OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland is likely headed for the Fall Classic, and Boston has helped by taking a classic fall.
Showing their depth and exploiting blunders Tuesday, the Athletics moved within one victory of their third straight World Series berth with a 4-1 triumph over the Red Sox.
Seldom has any club flopped the way Boston has in this series. The Red Sox have been outscored 17-3, are hitting .198, and have made four errors to Oakland's one. Catcher Tony Pena committed two defensive lapses Tuesday, leading to three runs. Red Sox starter Mike Boddicker added to the embarrassment by using a windup with a man on base.
'We gotta' be going bad, the (security) guard wouldn't even let me in here,' Boston Manager Joe Morgan said in the post-game interview room. 'Do you believe that? He wanted to stop me.'
Somebody should stop something, namely this series. That should take care of itself Wednesday at 3:15 p.m. EDT, when four-time 20-game winner Dave Stewart opposes Boston ace Roger Clemens.
Stewart said Morgan's choice for Game 4 starter is another blunder. Clemens has made just two starts since Sept. 4 because of tendinitis and fluid buildup in his pitching shoulder.
'I was surprised,' Stewart said. 'He's not the Roger Clemens who pitched this year. He's tired. Physically, his arm is not strong. I would think they would be more careful with a pitcher of his calibre and let him concentrate on letting him get well for next year.
'They're down 3-0 and they do not have the kind of team that can beat us four straight.'
Willie Randolph, playing because of an injury to Walt Weiss, delivered two RBI singles and Terry Steinbach scored a run by knocking the ball out of catcher Tony Pena's glove.
'I've been in postseason play,' Randolph said. 'Every at-bat is important.'
Randolph capped a two-run fourth inning and prolonged a two-run sixth, rallying Oakland to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven American League playoff. With a victory in Game 4, Oakland can wrap up its second playoff sweep of Boston in three years.
Oakland Manager Tony La Russa resisted an invitation to say that there might not be a fifth game.
'Anybody who asks me about Game 5, I wouldn't answer it,' La Russa said.
When told that Morgan had called the A's the best team in the world, he said, 'If you don't have confidence in your club, forget about it. We've got one more win for the ALCS. We're going to be ready.'
Mike Moore, who lost three of his last four regular-season decisions, allowed one run in six innings, shrugging off Tom Brunansky's second- inning sacrifice fly to notch his fourth triumph in as many postseason starts.
'Once you get to this point in the season I want to go out and contribute any way I can,' Moore said. 'Tony had confidence in me.'
Dennis Eckersley pitched the ninth for his second save of the series and his sixth in Oakland's last seven playoff victories over Boston.NEWLN: more
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Never has a major-league club rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to take a postseason series. Such a rally seems all the more improbable against the A's.
Oakland has set a major-league mark with 20 league championship series victories. It has also won nine straight postseason games, while Boston has lost a record seven straight in the playoffs.
'The bats are kind of silent as you know,' Morgan said. 'That's the way we go, up and down. Bad time to be going the other way, though.'
Randolph's contributions illustrated the club's depth, while Steinbach's charge symbolized the beating that Boston has absorbed.
Randolph, whose first playoff experience came 15 years ago with the Pittsburgh Pirates, started neither of the first two games. But with Weiss out at shortstop with a knee injury, he played second base with Mike Gallego switching to short.
'I wouldn not consider it an insult,' Randolph said of not starting Games 1 and 2. 'I was a little disappointed.'
Randolph arrived from Los Angeles in a May 12 trade.
'Not playing every day is an adjustment but I was able to get a feel for it after about a month.'
Oakland's lineup changes made virtually no difference. For the third straight game, Boston took a 1-0 lead, only to be overtaken and then buried in the later innings. Oakland even managed to turn a Red Sox defensive gem into an edge.
With Oakland holding a 2-1 lead in the sixth, Boston shortstop Luis Rivera committed an error on Harold Baines' grounder to the hole. Left fielder Mike Greenwell leapt against the left-field wall to rob Mark McGwire, but Baines alertly tagged and took second.
Dave Henderson was hit by a pitch and Steinbach forced Henderson. Randolph singled in Baines and, with Gallego batting, Oakland attempted a double steal. Though beaten by five feet and with Pena in position to defend the plate, Steinbach ran over the catcher.
Another embarrassment occurred in the eighth when, with Henderson on first, Boddicker pitched from a windup, leading to an easy steal of second.
'That's the first thing you learn in Class A ball,' Henderson said. 'The pitcher goes into a windup, that's a free base.'
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the second. With one out, Greenwell walked and Dwight Evans lined a hit-and-run single. Brunansky lifted a sacrifice fly.
Oakland failed to capitalize when Boddicker hit McGwire to lead off the second. But Boddicker walked Jose Canseco opening the fourth and, this time, the A's pounced for a 2-1 lead.
Baines singled to right, moving Canseco to second. With the runners moving, McGwire struck out on a full count and the Red Sox should have had a double play. But Pena threw low to third and Wade Boggs could not come up with the ball.
Instead of having two out and a runner on second, the A's had second and third with one out. Dave Henderson used the extra out to lift a sacrifice fly to right, and Randolph followed by singling home Baines.
