Josh Hamilton sat in front of his locker and seemed a little more at ease, saying he and third-base coach Dave Anderson have cleared up any misunderstandings.
Now, the Texas Rangers have to try to win without their slugger. Their first attempt fell short.
Brandon Inge hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Detroit Tigers beat the Rangers 3-2 on Wednesday. It was Texas' first game without Hamilton, who broke his right arm Tuesday while being thrown out at the plate.
Hamilton tagged up on a foul popup, a risky play he called "stupid" afterward. He said running was a bad decision, but that Anderson told him to do it.
The two met before Wednesday's game.
"I just appreciate Dave having confidence in my ability to think I could make that play. We talked behind closed doors and just kind of talked about everything," Hamilton said. "I could have took a different route, as far as trying to cool down a little bit before I spoke, but everything's good."
Hamilton broke his upper right arm. The Rangers put him on the 15-day disabled list, but the reigning AL MVP is expected to miss six to eight weeks. He isn't expected to swing a bat for a month. Texas recalled infielder Chris Davis from Triple-A Round Rock.
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Anderson said before the game the team's style isn't going to change.
"It's an aggressive play that we tried to do and it didn't work. That took us a long way last year -- a lot of those plays that we did. That's part of our game," Anderson said. "If he doesn't get hurt, then we're not even talking about this right now. He's out at home plate, we go back out. ... My job at third base is two things: Make sure they get the signs, and try to score as many runs as we can possibly score."
A few hours later, Hamilton clarified his initial comments.
"I wasn't calling him stupid or anything like that. It was just the play itself and coming out injured," Hamilton said. "I could have made the play and then not gotten hurt, and it would have been a great play, but it didn't work out that way."
Texas had other problems besides Hamilton's absence. With the rotation taxed because of a Saturday doubleheader, the Rangers used five pitchers Wednesday.
Spot starter Dave Bush made his first appearance of the season. He made it through three scoreless innings, although he allowed three hits and three walks and threw 71 pitches.
"My pitch count was awfully high for three innings," Bush said. "That was the determining factor in me coming out. It's been so long since I've pitched, I really didn't want to go out and blow it out in the first time out. ... I'll take the three zeros."
With one out in the ninth, Inge hit the first pitch from Darren Oliver (1-1) over the left-field wall.
"It looked like a slider down the middle," Inge said. "I knew he had thrown me a couple of those yesterday or the day before, but I wasn't really looking for any pitch. I just wanted something over the middle."
Detroit starter Max Scherzer went six innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Jose Valverde (2-0) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth for the Tigers.
NOTES: Texas RHP Colby Lewis' wife Jenny gave birth to daughter Elizabeth Grace on Wednesday. ... David Murphy started in left field, Hamilton's normal spot. He stole two bases, although he was also thrown out on the bases in the sixth. With men on first and third, Scherzer stepped toward third and threw to first, trapping baserunner Julio Borbon off the base. Murphy broke from third to home and was thrown out easily.
