A’s in Goliath Role Once Again : Baseball: Sweep of the Red Sox last month sent a message to AL challengers.

BOSTON —  Looking ahead to the playoffs, the Oakland A’s wanted to send the Boston Red Sox a message one month ago.

They did it by ending the Red Sox’ 10-game winning streak and sweeping a three-game series in Boston.

“They got a big message by getting swept,” said Oakland’s Rickey Henderson. “That puts it in their minds that they have to play better against this club.

“I think they know how good we are. They’ll probably go back to the drawing board now.”

The Red Sox didn’t have time to return to a drawing board. They went into a tailspin, losing 15 of 21 games, including eight of 10 on the road.

They blew a 6 1/2-game lead and fell 1 1/2 games behind Toronto. Then they rallied, winning six of their last eight games to capture their third AL East title in five years on the final day of the regular season.

Now Boston’s pick and shovel crew, swept by Oakland in four games in the playoffs two years ago, get another shot at the Athletics’ elite cast in the best-of-7 AL playoffs starting Saturday night at Fenway Park.

Although Oakland Manager Tony LaRussa insisted the law of averages caught up with the Red Sox in the sweep, the A’s are confident after beating the Chicago White Sox by nine games in the AL West.

“When we’re playing to our level, we feel nobody can beat us,” said Henderson, who hit .516 (16-31) against Boston this season.

“Oakland is a team that knows it will win,” says Chicago’s Bobby Thigpen, who set a major league record with 57 saves this year. “They play these things with your mind. It’s just the way they act. Nothing fazes them.”

The Athletics have awesome power and pitching. Mark McGwire hit 39 home runs and Jose Canseco 37, although bothered by a bad back much of the season. Rickey Henderson hit .325 with 28 homers--as the leadoff batter.

“We know we’re the underdogs,” said Dwight Evans, winding down his 18th season. “We know our work is cut out for us.

“But it’s been like that for us all season. We just know we’re the little guys. It’s a little like David and Goliath.”

Comparative records demand that Oakland, the preseason pick, remain the favorite to win a third consecutive pennant.

The A’s had a 103-59 record this year, the Red Sox 88-74. Oakland was 56-28 against the East, Boston 38-46 against the West.

And the A’s won eight of 12 games with the Red Sox, including four of six in Boston.

“If you ask me who’s the stronger ballclub, we all know the answer is Oakland,” said Toronto’s Mookie Wilson. “But the stronger ballclub doesn’t always win.”

Boggs conceded “there are a lot of teams that are better than us on paper,” but said:

“When we beat them, they go back to the locker room and say, ‘How did they beat us?’ It was the little things. This is one of the most fundamentally sound teams I’ve ever been on.”