Guardado notching the final three outs to collect the save.

Eric Chavez was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored for Oakland, which is making its third consecutive postseason appearance and is hoping to avoid a first-round loss for the third year in a row.

"Last year [against the Yankees], we won the first game and ended up losing," explained A's skipper Art Howe. "The year before, we won the first game and ended up losing. What we've been through the last couple of years should show us this isn't the end of the road."

Reliever Ted Lilly suffered the loss after yielding a pair of runs on three hits in just two-thirds of an inning. Tim Hudson started for the A's and gave up four runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 frames. The righthander, who is slated to come back on three days' rest if a fourth game is necessary, walked a pair and struck out four, while serving up two home runs. He threw just 77 pitches.

"The bottom line is we just didn't pitch today," stated Hudson, who went 15-9 with a 2.98 ERA during the regular season. "They gave us some breaks early in the game, [but] they settled down. Obviously we would've liked to have won, but there's a lot of baseball left to be played."

Mark Mulder, who finished the regular season with a 19-7 record and a 3.47 earned run average, takes the ball today for the AL West champs. Mulder last toed the slate on Friday, tossing seven scoreless frames of three-hit ball in a win over the Texas Rangers. He walked one and fanned five.

The victory was the lefthander's sixth in a row, spanning nine outings. Since going 9-5 with a 3.99 ERA in the first half of the season, Mulder is 10-2 with 3.08 earned run average. He has not lost since August 11 and has tossed seven innings or more in eight of his last nine starts. In 13 appearances at home in 2002, the 25-year-old hurler was 7-3 with a 3.27 ERA and two complete games.

Lifetime, Mulder is 4-2 versus Minnesota. He faced the Twins three times this year and finished 1-1 with one complete game and a 2.16 earned run average. In a pair of outings in the ALDS a season ago, Mulder was 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA. He will be making the third start of his career in the postseason.

Joe Mays counters for the AL Central winners. Mays, a year after going 17-13 and earning a spot on the American League All-Star Team, was just 4-8 in 2002 with a 5.38 earned run average.

The righthander last pitched on Friday, when he surrendered one run on five hits over six innings in a no-decision against the Chicago White Sox. He was bombed by the Pale Hose in his previous trip to the rubber for seven runs in just four frames and has dropped three of his last four decisions coming into this contest.

On the road this season, the 26-year-old hurler went 2-6 with a 6.75 ERA in nine tries. Mays is 2-3 for his career against the A's, including 0-1 in 2002. He battled Oakland twice during the regular season and allowed a total of six runs -- five earned -- on 15 hits in 13 1/3 innings.

The A's won the season series by a 6-3 margin, including four victories in six attempts at the Coliseum. Oakland compiled a 54-27 mark at the home during the regular season, while Minnesota was 40-40 on the road this season. Its 40 road wins were the lowest among the eight playoff teams.

This series shifts to the Metrodome for Game 3 on Friday, when Barry Zito (23-5, 2.75) battles Rick Reed (15-7, 3.78).