<Li> March 19, 2002: Justin Duchscherer was traded by the Texas Rangers to the Oakland Athletics for Luis Vizcaíno . </Li> <P> Oakland's 2002 campaign began on a tumultuous note . During the 2001--02 offseason, the team lost three key free agents to larger market teams: 2000 AL MVP Jason Giambi to the New York Yankees, outfielder Johnny Damon to the Boston Red Sox, and closer Jason Isringhausen to the St. Louis Cardinals . Faced with a number of significant roster holes, general manager Billy Beane sought to replace Damon and Giambi with free agent hitters Scott Hatteberg, David Justice, and Ray Durham (among others). Beane also made a number of key pitching acquisitions; most notably, he traded for Toronto Blue Jays reliever Billy Koch . Koch ultimately succeeded Isringhausen as the team's closer . Beane also traded for then - unheralded starter Ted Lilly . Additionally, the season saw the MLB debuts of second baseman Mark Ellis and eventual starter Aaron Harang . </P> <P> The new - look Athletics experienced a bumpy start to the 2002 regular season . The team followed a respectable 15 - 10 start with an abysmal 5 - 16 run; at the end of their slump, on May 23, the team's record stood at 20 - 26 . From this point forward, the Athletics' fortunes improved significantly . In a prelude to the team's famous late - season winning streak, the Athletics went 16 - 1 from June 6 to June 24 . The surge propelled the club within two games of first place . For now, this was as close as the team would get; a prolonged funk saw the A's play roughly . 500 baseball for the next month - and - a-half . This period ended with an unremarkable 2 - 1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on August 12 . </P> <P> On August 13, the Athletics began their then - AL - record 20 - game win streak . The streak's first win came courtesy of Barry Zito, who allowed three runs (one earned) over eight innings in a 5 - 4 victory over the Jays . Over the next several weeks, stellar pitching, hitting, and defense all played a significant role in the Athletics' surge . Most notable were the efforts of fourth starter Cory Lidle . During the month of August, Lidle went 5 - 0 while posting a scant 0.20 earned run average (he allowed one run his final start of the month); three of his five winning decisions fell within the confines of the streak . Even still, many of the Athletics' victories were by narrow margins; closer Billy Koch recorded either a win or save in twelve of the streak's twenty wins . </P>

Who ended the oakland a's winning streak in 2002