From Chronicle Staff Writer Susan Slusser at the Coliseum

A’s manager Bob Melvin has done a lot of rehashing of last night’s 9-8 loss in 12 innings to the Royals in the American League wild-card game, and he said a lot of interesting things about some of the strategy in the game.

First, on not using Adam Dunn to pinch hit, Melvin reiterated what he said last night when I asked him: There wasn’t a right spot to use him. When Alberto Callaspo pinch-hit in the 12th (and drove in a run with a single), Melvin figured that the Royals would walk Dunn if he’d used him there. In the ninth with the bases loaded and two outs, he didn’t want to remove his regular shortstop, Jed Lowrie, in a game the A’s were leading – typically clubs rely on their veteran, everyday position players for defense when holding leads. (And Andy Parrino had barely played in a month, that’s a tough situation to put a little-used backup into.)

“I’m not going to take my shortstop out – I’m not, at a certain part of the game,” Melvin said. “It’s not something I’m going to do.”

Melvin didn’t pinch hit for Nick Punto in the 10th for the same reason – defense.

Melvin said “it kills me” that he was unable to use Dunn, though.

“I feel horrible, it’s an awful feeling,” Melvin said. “It never dawned me that he wasn’t going to be playing (Thursday) in Anaheim. It really never did. You have to win that game, hold him for the right spot.”

Melvin spoke to Dunn and Dunn told him: “Don’t you worry, we were trying to win the game and the spot didn’t come up.”

Melvin told Dunn, who has said he probably will retire this offseason, that he thinks he still has a lot of baseball in him. Dunn, 34, has 462 homers, 35th all-time; many of his friends and former teammates have tried to convince him to keep playing (Scott Hatteberg and Ken Griffey Jr. both told me they’ve done so) and Melvin said he’d always be happy to have Dunn play for him if the circumstances were right.

Now some pitching questions for Melvin: Why didn’t he use Fernando Abad rather than Dan Otero vs. Eric Hosmer in the 12th? (Hosmer tripled and scored on Christian Colon’s slow, high chopper to tie the game; Josh Donaldson didn’t have even a remote chance to get either player because of the high bounce off the plate.)

“If one thing sticks in there more than anything, it’s probably Abad for Hosmer,” Melvin said. “The plan when the inning started was if (Otero) gets (Lorenzo) Cain out, I’ll let him have Hosmer and we’ll see where they are with Colon or (Raul) Ibanez the next at-bat.”

The A’s did call a pitchout at the right time – Jason Hammel pitched out when Colon stole second, but catcher Derek Norris couldn’t handle the pitchout. Melvin said you can’t assume the out at second base in that case, anyway.

Melvin said he didn’t use Sean Doolittle in the eighth inning, rather than Luke Gregerson, because that part of the lineup had more hitters who handle lefties better than some other spots in the KC lineup. Melvin noted that Gregerson gave up a hit to Billy Butler (sending in a run) and a wild pitch (another run) but after that he was sharp, striking out the next two men. ‘I liked the matchups with Gregerson,” Melvin said.

Had Jon Lester retired Hosmer (him again!) that inning, Lester would have stayed in, but after two hits and a walk, Melvin had to lift him.

“Look, we’re all accountable in games like that,” Melvin said. “And no one feels more responsible than I do when we lose a game.”

In other news from today, Melvin said that had the A’s advanced, injuries would have claimed two more players. Catcher Geovany Soto (thumb) and center fielder Coco Crisp (hamstring) could not have played in the Division Series, Melvin said. The A’s would have had to activate Bryan Anderson, a September call-up who got one at-bat, to play against the Angels, and even starting catcher Derek Norris has been banged up, with a shoulder problem and a bad back.

The A’s worst injury, though, was Stephen Vogt’s foot problem, which prevented him from catching for three months. Vogt will need surgery to repair the torn plantar plate in his right foot, would spend 4-6 weeks in a walking boot and then start rehab. He is expected to be 100 percent recovered by spring training.

Brandon Moss expects to have surgery for torn cartilage in his right hip. Among the A’s other issues, Crisp had a neck problem, Josh Donaldson had leg injuries, Jed Lowrie a fractured finger, Norris back and shoulder trouble and Craig Gentry and John Jaso missed the end of the season with concussions; Jaso might not return to catching, but he is a good enough hitter to DH. Melvin said that if Jaso is cleared to catch, it will be Jaso’s decision to do so.

*General manager Billy Beane said the team will look for a right-handed hitter this offseason, but, he added, “Right-handed bats are something we’ve always been looking for, which is why Cespy (Yoenis Cespedes) was such a great guy to have, no question. But it’s always been our Achilles heel, finding right-handed bats to complement the lefties. And listen, it’s a challenge for the league, too.”

*John Shea will be writing much more about Beane’s post-season comments in tomorrow’s paper, but the main thing everyone wants to know: Where does he stand on the Cespedes trade now that the season is over and Lester, obtained with an eye exactly toward a big game like Tuesday, did not pitch his best?

“Simply put, we don’t have Jon Lester, we don’t make the playoffs,” Beane said repeatedly today. Pressed on that several times, he said, “Jon put us in a position to win the game (Tuesday) and the ball was handed off. … I don’t think it was any fault of his. We can debate all you want but I truly believe we don’t make the playoffs extracting Lester.”

*The A’s allowed seven steals on Tuesday, in part because of Soto’s injury, but Norris had trouble throwing out runners all year and Oakland pitchers weren’t great at holding runners. “It’s definitely something we have to take a hard look at because we ere extremely deficient in that area,” Melvin said. Melvin said that Soto also would be someone who he’d welcome back if the opportunity ever arose.

*Punto said that his option for 2015 has vested

*All the A’s coaches are expected back, but bench coach Chip Hale could be a managerial candidate in Arizona and Minnesota; he has ties to both organizations.

*Gentry was going to go get at-bats in instructional leagues this week in order to potentially play in the ALCS if the A’s had advanced.