Chris Davis: "I thought it was a cheap move" (plus Machado quotes)

For the second time in this series with Boston, Orioles third baseman Manny Machado was surrounded by reporters at his locker. There were no questions about how the Orioles lost 6-2 today to the Red Sox.

The topic was the 90 mph pitch that right-hander Matt Barnes threw high and tight in his direction in the eighth inning. It led to Barnes' ejection from the game. Any lingering tensions between the teams came to the surface again.

In the Boston clubhouse, injured second baseman Dustin Pedroia seemed to throw his own manager and/or pitcher under the bus, calling this a "mishandled situation." Machado slid hard into Pedroia here Friday night and Pedroia injured his left knee. Pedroia seemed to want to move on, but that opinion was apparently not shared throughout the Red Sox clubhouse.

Before we get to Machado's postgame reaction, teammate Chris Davis left no ambiguity in how he felt about Barnes' pitch and how Boston handled the situation.

"I thought it was a cheap move," Davis said. "Obviously, there was intent behind it, whether it was his decision or he was told to do so. I'm all for protecting your players, whether you think Manny went after Pedroia or not. But you don't throw at somebody's head. There's a way to do it, and that's not the way.

"I don't know if (Machado) has developed a reputation for being a dirty player, but he's not that type of player or person. I don't think he's really done anything in the past to warrant that kind of judgement. I think he handled it well the other night and did the right thing, reaching out to (Pedroia). You have to tip your hat to him getting back in the box and then raking one off the center field fence," Davis added.

The Barnes pitch was ruled a foul ball and Joe Kelly replaced Barnes, who was ejected. Machado then smoked an RBI double to center off Kelly for the Orioles' first run.

Here is Machado's take: "You never want to get hit in the head. Intentionally or not, you don't want to get hit in the head. It is what it is. We have to go out there and handle our business, and we lost the game today. Who cares about the situation that happened? We have to continue to do things the right way that we always have been doing and move on to the next series.

"I wasn't expecting anything, no. I thought I did a good slide. Everyone saw the replay on that side and that's on them whatever happened. I'm going to keep doing me. I'm struggling right now and I've got to start hitting, and hopefully carry this team to the next level we need to go to. That is the only thing I can control.

"You guys saw it on TV (his on-field exchange with Pedroia). Those things stay between men. They are said between us and we don't like to talk about it. Their side and our side, we know what happens in the field stays between the lines.

"Whatever Petey (Pedroia) said, those are his words. I'm going to respect Petey and I look up to a guy like that. At the end of the day, he knows what happened. I respect him to the end of the day. He shot me a text. It's part of baseball and we all play hard for our team.

"We'll keep playing. We want to win the division and have to cross paths with them again, and they are going to be a team to beat. We'll keep fighting, no matter what."

Orioles starter Kevin Gausman also left no doubt about how he felt.

"There is a right way and a wrong way to do things. Anytime you are throwing at a guy's head, that is the wrong way to do it. You can kill a guy doing that."

Pedroia apologized to Machado during his postgame interview, and Machado said he also got a postgame text from Pedroia.

"I just told him I didn't have anything to do with that," Pedroia said in the Boston clubhouse. "That's not how you do that, man. Sorry to him and his team. If you are going to protect guys, you do it right away and both teams know that. Definitely a mishandled situation.

"There was zero intentions of him trying to hurt me. He just made a bad slide and did hurt me. That's baseball man. I'm not mad at him. I love Manny Machado. If I slid into third base and got Manny's knee, I know I am going to get drilled. That's baseball. That's it. I apologized to him. C'mon man. He is not trying to hit Manny in the head. It was just a bad situation man. That's it. That's not baseball. That's it," he said.

Machado seemed to handle being the center of the storm in a calm manner this weekend. He was very composed in his postgame interviews, and none of the emotion from the field was seen in the clubhouse. He didn't charge the mound.

"You know what? You mature, I guess," he said. "I don't know. You just mature about the situation. I don't want to get suspended. I think everyone already knows out there, they think I'm the villain. It's always me. Manny always does something wrong.

"I just go out and play the game I love, leave it on the field and I play with heart. What happens between the lines stays between the lines.

"Some media people, all you guys, want to write bad about me. You know what I care about is what everyone here (in the clubhouse) has to think about me. You know, 25 guys in here and the coaching staff. I play for my team, I play with my heart and I play with everything I've got."

Finally, there was actually a game played here today, and Gausman took the fall for the loss as he allowed five runs in 5 1/3 innings. His ERA for the year is now 7.50. He's given up 13 runs over eight innings his past two starts.

"Not very good. Pretty frustrating. Especially being the guy they gave the ball to on opening day. Seems like everyone else is throwing well now and I'm scuffling along. So, I'll figure it out. It will take maybe another bullpen and, hopefully, come out my next start and hit the ground running. Obviously, my first five starts, not very good," Gausman said.