BALTIMORE _ Standing outside the Orioles' clubhouse, first baseman Chris Davis said Friday that frustration with his defense led to his disagreement with manager Brandon Hyde during Wednesday's 14-2 loss to the New York Yankees.
The altercation, caught on television cameras in the middle of the fifth inning, prompted Mark Trumbo and hitting coach Don Long to restrain Davis and led to Hyde removing him from the game. The top of the fifth inning began with a throwing error by second baseman Jonathan Villar, a throw that Davis said Friday he should've been able to corral. The next batter, Gio Urshela, hit a two-run home run, one of the Yankees' 16 in their sweep at Camden Yards.
He returned to the dugout after the top of the fifth and expressed his frustration, leading to the altercation with Hyde.
Davis, 33, is hitting .182 with nine home runs in the fourth season of a seven-year, $161 million contract with Baltimore, setting major league records for consecutive hitless at-bats and plate appearances between the end of last season and the start of this one.
"That was really kind of the breaking point," Davis said of the incident. "I think it's pretty obvious the offensive struggles I've had for quite some time. I feel like night in and night out, I've done a real good job of still being there on defense and trying to pick guys up, and at that spot in the game, at that point in the series, that was kind of where it all ... like I said, I hit a breaking point.
"It's going to happen. It's going to happen when you have that much frustration, when you're constantly having to deal with failure, you're going to have episodes where you just have to let it out. Unfortunately, it was in the dugout. I wish it hadn't been. I wish it had been underneath, but it happened, and I can't go back and change that."
Jace Peterson pinch-hit for Davis in the bottom of the fifth, and Davis said Friday that he left the ballpark before the end of Wednesday's game.
"I wanted to be out of the clubhouse by the time guys started coming in, just to be respectful to them," Davis said. "Obviously, it wasn't a highlight or a high point for me, but I just thought it was best to be out of there by the time guys started coming off the field, just to give everybody time to cool off.
"It was something that I don't want to focus on, something that I don't want them to focus on, and at that point in time, I think it was just best for me to kind of distance myself, and to give not only myself space but to give Hyder space, and the other guys as well."
Davis was out of the lineup for Friday's series opener with the Houston Astros, though former Oriole left-hander Wade Miley was the opposing starter.
Davis said he hasn't discussed the altercation with executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. But Davis said he and Hyde talked for "over an hour" earlier Friday, after taking Thursday's day off to spend time with his family.
"We both knew that we had an off-day," Davis said. "I think it was probably best that we did, just to kind of give us a little bit of time. I didn't think about it a whole lot. I tried not to. I think he was kind of in the same boat. When we're not here and we're not in uniform, we're not working, we're just regular human beings."
That was an idea Davis seemed to want to punctuate throughout his nine-minute meeting with media Friday. He has heard plenty of criticism in recent years, especially given his contract. The lengthy deal came after he won two major league home run titles in three seasons. But Davis is slashing .200/.294/.386 during his contract, which keeps him from being a free agent until after the 2022 season and includes $42 million in deferred money from 2023-37.
"I think everybody has their breaking point, and I think probably one of the things I've heard the most that just isn't true is that I don't care," Davis said, "that I don't show enough emotion, that maybe I don't care because I'm not blowing up every other at-bat. And that couldn't be further from the truth. What was said is between (Hyde) and I, and it's going to stay that way. It was silly. It was in the heat of the moment.
"For people to assume that I don't care because I don't blow up, that's just not accurate. I understand that I'm one of the older guys on the team, and I understand that I have an example to set, and I didn't do a very good job of that the other night. But I feel like looking back on the last couple years, I feel like I've done a pretty good job of it night in and night out, but everybody has their breaking point."
