A's manager Mark Kotsay makes questionable decision in 1-0 loss to the SF Giants

A's manager Mark Kotsay helped set up the SF Giants walk-off win on Saturday night. He made a questionable decision by intentionally walking Mike Yastrzemski to get to Wilmer Flores in the final at-bat of the game.

A's manager Mark Kotsay makes questionable decision in 1-0 loss to the SF Giants

The offense went silent for both teams on Saturday. That said, Flores was about 24 hours removed from having the best game of his career.

The veteran bat blasted three home runs with eight RBI in a 9-1 victory over the A's on Friday night. If not for a late RBI single from Willy Adames, Flores would have contributed to every run in that game.

Flores came to the plate in the 10th inning on Saturday with the bases load and two outs. He was tied with Aaron Judge for the league lead with 41 RBI. It was a spot Flores has come through time and again during his Giants career. He has been unusually good with runners in scoring position this year, posting a 1.244 OPS in those spots.

That is not the type of hitter opposing teams want coming up in those spots. Flores came to the plate against Mason Miller and worked the count full. After several foul tips, Flores took the 9th pitch of the at-bat for a ball, sending home the winning run in a walk-off victory.

The decision before that moment was a bit questionable. Mike Yastrzemski came up to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third base. The A's decided to intentionally walk Yastrzemski to load the bases.

This move had two benefits for the A's. It loaded the bases, setting up a force out at every bag. Plus, it gave the A's a platoon advantage by setting up the righty-righty matchup. Right-handed hitters have just a .280 OPS against Miller this season.

On the surface, it was a good process decision that I think many managers would make. With this in mind, it is hard to call it a poor choice by A's manager Mark Kotsay. It was more questionable than poor, with the choice being closer to a toss-up.

However, it is tough to ignore or overlook just how good Flores had been in the previous game and in those spots. The situation was set up for the veteran bat to come through, and he did just that.