Mickey Hatcher, Albert Pujols look to put discord behind them

Whatever was said between first baseman Albert Pujols and hitting coach Mickey Hatcher in the wake of apparent friction between the two Monday night remained private on Tuesday.

Pujols, who in April hit .217 with no homers and four runs batted in, the worst month of his career, was perturbed at Hatcher for telling reporters what Pujols said during a closed-door hitters meeting Monday, even though Pujols’ comments, meant to instill confidence in his teammates, were fairly innocuous.

“Mickey shouldn’t have said that,” Pujols said after the game. “No disrespect, but I’ll talk to Mickey about that.”

Pujols declined to say Tuesday whether he spoke to Hatcher, and the embattled hitting coach, under fire for the Angels’ hitting woes during their 8-15 start, did his best to defuse the situation.

“I don’t want to talk about it, Albert doesn’t want to talk about it,” Hatcher said. “It was something you guys stirred up, and that’s it. We’ll leave it alone. Everybody’s laughing about it. It’s ridiculous, it really is.”

When asked if there was a resolution to the matter and if he presided over any discussions between Pujols and Hatcher, Manager Mike Scioscia said, “There’s nothing to resolve. Albert is fine. Mickey is fine.”

The Angels lineup: CF Mike Trout, 3B Alberto Callaspo, 1B Albert Pujols, RF Torii Hunter, DH Mark Trumbo, 2B Howie Kendrick, LF Vernon Wells, SS Erick Aybar, C Chris Iannetta, P Jerome Williams.

The Twins lineup: CF Denard Span, 2B Alexi Casilla, DH Joe Mauer, LF Josh Willingham, 3B Danny Valencia, C Ryan Doumit, 1B Chris Parmelee, RF Clete Thomas, SS Jamey Carroll, P Francisco Liriano.

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Mickey Hatcher, Albert Pujols look to put discord behind them