BALTIMORE _ Orioles first baseman Chris Davis left Wednesday's game against the New York Yankees shortly after an apparent verbal altercation in the dugout with manager Brandon Hyde.
MASN cameras caught Davis and Hyde speaking to each other in the dugout in the middle of the fifth inning, with the Orioles trailing 6-1. After Hyde said something to Davis and headed down the tunnel toward the Orioles' clubhouse, Davis charged toward him and had to be restrained by teammate Mark Trumbo and hitting coach Don Long.
Jace Peterson pinch-hit for Davis in the bottom of the fifth, with Davis striking out in his only at-bat of the night against Yankees left-hander James Paxton.
Davis, 33, is the most veteran member of the Orioles, in terms of age, service time and time with the team. Hyde is in his first year as Baltimore's manager and has publicly been a strong supporter of Davis in an up-and-down season for the one-time slugger.
As an Oriole, Davis twice led the majors in home runs, but he has generally struggled since signing a 7-year, $161 million contract with the team before the 2016 season, bottoming out last year by having the lowest batting average for a qualified player in major league history.
Between the end of last season and the start of this year, Davis set major league records for longest streaks of hitless at-bats and hitless plate appearances. He broke out of the funk with a strong month but soon found himself slumping again. He started the Orioles' recent West Coast road trip 0 for 16 with a walk and 14 strikeouts before hitting a go-ahead home run against the San Diego Padres in the trip's final game.
Davis is hitting .182 with nine home runs and 111 strikeouts in the fourth season of his contract. He won't be a free agent until after the 2022 season, with $42 million of the contract coming in deferred payments from 2023-2037.
