Daren Haren pitched six shutout innings and five Oakland pitchers in all combined on a seven-hitter to keep the A’s in second place in the AL West, despite a sub-.500 record (26-30). Haren allowed just three hits with six strikeouts and two walks and left after six innings with a 1-0 lead.

However, Jason Kubel hit a run-scoring single in the seventh inning off reliever Kiko Calero to tie the score, with Ryan Keisler and Brad Halsey both needed to pitch out of the seventh inning. Halsey (2-2) recorded two outs in the seventh and got credit for the win before Huston Street pitched two shutout innings, the eighth and ninth, to close the game out for his ninth save, completing a seven-hitter.

Oakland manager Ken Macha gave credit to Street for the win, as his closer has battled through some problems all season.

“It was a big day for Street,” Macha told reporters. “He’s had his bumps in the road. Hopefully this will get him back to what he did for us last year.” Jason Kendall had two hits for the A’s, who had eight hits, before they turned to Street for his longest outing of the year.

“It just so happened that he had to get all six of the outs,” Macha said. “We give up the lead, we’re in big trouble.”

Brad Radke (4-7) pitched seven strong innings for the Twins, but was still charged with his third straight loss despite allowing just two runs—one earned—on eight hits. He struck out one and walked two. Joe Mauer and Kubel both had two hits for the Twins, who will try to salvage a split of the four-game series with a win in Sunday’s series finale.

Jesse Crain finished up by pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Twins, who are 25-30 overall and 2-4 so far on their 10-day road trip.

In Baltimore, Johnny Damon homered in the 10th inning to lift the injury-riddled New York Yankees past the Orioles 6-5.

In the National League in New York, Aramis Ramirez hit a grand slam home run and Phil Nevin hit a two-run homer in his first start with Chicago as the Cubs downed the St. Louis Cardinals 8-5 in National League play yesterday in St. Louis.

It was a bad day all around for the Cardinals, who lost slugger Albert Pujols with a strained right oblique muscle. Pujols, who leads the major leagues in home runs with 25 and RBI 65, pulled up and grabbed his right side after chasing a foul pop by Ramirez in the second inning.

He left the game and the club said he would be re-evaluated on Sunday, but the early prognosis did not look promising. “He’s going to miss a significant period of time,” St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa told reporters. “Anywhere from little significant to real significant. We can’t tell for another 18-24 (hours). But it’s something we’ve got to deal with.”

Ramirez hit his grand slam in the fourth and Ronny Cedeno added a run-scoring single later in the inning to highlight a five-run Chicago outburst that erased an early 1-0 Cards lead off starter Mark Mulder. Mulder (5-4) allowed eight runs - five of them earned - on 12 hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out one and walking two.

Pujols’ injury dominated the conversation after the game, however, and LaRussa told reporters he hoped for a short absence. “If you told me right now he’d be out two weeks, I’d buy you dinner the rest of the year,” LaRussa added.

Nevin followed with his blast in the fourth and that was all the offense the Cubs would need to record their second straight win over the Cardinals in the three-game series. The Cubs pounded out 13 hits, with Michael Barrett and Jacque Jones each having three hits, with Barrett scoring a pair of runs and Jones scoring once.

Glendon Rusch (2-5) pitched five innings in his return to the starting rotation, allowing three runs on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Three relievers finished up, including Bob Howry, who got the final out for his first save.

Cedeno and Matt Murton each added two hits for the Cubs, who are just 22-32 overall, but have a 6-2 record against St. Louis this season.

Yadier Molina had two hits and drove in three runs for the NL Central leading Cardinals, while Juan Encarnacion also had two of his team’s seven hits.

In Los Angeles, Brad Penny pitched a one-hitter over six scoreless innings as the Dodgers trounced the Philadelphia Phillies 8-2.

Penny (6-1) struck out seven and walked four and two relievers completed a two-hitter for the Dodgers, who stayed in the thick of the NL West race thanks to Penny's fourth straight win.

Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer for the Dodgers.

A slow start for the Oakland Athletics is nothing new - and if recent history is any indicator, nothing for them to be concerned about.

Known for second-half runs that have led to first- or second-place finishes in the AL West for seven straight years, the Athletics try to get back to the .500 mark when they open a three-game set with the Detroit Tigers at McAfee Coliseum on Tuesday.

Oakland (6-7) has lost five of six since a 5-2 start, including two of three to Texas to begin a nine-game homestand, and is under .500 through 13 games for the fourth time since 1999.

Over that span, the A's are a combined 50-54 in the first 13 games of each season, including a 3-10 start in 2001. They won 102 games that year and advanced to the postseason, losing to the New York Yankees in the AL division series.

The A's reached the playoffs every year from 2000-03.

Esteban Loaiza (0-2, 11.42 ERA) will make his third start for Oakland after being signed as a free agent in the offseason. A 12-game winner with Washington in 2005, Loaiza is 11-4 with a 2.58 ERA in 18 games against Detroit, including 7-1 with a 2.73 ERA at home.

The 34-year-old right-hander has struggled in two outings in 2006, allowing five earned runs in 4 2-3 innings of a 6-2 loss to Seattle on April 6 and six runs in four innings of a 6-5 defeat to Minnesota last Wednesday.

The A's are hoping Loaiza, 22-19 with a 4.80 ERA since a 21-win season with the Chicago White Sox in 2003, can give them an outing similar to what Dan Haren had in a 5-3 loss to the Rangers on Sunday.

Haren pitched eight innings of one-run ball, allowing four hits and striking out five, and left with a 3-1 lead. Closer Huston Street, though, gave up four earned runs in the ninth, including a two-run homer to Mark Teixeira that tied the game at 3.

Street had converted his last 21 save opportunities.

''You always want to keep a streak going but I've blown saves before,'' Street said. ''It was set up perfect - bobblehead day, Easter Sunday, get a win for Haren right there. Now it's just a blown save.''

Eric Chavez went 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs to up his average to .313.

Chavez is a .292 hitter with 12 homers and 35 RBIs against the Tigers.

Detroit (7-6) began the season 5-0 but has since dropped six of eight, including a 2-5 homestand that concluded with a four-game split against Cleveland.

The early season schedule isn't doing any favors for the Tigers, who are kicking off a nine-game West Coast road trip with this series before playing three each at Seattle and the Los Angeles Angels.

Justin Verlander, a 23-year-old right-hander and the No. 2 overall pick in the 2004 draft, will make his first career start against the A's.

Verlander (1-1, 6.52 ERA) earned his first major league win April 8 when he pitched seven innings, allowing two hits and striking out seven, in the Tigers' 7-0 victory over the Rangers.

He ran into trouble in his next start, giving up seven earned runs and seven hits in just 2 2-3 innings of a 13-9 loss to the White Sox on Thursday.

That outing was similar to Nate Robertson's in a 10-2 defeat in the series finale against the Indians on Monday.

Robertson, who had a team-high 16 losses last year, gave up six earned runs and eight hits in 2 1-3 innings, exiting in the third with his team trailing 7-1.

''We stunk,'' said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who unleashed a booming, expletive-filled postgame tirade that could be heard outside the clubhouse. ''The whole ball of wax was lackluster. It's been going on here before.''

Chris Shelton provided yet another highlight for Detroit's offense, connecting on his ninth home run of the season in 13 games. He totaled 18 in 107 games as a rookie in 2005.

Carlos Guillen also homered, his third of the season and first since he homered in the Tigers' first two games.

Oakland is 22-9 against Detroit since 2002, including 11-5 at home.

Their celebrating teammates never had a chance to sit down.

Chavez, Thomas and Bradley homered on three consecutive pitches in the sixth inning in a rare achievement as the Oakland Athletics snapped a four-game losing streak with a 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday.

“It’s always special to see that,” said Thomas, Oakland’s new designated hitter. “It doesn’t happen very often. I’ve been in the middle before but not on successive pitches.”

Chavez led off the inning with a shot to right, Thomas followed with his 451st career homer and third of the year, then Bradley connected to chase starter Vicente Padilla.

The last time a team homered on three straight pitches was Sept. 29, 2001, when Fred McGriff, Rondell White and Todd Hundley did it for the Chicago Cubs against the Houston Astros’ Dave Mlicki at Wrigley Field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“I didn’t even see Frank’s swing,” Chavez said. “By the time I put down my helmet and my batting gloves and sat down, Milton went deep."

The 41-year-old Bonds went through some conditioning work indoors at Scottsdale Stadium, two days after making his first spring training appearance in two years in a loss against the Angels.

Bonds, facing further steroids scrutiny this week after the release of excerpts from an upcoming book detailing his alleged longtime use of performance-enhancing drugs, had said he hoped to play in left field for the first time Sunday against the San Diego Padres - but that could change if the field is soggy and there's even the slightest chance he might slip on his surgically repaired right knee.

The A's were expecting 7,500 people to pack Phoenix Municipal Stadium for the afternoon matchup, but instead were left to offer fans tickets to another exhibition game. With rain forecast for the entire day and into Sunday, there wasn't even a three-hour window to try to get the game played considering it would have taken at least an hour to prepare the field.

"It would have been a good day," Oakland team president and partial owner Michael Crowley said. "Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn't co-operate."

A's right-hander Joe Blanton signed autographs for the few fans who did come into the stadium and were holding umbrellas and one player tossed a ball into the seats.

So much for rebuilding. Before the season, the Athletics dealt frontline starters Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder in a pair of money-saving moves. General manager Billy Beane preached the wisdom of building for the future rather than making incremental moves to keep the major league team in contention.

When Oakland started the year with just 17 wins in its first 49 games, the season seemed over for all intents and purposes. But with huge contributions by rookies, the A's went on an improbable 58-24 run that vaulted them atop the American League West at the end of August. They faded in September but served notice that they'll continue to contend even while rebuilding.

Oakland's most prominent first-year player was Huston Street, who made the Opening Day roster after just 26 pro innings. He took over as closer for the injured Octavio Dotel in May and won Baseball America's Rookie of the Year award by saving 23 games with a 1.72 ERA. Other rookies who made substantial contributions were: Joe Blanton, who won 12 games and led the club with a 3.53 ERA; Nick Swisher, who replaced Jermaine Dye in right field and delivered 21 homers and 74 RBIs; and first baseman Dan Johnson, whose arrival in late May coincided with the start of the club's turnaround. Johnson homered 15 times in 375 at-bats.

The graduation of so much talent to Oakland has thinned out the farm system. The A's won't have much of a rookie influx in 2006, with the possible exception of top prospect Daric Barton, who could hit his way into a DH role. Most of the organization's top minor league talent came from the 2005 draft, when Oakland owned five of the first 101 picks.

After following their standard operating procedure by taking polished collegians Cliff Pennington and Travis Buck with their first two choices, the A's took three consecutive high school pitchers, a college senior and then three more prep arms. That's the risky draft demographic that fans of "Moneyball" rush to disdain on Internet message boards, but a direction Oakland felt it needed to take.

In the end, Beane doesn't care what is written or said about him or the A's—as long as they continue to compete. "We chuckle at everyone's perception of what we do and what we don't do," Beane said. "It's somewhat comical."

While the big league roster was going through turnover, so too was the club's ownership. In March, billionaire John Fisher and managing general partner Lewis Wolff led a group that bought the A's from Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann for $180 million. Despite ties to San Jose, Wolff insists he's committed to keeping the team in Oakland and trying to build a new stadium in the Network Associates Coliseum parking lot.

The new owners rewarded Beane with the first ownership stake for a GM in recent memory. Beane, who received nearly 5 percent of the club, also got a contact extension through 2012. Club president Michael Crowley got a slightly smaller stake in the club and an extension through 2008.

The A's nearly got a new manager as well. Contract talks between Beane and incumbent Ken Macha broke down after the season, and Macha walked away to pursue the same job with his hometown Pirates. When that didn't work out, Macha returned to Oakland nine days later.

The countdown on the MLB.com homepage said there were only 9 days, 13 hours, 53 minutes and 26 seconds until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.

At that very moment it became even more real, because Bill Cowher was being given a Gatorade bath on the Pittsburgh Steelers' sideline.

The Steelers' dramatic 21-10 victory Sunday night over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL meant that a long drought was over for one of the NFL's proudest franchises, and it also meant a metaphoric passing of the torch in sports.

Baseball fans everywhere were among the expected 90 million or so viewers who took one last breathtaking look at football on a cold winter's night before getting ready for the national pastime to take its time-honored position in our collective psyche.

It was that way on Jan. 12, 1969, when Joe Namath made good on his guarantee of a New York Jets Super Bowl victory -- followed that year by the Amazin' Mets' World Series victory. It was that way on Jan. 22, 1989, when Joe Montana led the San Francisco 49ers past the Cincinnati Bengals -- followed that year by a Bay Bridge Series won by the Oakland A's over the San Francisco Giants.

If you are a wishful Pittsburgh Pirates fan, then first of all you are probably a candidate to miss work Monday, and understandably so. The new champions in black and gold just won it all for the first time since the end of their dynasty in 1980's Super Bowl XIV -- finally winning that "one for the thumb."

Secondly, you probably have to wonder if the Pirates, likely to be an improved team in 2006 with new manager Jim Tracy and key roster additions, and surrounded by the excitement of the All-Star Game coming to PNC Park, might be worth some Steeler-size hope. The last time the Pirates won it all was with Willie Stargell and the "We Are Family" bunch, and that was the 1979 World Series, just months before that 1980 Steelers triumph.

As if to emphasize that point about this annual "handoff" from the guys in shoulder pads, those same Super Bowl viewers who live for the ads almost as much as the action saw a 30-second World Baseball Classic ad with 6:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. The spot, part of a comprehensive ad campaign for the inaugural March 3-20 event, featured seven Major Leaguers who will participate: Roger Clemens and Derek Jeter (U.S.), Andruw Jones (Netherlands), Carlos Delgado (Puerto Rico), Albert Pujols (Dominican Republic), Mike Piazza (Italy) and Ichiro Suzuki (Japan).

Yes, baseball was just ahead.

And on this night, pretty much everyone was a football fan. The game itself had a distinctive modern-baseball ring to it as well. The Steelers were trying to end a long drought, and the Seahawks were making their first appearance in the event. That was the storyline of the last World Series, when the Chicago White Sox ended their long drought by sweeping a Houston Astros team making its first Fall Classic appearance.

Just like that showcase event, this also was a case in which the losing team certainly could say that it had its chances. Super Bowl XL was remarkable for many things:

• Stevie Wonder and a magical Motown performance in the Sixties-style pregame show, and Aretha Franklin completely on her game the moment she joined Aaron Neville and belted out "... and the rocket's red glare ..." during the "Star-Spangled Banner."

• An electrifying pregame introduction of past Super Bowl MVPs. Great touch. OK, it would be kind of ripping off the idea at this point, but you have to admit that it would be pretty cool to see past World Series MVPs introduced and walking out to a baseline before the first game of a Fall Classic.

• Watching an ABC broadcast team that included a brand-new Hall of Famer. John Madden was one of several people who were announced during the weekend as upcoming members of the NFL's 2006 Hall of Fame class. Others include Troy Aikman, Reggie White, Warren Moon, Harry Carson and Rayfield Wright.

• The Rolling Stones in a three-song halftime set that just made you shake your head in amazement that age does not matter. When Mick Jagger launched into "I can't get no ... satisfaction," you knew it was just a matter of time before either those Steeler fans with their Terrible Towels or those long-suffering Seahawks fans were going to be able to get their long-awaited satisfaction.

• Jerome Bettis hoisting a Lombardi Trophy in his hometown, and very likely executing one of the hardest things to do in professional sports: Go out on top. "I'm a champion," he said at that moment. "I think the Bus' last stop is here in Detroit. It's official, like the referee whistle."

• Big Ben Roethlisberger becoming the youngest winning quarterback in Super Bowl history -- and showing the maturity to overcome his 1-for-5 start in a first quarter in which Pittsburgh could not manage a first down.

• Cowher getting that Gatorade bath as a glorious breakthrough in his 14th season as the Steelers' coach.

"I've been waiting a long time to do this," Cowher said to Steelers chairman Dan Rooney before handing him the Vince Lombardi Trophy. "This is yours, man."

Most of all, it was just a gripping football game. It was not the most perfectly played game in Super Bowl history. The Seahawks seemed to invent one way after another to fail to capitalize on golden opportunities, and as the game progressed, one might have watched with a morbid curiosity over what squandering lay ahead next. Dropped passes abounded, and Seattle wide receiver Darrell Jackson actually took two touchdown receptions away from himself in the first half alone.

The most shocking moment of the night might have been when two monsters mated and a Baby Hummer was born on national television. And just like that ad, there were two shocking turns of event in the third quarter that decided this game.

Pittsburgh quickly made it 14-3 at the start of the second half when Willie Parker rambled for the longest touchdown run (75 yards) in Super Bowl history. Right after that Baby Hummer ad, Roethlisberger's pass into the end zone was picked off by Kelly Herndon, setting up a Seattle touchdown reception by Jerramy Stevens. Instead of 21-3, it was 14-10, and that is how the third quarter ended -- with Seattle trying to put together what would be one of the longest drives in Super Bowl history.

But that shocking swing of events was immediately matched at the start of the fourth quarter. Seattle's drive fell short because of an interception at the Pittsburgh 1, and the Steelers proceeded to go down the field and extend the lead on one of their renowned gadget plays -- a reverse pass thrown by ex-QB Antwaan Randle El for a TD to Hines Ward, who was voted the game's Most Valuable Player. That was the first Super Bowl TD ever thrown by a wide receiver, and instead of a 17-14 lead for Seattle, it was 21-10 Pittsburgh. One shocking swing after another.

"This is a tough pill to swallow," said Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren, who was trying to become the first NFL coach to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises(also with Green Bay previously). "But we accomplished a lot this year. While you don't have a great feeling after a game like this, I want them to remember this feeling, so they can build on it."

It was a Super Bowl that was captivating in its buildup and its intensity, just like the World Series to which we have grown accustomed in this age. And in the end, it was the Steel Curtain's night in Detroit, the host city for last year's MLB All-Star Game.

"The Super Bowl is supposed to be a neutral setting," ABC commentator Al Michaels said during the game. "But if you looked around at the start of the game, this place was about as neutral as Lake Placid was when the U.S. team was in the 1980 Olympics." Well, he should know. After the U.S. hockey team beat the Russian team in the semifinals of that event, on its way to a gold medal, it was Michaels who asked: "Do you believe in miracles?"

Indeed, it seemed as if it was that kind of a home-field advantage Sunday night for the Steelers. But technically speaking, this was a rare case of an NFL team taking the full scenic route to get to football's promised land. The Steelers had to win on the road throughout the playoffs.

If you are wondering what the last Major League team was to win the title by taking the full scenic route, then you only have to go back to 2003. The Florida Marlins won the Wild Card that season and then beat the Giants on the road, ruined the Cubs' home-field advantage, and then clinched the title in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium after the American League's All-Star victory had given those Yanks the World Series home-field advantage.

In fact, the Marlins had it harder than these Steelers, because the Super Bowl is played at a pre-scheduled site. The home-field edge for Major League Baseball's showcase event goes these days to the victorious All-Star league. Thus, the 2004 world champion Red Sox had World Series home-field advantage despite entering the playoffs as a Wild Card. MLB's most recent champs, the Chicago White Sox, won with home-field advantage throughout the 2005 postseason.

The Super Bowl is a great segue for baseball fans -- one big party, and when it's over, those warm thoughts of Spring Training take over. Seattle fans were left without the big prize at the end of this one, but those same fans can take heart in knowing that the Mariners should be considerably improved and are expected to contend again in the compressed American League West.

Now it is time to prepare for pitchers and catchers in Florida and Arizona. Now it is time to prepare for the World Baseball Classic. Now it is time to prepare for another Major League season with dreams of drought-busters like the Steelers.