NEW YORK (AP) -- The Oakland Athletics had a bad trip to New York before even arriving at Yankee Stadium.

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	Oct. 3 Oct. 4 Oct. 6	at Oakland 5, NY Yankees 3 NY Yankees 4, at Oakland 0 Oakland at NY Yankees, 8:00pm ET

After a day full of travel delayed by bad weather, President Clinton and a runway emergency, the Oakland Athletics were pooped Thursday.

Now they have to face the two-time defending World Series champions, who have regained a bit of their swagger after winning Game 2 in Oakland on Wednesday to even their best-of-five AL playoff series.

"Our confidence is building," reliever Jeff Nelson said.

	SEASON SERIES
	May 29 May 30 May 31 Aug. 8 Aug. 9 Aug. 10 Aug. 25 Aug. 26 Aug. 27	at NY Yankees 4, Oakland 1 Oakland 7, at NY Yankees 4 Oakland 8, at NY Yankees 7 at NY Yankees 4, Oakland 3 at NY Yankees 12, Oakland 1 at NY Yankees 12, Oakland 6 at Oakland 8, NY Yankees 1 NY Yankees 10, at Oakland 6 NY Yankees 7, at Oakland 5

That could be a scary thought for Oakland, especially with Orlando Hernandez pitching for the Yankees.

Hernandez (12-13) had a mediocre regular season, but has always been at his best in October. El Duque is 5-0 in six career postseason starts with a 1.02 ERA, trailing only Sandy Koufax and teammate Mariano Rivera for the best ERA among pitchers with 40 or more innings.

"He's just been big in big games for us," manager Joe Torre said. "He loves the challenge. ... It's hard to explain, except that certain guys are driven by that challenge."

The A's have an unforeseen additional hurdle as well as they spent most of the day traveling. After refueling in Salinas, Kan., the A's were stuck on the ground for about an hour because of bad weather.

After they finally took off, the flight was diverted to Newark Airport in New Jersey because President Clinton was landing at LaGuardia Airport in Queens. The plane circled for about 30 minutes before being rerouted and landing at LaGuardia at 8:30 p.m., two hours later than planned.

"We're miserable and grumpy," third baseman Eric Chavez said after arriving at the team hotel. "I just want to get to my room."

Game 3 starter Tim Hudson, who sat at the controls in the cockpit with teammate Adam Piatt when the plane was on the ground in Kansas, was ready for a good night's rest.

"I'm weathered," he said. "But I'll be ready to go."

Hudson (20-6) was the best pitcher in the league down the stretch, going 7-0 with a 1.16 ERA in his last seven starts.

He hasn't pitched in the postseason before, but he did beat Texas on the final day of the regular season to clinch the AL West.

"We know with Huddy going out there we have a good chance to win," second baseman Randy Velarde said. "In my opinion, that game Sunday was every bit as big as a playoff game."

It just wasn't played at Yankee Stadium, with 55,000 fans screaming insults, cheering the Yankees and even throwing objects on the field.

"They are going to be very loud and noisy," Oakland manager Art Howe said. "They'll get the Yankees going no matter what the situation is. It's going to be very exciting to see how our young players react to that."

Some of the A's are approaching the game with trepidation -- Chavez admitted to being a "little bit nervous" -- but team leader Jason Giambi is relishing the chance.

"I've always said that's the ultimate place to play baseball," Giambi said. "It's the sports capital of the world. It doesn't get any better than that."

Hudson wasn't intimidated in his only career start against the Yankees. He allowed no hits through 4 2-3 innings on Aug. 30, 1999, before faltering in the fifth and losing 7-4.

But Hudson's pitching won't mean much unless Oakland's offense reverts to its regular-season form. After finishing second in the league in runs per game and homers, the A's have scored five runs with no homers in the first two games of the series.

The Yankees haven't hit much either, scoring seven runs without a homer. Owner George Steinbrenner was at an informal batting practice Thursday, trying to loosen up his team.

Five of the Yankees runs have been driven in by players who don't normally start: Luis Sojo (three), Glenallen Hill and Clay Bellinger.

"I'd like to believe that we have something coming from the middle of our lineup," Torre said.