A's set AL record with 20th straight win

The Oakland Athletics knew what they were doing all along. By letting an 11-run lead slip away, they merely set themselves up for their most improbable ending yet. <br> <br> The Athletics won their AL-record 20th straight game Wednesday night, blowing that huge edge and then beating Kansas City 12-11 on pinch-hitter Scott Hatteberg&#39;s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. <br> <br> ``We really got lucky to come out of this one on top, but we&#39;ve been getting a lot of luck. We don&#39;t question it,&#39;&#39; Hatteberg said. <br> <br> The AL West leaders broke a three-way tie for the longest winning streak in AL history with the 1906 Chicago White Sox and the 1947 New York Yankees. <br> <br> The major league record of 26 consecutive victories was set by the New York Giants in 1916. <br> <br> A crowd of 55,528, the largest ever for a regular-season game at the Coliseum, saw the A&#39;s take an 11-0 lead after three innings. Even after the Royals rallied, Oakland found a way to win. <br> <br> ``I know it was a record-breaker, but I don&#39;t want to watch this one on film too much,&#39;&#39; A&#39;s manager Art Howe said. <br> <br> As the Athletics&#39; celebration moved from the field to the clubhouse, groundskeepers yanked the bases from the dirt, got Hatteberg to sign them and sent them off to the Hall of Fame. <br> <br> A young fan who caught the winning home-run ball traded the souvenir to Hatteberg for a bat and a handshake. <br> <br> ``It&#39;s some kind of magic right now,&#39;&#39; Hatteberg said. <br> <br> After a day off Thursday, the A&#39;s will try to extend baseball&#39;s longest winning streak in 67 years when they play the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome. The Chicago Cubs won 21 straight in 1935. <br> <br> The Athletics won in the bottom of the ninth for the third straight game. <br> <br> ``Something like that sends chills up your back, but I don&#39;t want four games like this,&#39;&#39; starting pitcher Tim Hudson said. ``With the attention that we&#39;ve got, and the way we&#39;ve been playing, this is obviously playoff-type baseball.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Down 11-5, the Royals scored five times in the eighth, capped by Mike Sweeney&#39;s three-run homer. Luis Alicea&#39;s two-out single in the ninth tied it. <br> <br> Hatteberg hit his solo homer with one out in the bottom half. He leaped and jogged around the bases as the A&#39;s rolled out a big banner high above center field that read ``20.&#39;&#39;