Dodgers' Dalton Rushing downplays incident with Giants' Jung Hoo Lee

Rushing was not in the Dodgers' starting lineup Wednesday but is expected to be Thursday, and he said he planned to check in with Lee to ensure he was not seriously hurt. Rushing said he already had checked with Lee's South Korean countryman, Dodgers infielder Hyeseong Kim.

"To make sure he was OK. That’s the biggest thing," Rushing said. "That’s the only thing that matters. Hopefully, he did not take it the way it was put out. I’ll be sure to say something to him face-to-face (Thursday), making sure he’s OK. There was nothing really directed at him. He’s a great guy."

Rushing said he was unaware Lee was hurt.

"No, I thought it was just a weird slide," Rushing said. "As long as he’s OK and he doesn’t think that I’m coming at him or any of those guys over there, that’s the biggest thing for me. I don’t care what other people put out there or say. I was just trying to play the game, play the game hard."

Rushing said he was not frustrated with Lee.

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"It was kind of an awkward slide, and that’s all it was," Rushing said. "There wasn’t anything else added to it."

If he was not frustrated with Lee, was he frustrated with himself? No, he said.

"I play with fire," Rushing said. "Everybody that has ever played with me, everyone that has watched me play, knows that. Whatever people want to make of it, I hope it’s not negative. I just hope he’s OK."

Rushing declined to say exactly what the cameras caught him saying.

"I used a word, but it was not what was said that was said. I’ll just leave it at that. There was no direction towards him.

"I just think some people make something out of nothing."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.