Mancini: "It's been positive all year and is going to remain that way"

The Orioles' Trey Mancini certainly can sense the pulse of his team. He's a clubhouse leader and cares deeply about his teammates and coaches. Orioles fans have come to learn that about Mancini.

As the club begins to move past the dugout confrontation Wednesday involving Chris Davis and manager Brandon Hyde, Mancini said the clubhouse remains positive and upbeat this afternoon. Just like it was before Wednesday's game.

"Things like that happen," said Mancini. "It's kind of unfortunate that it happened in front of the cameras but that doesn't change anything about our team and who we are. It's been positive all year and it's going to remain that way.

"It kind of got blown out of proportion a little bit. It's a different day, a new day and we move forward. It's not going to be all rainbows all the time. You'll have some confrontation from time to time in this game."

Davis has seemed to have a very good relationship with his younger teammates. Mancini said that has indeed been true and nothing there will change either.

"He's our teammate and we love him and support him," he said. "Same goes with Hyder too. We all love playing for him so much. You never like to see two people that you respect come to blows a little bit, but it's in the past and a totally different day. No one has talked about it at all today. It's not anything we're concerned about."

Mancini said the team has gotten even closer as the year has gone on and that helped the Orioles go 16-15 before they lost three straight to the Yankees.

"I think we've been meshing really well together, especially from an offensive standpoint. We are working as a unit and having some unselfish at-bats and that has helped a lot. Our whole team - we've gotten closer. And whenever you want to fight for the guy next to you, you're going to be better for it," he said.

Ruiz returns: Infielder Rio Ruiz returns to the O's roster today. He takes the spot of pitcher David Hess, who was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk after Wednesday's game. Ruiz himself was optioned after the game of July 24.

In two games with Double-A Bowie he went 0-for-8 with a walk. In three games with Norfolk, he went 5-for-14 with a homer and seven RBIs.

"I used my time there great," Ruiz said this afternoon. "Got to work right away and made some adjustments. I don't think it really matters where you get reps, as you long as you do. I played every day and got my at-bats and tried to make the most of it. Look forward to keep it going up here."

In 89 O's games, Ruiz has hit .238/.306/.335. In 14 games in July he was batting .297 with six RBIs before he was sent out. He ranks 11th among major league third basemen in defensive runs above average (3.0) according to FanGraphs.

He was pretty excited to rejoin the team today.

"Unbelievable. Just to see everybody and you know, it's comfortable. With all the people I've been with since spring training and all the relationships I've built here, definitely happy to be back," he said.