Barry Zito did his best to avoid the party, fearing a flying bottle might accidentally cost him a start on his biggest stage yet: the AL championship series. "I don't want to get hurt celebrating," said the soaked left-hander, who has never missed a start. The Athletics swept away years of first-round futility, then partied hard enough to make up for all those missed chances and then some. Milton Bradley homered and threw out Torii Hunter in a disputed play at the plate as the A's snapped a stretch of nine straight losses in potential playoff clinchers, beating Minnesota 8-3 Friday to reach the ALCS for the first time in 14 years. The A's never trailed in finishing off the Twins in three games and will face either the Tigers or Yankees starting Tuesday night.