Davis talks about dugout incident with Hyde

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis met with the media outside the clubhouse today for nine minutes and offered an explanation for Wednesday night's dugout eruption without getting into too much detail.

Davis said he reached a "breaking point" over a poor defensive showing and a season that again has been one long struggle.

Davis and manager Brandon Hyde met for more than an hour today, their first interaction since Davis came out of Wednesday's game for a pinch-hitter and had to be restrained.

I've heard that Davis threw a batting helmet in frustration that hit Hyde by accident, which led to an exchange of words and tempers flaring.

Davis left the ballpark before the final out, saying he didn't want to become a distraction as the media entered the clubhouse. He indicated that he hasn't been fined.

He isn't in tonight's lineup.

Davis said he hasn't spoken with executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias.

Here's a sampling from Davis:

On what happened in dugout: "What actually happened was the inning before on defense for me was really the reason I was so frustrated. I missed a pick. Wasn't an easy play, wasn't a particularly hard play, and a couple pitches later I think they hit a two-run home run and took it from a 4-1 game to a 6-1 game. And for me that was really kind of the breaking point.

"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 really good job still being there on defense and trying to pick guys up and for me at that spot in the game at that point in the series that was just kind of where it all ... Like I said, I hit a breaking point and that'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.

"Brandon and I have talked. I knew right after it happened that we were going to be fine. It was just one of those things. And we are. It happens over the course of a season. You know as a young team going into the season, all the challenges that you're going to face, everything that you're going to have to overcome, you know there are going to be nights where it's frustrating and that's kind of really, for me, that's what happened.

"It all boiled over and it wasn't just from that play. For me it's been for the last couple weeks. That's about it."

On how much worse because caught on camera: "I think it just made it worse for everybody involved. Unfortunately people start to assume what went on and you can't hear, but you can see kind of what's going on. But like I said, I wish it hadn't happened in the dugout, but it did. We've talked about it. Feel like we've addressed it, and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do this out here.

"We're moving forward. We have so much to look forward to and I don't want this to be made into being something it's not. I don't want it to be blown out of proportion. These things happen over the course of the season and I'm sure it's not the last time that it's going to happen."

On whether he apologized to Hyde: "We talked. We made amends. We talked about what happened, we talked about what we want to do moving forward. And he said the same thing I said earlier. We knew that it wasn't going to be an issue not too long after it happened. We knew that it was just one of those things, we're going to get through it and be better for it."

On what was said that triggered the reaction: "I think everybody has their breaking point and I think if anything, probably one of the things I've heard the most that just isn't true is that I don't care. 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 was between him and I and it's going to stay that way. It was silly, it was in the heat of the moment. For me to go back to what I was talking about as far as caring, for people to assume 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 of years, I feel like I've done a pretty good job of it night in and night out. But everybody has their breaking point."

On whether he's concerned could have negative impact on the team: "I don't think so. Like I said, Hyder and I sat down and talked and we talked for a while. He and I both knew shortly after it happened that it wasn't going to be a big deal. It's unfortunate that it got caught on camera in the dugout, it's unfortunate that's where it took place, but at that point in time that's kind of where we were at.

"It was a frustrating series for us as a team. We felt like we were playing some good baseball coming in, and to get beat like that at home by a division rival was tough. I was frustrated, I know Brandon was. I know all the guys were. But we're going to move on and keep rolling."

On what his relationship's been like with Hyde: "It's been awesome and I think that's one of the reasons that we were able to move on from this as quickly as we were. He and I from Day One have sat down and talked about what it's going to look like, what challenges we might face and agreed that as long as we were open and honest with each other that it was something we were going to be able to tackle together. And that hasn't changed. Not even in the least bit.

"I'll be glad when this is all behind us as far as the outside world is concerned because we've turned the page."

On whether his idea to leave ballpark early: "I stuck around, but I wanted to be out of the clubhouse by the time that guys started coming in, just to be respectful to them. 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 that guys started coming off the field, just to give everybody time to cool off."

(Is interrupted by a new question)

On how he spent off-day to regroup: "I just spent time with my family. That's really the only way that I know to kind of escape is to be a dad and be a husband and I enjoyed the time with them. But I look forward to coming back here and getting back to work with these guys."

On whether he was at ballpark for final out: "I was not in the clubhouse for the final out of the game. That was to be respectful to the guys coming off the field. It was something that I don't want to focus on, it was something I don't want them to focus on and at that point in time I thought it was 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."

On whether he's heard from club about leaving: "I haven't heard anything."

On when he talked to Hyde: "We sat down today, we talked, over an hour. That's just kind of when it all went down, I guess. We both knew that we had an off-day and I think it was probably best that we did, just to kind of give us a little bit of time. We sat down early today."

On whether uncomfortable waiting: "I mean, I didn't think about it a whole lot. I tried not to. I think he's kind of in the same boat. We're not here and we're not in uniform and we're not working. We're just regular human beings, so I think that was kind of his approach. He took a little time away from everything to relax."