Hyde: "We're going to keep it in-house"

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde wouldn't go into much detail about his dugout confrontation with first baseman Chris Davis that slapped another ugly coat on a 14-2 loss to the Yankees at Camden Yards.

Hyde said he wanted to keep it private and would speak with Davis later. He also expressed remorse that it happened in view of the public, including media, and downplayed the impact it would have on his relationship with Davis and the season.

Davis apparently left the ballpark and wasn't available after the game.

A MASN camera caught Davis trying to chase after Hyde following an exchange of words. Hyde kept walking down the tunnel as hitting coach Don Long and outfielder Mark Trumbo, who's on the injured list, pulled him away and restored order.

Jace Peterson pinch-hit for Davis, who struck out in his first at-bat.

"We haven't talked about it since," Hyde said. "It was just a disagreement that we had in the dugout. What was said and what we talked about, I'm not going to get into. We're going to keep it in-house. It's private. It's just something that happens sometimes. Frustration boils over a little bit when we're not playing our best baseball the last couple games.

"Unfortunately I'm embarrassed that it was caught on camera and people had to see it, but sometimes those things happen."

Whether Hyde reacted to something Davis did in the field - flipping the ball with his glove for an out or being slow to chase a foul ball near the screen - or said in the dugout that led to a response, which ignited the first baseman, remained a mystery tonight.

The decision to pinch-hit for Davis was made following the altercation.

"I took him out of the game. We had words and I took him out of the game," Hyde said.

"Me and Chris have a good relationship. And these things happen in competitive environments. It was something that will pass and we'll get through it, but it was just unfortunate it happened in the dugout.

"We were saying words back and forth to each other and it got a little bit heated. That's kind of the extent of it. It is what it is. I don't think it's common. It happens on occasion. And unfortunately it was caught on camera. It was just a frustration issue and we'll move past it and hopefully be closer for it."

Trumbo couldn't offer much clarity because he didn't hear the initial exchange. He just got in the middle as it heated.

"There was a little bit of a disagreement," Trumbo said. "I think this game was particularly tough and almost nothing went our way, so I think everybody was pretty frustrated and those things tend to happen. Hopefully they don't happen in front of everybody. In this case it kind of did. Not ideal, but not that big of a deal."

Asked whether he was confident that the incident would blow over, Trumbo replied, "Yeah. I mean, this stuff happens. It rarely gets talked about because you don't see it all the time. Tensions are always high in the big leagues and tonight just a little bit too much I think.

"I wasn't there for all of it. I kind of came in right when it made its way to me and I just tried to do what I can to make sure everyone kind of tries to cool down a little bit."

Trumbo couldn't speak to what set off Davis. If it was a product of another frustrating season or something that happened in the moment.

"You know, I can't speculate," he said. "I'm sure there's a number of things going on, but all I know is he was pretty ticked at the time, but he seemed better a few minutes after.

"I didn't ask him about anything. He seemed like he had calmed down a little bit, so that was really all anybody was looking for.

"I'm sure with tensions that high it's bound to kind of look like it was pretty aggressive, but it's just a disagreement."

The Yankees hit five home runs and completed their sweep before an announced crowd of 16,299 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles fell to 38-76 overall and 17-41 at home. The Yankees have won 15 games in a row at Camden Yards and are 13-2 against the Orioles this season.

What happened between Hyde and Davis grabbed most of the attention.

"I don't want to go into that," Hyde said when pressed for more details, including who instigated it. "I'm going to keep what happened between us in the dugout."

Davis is the senior member of the team and has been supportive of Hyde, the first-year manager. And Hyde has backed Davis through another poor season from the franchise's highest-paid player. Three seasons remain on the seven-year, $161 million deal.

The Orioles are off Thursday and resume their homestand Friday with a three-game series against the Astros. Whether Davis is punished, on the bench or in the lineup will be revealed.

The two parties will meet later.

"We'll talk about it," Hyde said.

Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias might offer his input. He sat in the stands for part of the game.

Trey Mancini homered in the fourth off left-hander James Paxton, who allowed only one run in 6 2/3 innings. Stevie Wilkerson had a two-out RBI double off Chance Adams in the ninth.

Left-hander John Means has a 7.11 ERA in four starts since the break. He allowed four runs and five hits tonight in 3 2/3 innings.

The Orioles surrendered five more home runs, including a pair of two-runs shots by Gio Urshela. Means, Miguel Castro, Tayler Scott, Tom Eshelman and David Hess each served up one.

Kyle Higashioka hit a three-run homer off Means in the fourth, Urshela connected off Castro in the fifth and Scott in the sixth, Cameron Maybin cleared the center field fence with a 436-foot shot off Eshelman in the ninth and Higashioka lined a two-run shot into the left field seats after Hess entered the game.

Hess allowed two home runs last night in the ninth inning and his season total has risen to 28. He was optioned after the game.

"I was really encouraged by John Means," Hyde said. "I thought he threw the ball great. He had a four-pitch mix going, his velo was sitting in the low 90s, some 94s. Loved the slider and the curveball he was throwing tonight and some really good changeups. Just kind of ran into some bad luck.

"We had a little miscommunication on a fly ball that led to a longer inning and rose his pitch count. We were in the 80 range from a pitch-count standpoint tonight. So yeah, unfortunately it got away from us but I loved the way John Means threw the ball and really encouraging signs."

"I made one bad pitch, honestly," Means said. "I had a long inning and made a mistake, made an 0-2 curveball. You learn in Little League you don't hang a curveball 0-2. Just stupid, but I'm learning.

"I've done that the last two outings. I've kind of had an inning where a few guys get on and then I make a mistake and it ends up hurting me in the end. Something that guys who stay in this league just don't do. Guys that have time, they just execute that pitch when the inning gets long."

The staff has allowed 234 homers, including 52 to the Yankees, a major league single season record by one opponent. These teams play four games next week in the Bronx.

"Obviously it's a real good ballclub that beat us up pretty good the last few games," Hyde said. "We're ready to move on from the series. We were playing pretty good baseball going in. The first night, tie game in the eighth and the last two nights just really got away from us.

"Hopefully we get back to playing the baseball we were playing prior to the series. Looking for a fresh start. Nice day off tomorrow and have Houston coming in. Looking forward to turning the page on this series."

The 16 home runs in a three-game series ties the record held by the 1977 Red Sox.

Records keep falling around the Orioles as if stacked on shelves in an earthquake.

Means hadn't pitched since July 24 due to a left biceps strain.

"I was very happy with how I felt, arm and even stuff-wise," he said. "I thought I was sharp except for that one pitch.

"I thought I came out of the gate pretty good and those first three innings I felt as good as I have all year."

What was working for Means early as he retired 10 of 11? You name it.

"Everything, honestly," he said. "I was getting swings and misses on my slider, changeup, my curveball. I was locating well. I thought everything was working really good. I was really happy with how my arm felt. I felt like my extension was a lot better than it had been."

Means said he missed the dust-up between Hyde and Davis.

"I was in here," he said. "I was doing shoulder work."

A relationship between manager and first baseman might be in need of some repairs.