WEST SACRAMENTO -- Athletics manager Mark Kotsay has frequently been empathetic to umpires and the difficult job they have on a nightly basis. On Friday night against the Angels, however, his frustration with the strike zone early in the game boiled over.
Expressing his displeasure from the A’s dugout during the bottom of the second inning following a 1-1 pitch to Carlos Cortes that was called a strike despite appearing to land just below the zone, Kotsay was ejected by home-plate umpire Dan Merzel.
Because the microphones at Sutter Health Park are so close to the action, it was easy to make out what Kotsay was telling Merzel as the two argued near home plate. The gist of it: Kotsay was upset about three pitches in the first inning that he felt Merzel missed. Of course, with the ABS Challenge System now in place, there is little room for managers to argue balls and strikes without the risk of an ejection, and the A’s did still have two challenges at their disposal at the time.
The ejection was Kotsay’s first since Sept. 27, 2025, and it appeared to spark the man on deck in Lawrence Butler, who followed Cortes’ strikeout by launching a 412-foot solo shot to center field off Angels starter José Soriano to provide the A’s an early 1-0 lead.
The ejection meant Kotsay wasn't in the dugout as the A's staged a dramatic comeback to walk off the Angels, 12-11, in 10 innings -- though he had plenty to say about the game afterward nonetheless.