HOUSTON - The Orioles, to say the least, are ready to move on from yesterday's postgame comments out of the Minnesota clubhouse. The Twins, particularly second baseman Brian Dozier, criticized O's catcher Chance Sisco for bunting against the shift in the ninth inning. Sisco singled to start a bases loaded rally in the 7-0 loss to the Twins.
One of the O's veterans that Dozier said would "address that" with Sisco is first baseman Chris Davis. He did address it with the young O's catcher, but not in the manner Dozier had in mind.
He supports his teammate as does everyone in the Orioles clubhouse. A young kid trying to make his way in the majors got thrust into a huge spotlight he didn't seek yesterday.
"I mean, he's got a good group of guys around him that care about him," Davis said this afternoon before the Orioles face Houston. "We understand that the world we live in nowadays apparently it's a lot of fun to make something out of nothing. I think people a lot of times are just looking for something to read or watch, whatever it is.
"I think that is how you end up having stories out of things that shouldn't be anything at all," Davis continued. "Chance is a good dude. He is probably the quietest guy in this clubhouse. He works hard. He was trying to help us win the ballgame. I don't fault him for it. As far as we're concerned, it's behind us. We have plenty to focus on with the series ahead of us."
Was Davis suprised at the Twins players and how they reacted to that play?
"I was surprised to see that on TV today," David said. "I try not to watch a lot of baseball when I am not at the field. Try to take a little bit of a break from it. Surprised to see it on there, but at the same time not really surprised. Like I said, we've become a society where we want to talk about yesterday's news today. That is not the world I want to live in. If you are going to be competitive in this league we have to move on. As far as I'm concerned, we have."
Davis also commented on the so-called "unwritten rules" of baseball.
"I think it is what you make it. Obviously, we have guys who have been around the game for several years and you know how to play the game and the right way to play the game. I think a lot of it has gotten blown out of proportion. It's turned into a sensitivity contest. At the end of the day, your job is to try to go out and win the game.
"For whatever reason, it's been OK and really accepted these last few years to win the game without hurting the other teams' feelings," Davis continued. "If it's acceptable to shift with a seven-run lead in the ninth inning, it's acceptable to bunt. There are certain things I don't agree with when you talk about the unwritten rules, but I definitely think that what Chance did was warranted. And in fact, I told him this, 'If you had made the first out of the inning, I was going to lay a bunt down,' because we had one hit at the time, we're down seven runs, the starter is still in the game."
"We're clearly not getting it done swinging the bats, so you've got to find a way to get runners on base. He laid the bunt down and my approach changed a little bit, but I basically said, I'm not going to swing until he throws two strikes. He's at the end of his leash so to speak and kind of running on fumes and we've got to find a way to generate some offense. So I have no problem with it. I think it's a non-issue and I hope it ends here. We have plenty to focus on with the Astros in front of us."
He's right about that. The Orioles are the guest tonight for Houston's home opener. They'll unveil their World Series banner during a pregame ceremony and then the Orioles will try to get the win at Minute Maid Park. They went 0-3 here the past two seasons.
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