Never mind the larger issue about the value of the sacrifice bunt and when it should be employed versus when it should be eschewed. Most sane adults should agree on this:

When it’s the bottom of the eighth inning of a tie game, the count is 3 and 1, and the batter in question, Kole Calhoun, has had a grand total of two sacrifices in a big-league career spanning 784 plate appearances, why on earth don’t you allow him to try to work a walk — thereby pushing the runner on first base into scoring position without having to give away a precious out? (Alternatively, why not allow Calhoun, owner of a quite handsome .450 slugging percentage in 2014, swing away on a hitter’s favorite count?)

Oh, and some fella named Mike Trout is due up next? (In other words, with runners on first and second, it would have been near-impossible for Royals fireballer Wade Davis to pitch around him.)

But that’s what Angels skipper Mike Scioscia wanted.

Calhoun did his best to square up the incoming fastball from Davis and . . . popped it up to third. Instead, Trout received an unintentional intentional walk, and ultimately the Halos didn’t score.

When you come up with an in-game tactic that’s even less coherent than the goodies Royals manager Ned Yost employed in the wild-card game, that’s really saying something.

And, yup, Scioscia’s squad lost in the end.