Alex Cora says he was not accusing the Baltimore Orioles of anything nefarious when he pointed out how few swing-and-misses they had against Chris Sale on Monday night.

Brandon Hyde said Tuesday he felt Cora was "disrespectful" to the Orioles' hitters. When that comment was relayed to the Boston Red Sox manager, he sounded surprised and ready to try to smooth things over.

Cora said his comments were about possible pitch tipping by Sale and not about sign stealing or anything shady on Baltimore's part.

"It wasn't about pointing the finger at them," Cora said. "If he took it that way, I'll talk to him right now, but that's not the case. I was the guy suspended for what happened in 2017, so I'm the last guy that can accuse somebody of doing something wrong if that's what he thought I was saying."