OAKLAND, Caif. - Torii Hunter watched the Oakland Athletics celebrate and wondered whether he had played his last game with the Minnesota Twins.

He walked through the clubhouse, hugging each teammate one by one and giving each a few words of encouragement. After such a great second-half push, Hunter couldn’t believe the Twins’ playoff run ended in a sweep.

“I’m in shock,” Hunter said. “Three games? For four months we played well. To come in the postseason and be swept in three games doesn’t make sense at all.”

Hunter was thrown out in a disputed play at the plate on Minnesota’s only clutch hit of the series, and the Twins lost Game 3 to the Oakland Athletics 8-3 Friday.

With runners on second and third and one out in the sixth, Rondell White came through with the hit the Twins had waited all series for.

Justin Morneau scored from third to cut Oakland’s lead to 4-2, and right fielder Milton Bradley threw a strike to the plate. Umpire Mike Everitt ruled that Jason Kendall tagged Hunter out and even Minnesota’s first hit of the series with a runner in scoring position didn’t work out so well for the Twins.

Hunter pleaded for a safe call, but that, just like almost everything else, went Oakland’s way.

“I was safe. That’s my opinion,” Hunter said. “I can tell you I’m safe, but the umpire called me out, so I’m out.”

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Hunter, the highlight-reel center fielder, was right in the middle of much that went wrong this series for Minnesota. His ill-advised dive for Mark Kotsay’s liner led to a two-run, tiebreaking inside-the-park homer that lifted the A’s to a 5-2 victory in Game 2 on Wednesday.

And the play at the plate was a key moment in Game 3. Hunter’s series will be remembered for his near misses, not the homer he hit earlier Friday off Dan Haren.

It also could serve as the final memory of Hunter in a Minnesota uniform. The Twins have an option to keep him for $12 million in 2007, or they can buy out Hunter’s deal for $2 million and make him eligible for free agency.

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Hunter said he’d like to sign a long-term contract or have his option declined and become a free agent.

“I don’t want to be here one year,” he said. “I want to be here longer than that.”

Hunter and Game 3 loser Brad Radke have been two of the constants in recent years on the Twins and both could be gone next season. Radke has said he’s almost 100 percent sure he’s retiring, but left the door open a crack after the game.