NEW YORK -- Jason Giambi was focused on his immediate future -- trying to get the Oakland Athletics to the next round of the playoffs.

	Giambi

The reigning AL MVP led with his bat, going 4-for-4, while challenging his teammates to perform in the Athletics' 5-3 loss Monday night to the New York Yankees in the deciding Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

Now, the question is: Will he become a free agent and join the Yankees?

Giambi drove in two runs. He also confronted Miguel Tejada, who failed to advance from first to third on Giambi's RBI single in the fifth inning.

In the Athletics' typically loose style, Giambi and Tejada made up in the dugout after the inning, patting each other's faces.

When the A's started their season 8-18, Giambi told his teammates not to worry, that they would win the wild card. He backed up his words with another potential MVP season, hitting .342 with 38 home runs and 120 RBI. He was at his best when Oakland went 58-17 in the second half, tops in the majors.

Giambi is eligible for free agency. He and the team had reportedly agreed to a six-year, $91 million contract during spring training, but couldn't come to terms on the no-trade clause that Giambi wanted.

He is rumored to be a favorite of the Yankees, and New York fans throughout the series pleaded with him to come to the Bronx.

Giambi, who was 2-for-13 with a home run coming into Game 5, got the A's going right away with a single in the first inning.

Giambi singled in the third, had another run-scoring single in the fifth and singled off Mariano Rivera to lead off the eighth. He finished 6-for-17 (.353) in the series with a homer and four RBI.

But Giambi also was part of two plays in the field that cost the A's.

With one out in the third, he couldn't scoop a throw by catcher Greg Myers, allowing Bernie Williams to reach first after striking out. And in the fourth, Giambi's throwing error on a pickoff attempt put Chuck Knoblauch on second.

Both runners eventually scored and the A's lost by two runs.