Orioles’ Chris Davis clears air with manager after dugout clash

BALTIMORE — Orioles first baseman Chris Davis said he reached a “breaking point” when he charged at manager Brandon Hyde in the dugout on Wednesday night, and expressed his regret during a lengthy conversion with Hyde on Friday.

The flare-up occurred Wednesday in the fifth inning of Baltimore’s 14-2 loss to the New York Yankees. Hyde walked over to Davis and said something that the first baseman clearly didn’t like, and Davis attempted to charge at the manager before being restrained by teammate Mark Trumbo and hitting coach Don Long.

”It happened. Brandon and I have talked,” Davis said Friday, hours before the last-place Orioles hosted the Houston Astros. “I knew right after it happened we were going to be fine, and we are.”

Davis is batting .182 with nine homers and 31 RBIs, hardly the production the Orioles expected from a slugger who’s in the middle of a $161 million, seven-year contract. Last season he batted .168, the worst average in major league history by a player with enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.

Davis has taken some consolation from his play in the field, but on Wednesday night he lamented being unable to snag a bouncing throw that preceded a New York home run.

”For me, that was really kind of the breaking point,” Davis said. “It all boiled over. It wasn’t just from that play. For me, it’s been the last couple weeks.”

He regretted charging at Hyde, and that it was caught on camera because it occurred in the dugout.

”I think it just made it worse for everybody involved,” Davis said. “I wish it hadn’t happened in the dugout, but it did. We addressed it. We’re moving forward. We have so much to look forward to; I don’t want this to be made into something it’s not.”

Davis was removed for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning and said he remained in the clubhouse until the game ended before leaving the stadium “just to be respectful” to his teammates.

After the game, Hyde addressed the confrontation but did not reveal what was said between the two.

”It was just a disagreement in the dugout. What was said, what we talked about, I’m not going to get into,” Hyde said. “Frustration boils over a little bit when we’re not playing our best baseball the last couple games. Unfortunately, I’m embarrassed that it was caught on camera and people had to see it, but sometimes those things happen.”