Photo: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images

ANAHEIM, Calif. — After a 14-minute wait, the clubhouse door swung open.

A.J. Hinch is prompt to his postgame news conferences regardless of result. He departed from his norm Tuesday, leaving a small group waiting in an Angel Stadium hallway that leads to the field. Clubhouse attendants said a closed-door team meeting was underway. The manager eventually banged the door open. The sound reverberated through the narrow walkway.

Twice, Hinch was asked what he told his club after the game. He did not respond to either question.

"That kind of stays in the locker room," Jake Marisnick said. "Just kind of talking and making sure everything is good."

Losing four of their first six games after the All-Star break already has Houston heated. Perceived mistreatment of Marisnick in his hometown only exacerbated the Astros' anger Tuesday night. The postgame clubhouse was tense, a series of hushed conversations among veteran players adjacent to a stream of hugs and handshakes for Marisnick.

"If they felt the need to defend their guy, that's fine," pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said. "But I think the way that it was done was horses--t."

In an already close clubhouse, Marisnick is among the most universally beloved by his teammates. The 28-year-old outfielder rarely speaks above a whisper and always wears a smile. His effort and defensive wizardry has won over almost everyone.

Earlier on Tuesday, he was named the Astros' recipient of the Heart and Hustle Award. That night, Marisnick bore the brunt of a ballpark's anger and became the victim of baseball's unwritten rules.

"The fans were brutal over the dugout," said a clearly perturbed Hinch. "He was certainly the villain tonight. I think he handled himself well. He was actually a guy that was trying to calm the issue down whenever there was a little bit of chirping. "

Consternation was rooted, of course, in Marisnick's grisly collision with Jonathan Lucroy on July 7. The Angels catcher sustained a nasal fracture and a concussion. Marisnick was suspended for two games but, because it is still under appeal, was eligible to play Tuesday night.

On at least three occasions, Marisnick has profusely apologized and reiterated he had no intent to injure Lucroy. Chief baseball officer Joe Torre acknowledged that fact in a statement acknowledging the suspension.

The words meant little in Los Angeles.

"It's not what I wanted. It was an unfortunate play back in Houston," said Marisnick, who answered questions for more than three minutes in the visiting clubhouse. "I feel terrible about it. To come back here and have some of this go down, it sucks."

Marisnick was born and raised in Riverside, Calif. He attended Angels games in this ballpark as a child. Friends and family often come here to watch him play.

The outfielder did not play Monday against the Angels. Tuesday, when he started and hit ninth, almost all in attendance knew what was to transpire.

"Wasn't everybody expecting something to happen with Jake tonight?" Hinch said. "The entire industry was probably expecting it. Our guy got suspended for an unintentional act and they got a free shot."

Fans were merciless. Marisnick was booed before every plate appearance and between each pitch he saw. When he dove for and missed Luis Rengifo's first-inning triple, the cheer was noticeably louder.

Neither of Marisnick's first two at-bats offered an "ideal" scenario for retaliation. Both came with an Astros runner in scoring position and the top of the order behind him. Both were also against Angels starter Andrew Heaney — a friend of Marisnick's from their days with the Miami Marlins.

The sixth inning was the chosen time. Marisnick led off the frame. His team trailed by four runs. Righthanded reliever Noe Ramirez threw two sliders to even the count at one. His third pitch was an 89.6 mph fastball. It hit Marisnick's front shoulder and came dangerously close to his head.

"He knew he was going to get hit. Our guys talked about it, their guys talk about it," Hinch said. "This was not a surprise. I wish they would have handled it better. It was too high. If they're going to hit guys, they need to hit guys the right way. They don't need to throw two bulls--t sliders and then throw a guy a neck ball. That's not right."

The plunking provoked an Albert Pujols-led argument between both teams at first base. Ramirez threw a pickoff throw to first base. After that, Pujols heard something from the Houston dugout that enraged him. He walked over and wagged his finger at it.

McCullers, whom television cameras appeared to capture chirping at Pujols, disputed the notion. Pujols declined comment to Anaheim reporters after the game.

"Jake got hit in probably the most unprofessional manner you could do it," McCullers said. "And it was all done, no problems. The tape will confirm that, we didn't say anything. (Ramirez) picked off to first and Pujols heard something from our dugout that he didn't like.

"He has every right to stand up for his guys, but he starts walking over to our dugout. He's clear over the line and clear into the coaching box. A couple guys in the dugout, myself included, were trying to tell him to stay and go back to first."

McCullers and starter Wade Miley exited the dugout. The Angels bullpen emptied and their infield began to creep closer to first base. Houston's bullpen followed out to the field.

"At that point, you've got the whole infield kind of converging (and) 10 or 13 guys running in from the bullpen and you have Jake standing there by himself," McCullers said.

No punches were thrown. It never came close to that. Marisnick was the main defuser of the situation, waving his teammates back into the dugout and seeking only to go on with the game.

"There's no need for that," Marisnick said. "We just lost two games to a division rival, a team in our division, and we're looking to correct some of those things that made us lose tonight and last night. We need to get back after it and get some wins here in the next couple games."

Should Major League Baseball determine Ramirez intentionally threw at Marisnick's head, the reliever, too, could be in line for a suspension. Ramirez told Anaheim reporters he was trying to "sneak one by him in, and it just got away from me."

Asked if Ramirez should be suspended, Marisnick was diplomatic.

"There's unwritten rules in baseball," he said. "I think as players we respect them. I think that's a question for him, if it was intentional or not. I'm not the one throwing the baseball."

Hinch took a different tone.

"It's a confusing time," Hinch said. "Either the players govern the players on the field like it's always been or we legislate it to where none of this crap happens. They got a free shot at him with no warning, no ejection. We'll see if there's discipline. And without discipline, there's going to be no issue doing it the next time. So, if retaliation's are in, cool. We're well aware."