Buck ready to move past O's-Blue Jays squabble

Baltimore manager Buck Showalter took his time to make his point on Wednesday.

Showalter, calling into the "High Heat" program on MLB Network, shared his perspective on the events from Tuesday night's game, when his team had some static against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Toronto slugger Jose Bautista reacted to a brushback pitch with a home run and a slow trot around the basepaths in the Blue Jays' 13-6 win, and Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones was among the players who took obvious exception. One day later, Showalter sought to play the incident down.

Video: Must C Confrontation: Bautista gets revenge, heats up

"Most of the fireworks were by them last night," Showalter said. "We didn't play a very good game. Didn't pitch very well. It got away from us. It's pretty obvious that it's a very talented division, with no one really having more pure talent than Toronto. They're pretty impressive. They're a hard team to keep in check. We just let it get away from us last night. We didn't play very well, and a lot of it had to do with what they did."

Showalter, pressed by the show's host, Christopher Russo, spoke a little bit more about the incident at length. Showalter said he understood why incidents from Tuesday night's game captivated the public, but he also said that it doesn't do much good for his players to dwell on it a day later.

"It's [Bautista's] 250th home run. It's too bad that overshadowed it," Showalter said. "The way I look at it, it's a player's game. When something happens out on the field, I always look at our players to see their reaction to it. If it's something that matters to them, then it should matter to me. And that's basically what I go by, and I've always gone by.

"I don't let outside influences -- I don't let some network or something showing [highlights from this past weekend's contentious] Oakland and Kansas City [series] 1,000 times and fanning the flames. Let's face it: part of the reason why our game is popular is because [television networks] show this stuff over and over and over again. They beat it. And that's also why a young player looks around and goes, 'Jeez, I just got hit by a breaking ball, nipped in the elbow. I guess I'm supposed to be mad, because they've played this over and over.' It's part of the world we live in.

"My bottom line is, 'Is it important to the players?' I understand everybody's emotion and why everybody would have the reaction they had. It's played by human beings that care about what they do. They're very passionate, that's why they're one of the few that can do it. We'll deal with it and move on."

 Video: Brushback on tempers flaring between O's and Jays

Showalter, moments later, was asked about some comments Bautista made in the wake of Tuesday's game. The five-time All-Star, referring to past incidents with the Orioles, said that Baltimore's players have been content to hide behind their manager, but Showalter wouldn't take the bait Wednesday.

"I don't pay much attention to it," he said. "We're just trying to win tonight's game. I don't get involved in all that stuff. People say a lot of things when they're emotional. I'm just trying to take care of my house over here. We've got some good people that care about playing the game right, and they do too. We'll see where it takes us after nine innings every night. We've got 150-something games left."