Roommates Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, whose success and maturity this season earned them the nickname first bestowed upon the Yankees greats, went 0-for-7 with a walk in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to Oakland in Game 1 of their AL division series.

Mauer, who hit .347 in the regular season to become the first catcher to win the AL batting title, went 0-for-3 with a walk and left two runners in scoring position, including the tying run on third in the eighth inning.

Morneau, perhaps the Twins' leading candidate for AL MVP after hitting .321 with 34 homers and 130 RBIs, went 0-for-4 with two deep flyouts and a soft liner to right in the ninth.

``That season's done now,'' said the 25-year-old Morneau, a New Westminster, B.C., native who was serenaded with chants of ``M-V-P! M-V-P!'' during every at-bat. ``It's a compliment from the fans that they get behind me and all that stuff. But now it's a new season and all that stuff doesn't count anymore. We started back at zero today and I've got to go out and do it all over again.''

Both Mauer and Morneau are still stuck at zero heading into Wednesday's Game 2.

The biggest letdown came with the A's leading 2-1 in the eighth inning. Jason Bartlett led off with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by Nick Punto.

More than 55,000 came to their feet as Mauer stepped into the box with two outs. But the St. Paul native swung at the first pitch and lined out softly to Jay Payton in left field to end the threat.

``We had some guys in scoring position,'' the 23-year-old Mauer said. ``I just couldn't get them in.''

Frank Thomas' second homer of the game made it 3-1 in the ninth, and Morneau had a chance to get a rally going after Michael Cuddyer's triple. But he lined out to right on the first pitch by Huston Street and Cuddyer scored on a groundout by Hunter before Rondell White flew out to centre to end it.

The expectations are high for Mauer, playing in the first post-season of his career, and Morneau, who went 4-for-17 (.235) in his only previous appearance against the Yankees in 2004.

But the two left-handed hitting buddies had no answer for lefty Barry Zito's big, slow curveball. They both pressed in the batter's box and looked anxious all day.

``He got out of that first inning and started rolling and it was tough to stop it,'' Morneau said.

On the final day of the regular season, Mauer acknowledged that the pressure of chasing a batting title started to get to him during the last week.

The questions kept coming, especially when Derek Jeter closed within .001 heading into the last game. Mauer had two hits against Chicago to beat Jeter, who went 1-for-5 and finished at .343.

As the Twins celebrated the AL Central title in a champagne-soaked clubhouse Sunday, the soft-spoken Mauer talked as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from his shoulders and said he was looking forward to his first post-season appearance.

A batting title may be one thing, but the playoffs bring an entirely different kind of pressure. Mauer found that out Tuesday.

He appeared to be pressing in his first two at-bats, rolling over on two big curves and grounding out to second each time, including in the fourth with a runner on second base.

Mauer said he wasn't nervous and felt good about the swings he took against Zito, the 2002 AL Cy Young winner.

``I thought I did OK,'' Mauer said. ``I just didn't have anything to show for it. That's why he won a Cy Young a couple years ago.''

Morneau fared only slightly little better against Zito, just missing a home run in the fifth that Mark Kotsay hauled in at the warning track and again getting under one in the seventh on a deep flyout to left.

``You can't dwell on it,'' Morneau said. ``You just have to take the positives out of it. Today was the best I've felt swinging the bat in a long time.''