OAKLAND, CALIF. ? Mark Mulder didn’t see panic in his teammates’ eyes after the Oakland Athletics’ playoff run got off to a rough start.

He saw a quiet maturity from three years of postseason experience and a pride that wouldn’t allow the A’s to fall off the pace in the division series.

David Justice’s bases-loaded triple highlighted Oakland’s 14-hit barrage, and Mulder pitched six strong innings as the A’s beat the Minnesota Twins 9-1 Wednesday to even the series at one game apiece.

Eric Chavez had a three-run homer, and rookie Mark Ellis got three hits as Oakland emphatically replied to the Twins’ 7-5 comeback victory in Game 1 with a tremendous offensive game against Joe Mays (0-1) and the Twins’ bullpen.

“Just looking at the guys in the locker room, you could tell everybody knew how important this game was,” said Mulder, who allowed five hits. “We’ve been through this before. There was no need to say anything. We had to have this one, and we got it. Now, we’ll go to Minnesota and see what happens.”

After losing to the Yankees in the last two postseasons, Oakland finally got a matchup against a team with even less playoff experience almost none, in fact. The A’s used that maturity to full advantage in Game 2, knocking the Twins down early and never letting them up.

“I know their makeup, what they’re all about, and that’s why I didn’t have to sit around and talk to anybody,” Oakland manager Art Howe said. “I just checked out the scene when I came in. Everybody seemed to be pretty relaxed and confident, and they went out and played that way.”

Oakland's Eric Chavez, left, celebrates with teammate Jermaine Dye after Chavez hit a three-run home run during Wednesday's game against Minnesota in Oakland, Calif.

Each of the first seven hitters in Oakland’s lineup got an extra-base hit as the A’s jumped to an 8-0 lead after four innings. Justice, the most prolific run-producer in playoff history, added three more RBIs to his record total during Oakland’s five-run fourth.

The A’s, who won 103 games and the AL West to earn their third straight trip to the playoffs, showed they wouldn’t let one loss distract them from their plan to go further into October. Time after time in the early innings, the A’s came up with the timely hits that eluded them a day earlier.

Miguel Tejada, their MVP candidate, had only an RBI double but the A’s haven’t relied on one hitter since Jason Giambi left last winter to join the Yankees. Five players drove in a run, and leadoff hitter Ray Durham scored three times.

The Twins were riding high after winning in their first playoff appearance in 11 years, but were brought back to reality. Minnesota got just seven hits, scoring its only run on Cristian Guzman’s homer in the sixth.

Game 3 is Friday at the Metrodome, where 23-game winner Barry Zito will face Rick Reed.