Chicago Cubs' Maddon doesn't agree with ejection

ST. LOUIS - Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he had not heard from Major League Baseball after being ejected from Monday night's game by home-plate umpire Joe West.

Maddon did say West's behavior detracted from the moment of Cubs pitcher Kyle Hendricks pitching a near no-hitter and possibly getting a nice hand coming out of the game after he gave up a leadoff homer to the Cardinals' Jeremy Hazelbaker to start the ninth inning.

Cubs players had a conference on the mound with Hendricks so closer Aroldis Chapman could finish getting ready to come into the game, which he did after the homer.

After the conference broke up, Maddon wanted catcher Miguel Montero to go back to the mound. At that point, West told Montero if that were to happen, the Cubs would be charged with a manager's visit to the mound. That point was moot because Hendricks was coming out anyway.

Maddon came out of the dugout, argued with West and was tossed. In the meantime, Chapman got ready to come in and earn the save.

"It wasn't necessary," Maddon said. "I mean this: St. Louis fans are really, obviously, intelligent baseball fans. The way they reacted to him coming to the plate, and I'm certain had he pitched a no-hitter they would have really given him a St. Louis reception, even to the point where having to take him out of the game properly, he would have left the game, left the field in the right manner.

"That was so unnecessary what occurred yesterday. There was a detraction, I thought in regards to what the moment should have felt like for everybody."

Under the rules, West could have charged the Cubs with a mound visit had Montero gone out, but that hardly ever happens in the big leagues.

However, West also is known as an umpire who likes to draw attention to himself.

"You can do a lot of things that aren't done," Maddon said. "Technically, if you ask a player to go speak to a pitcher from the dugout, which you do almost every night with every umpiring crew, technically, if you relay information from the dugout to a player, that could be considered a trip, absolutely, if that's what you choose.

"We needed time for Aroldis only because this guy's pitching a no-hitter. It's a 4-run lead. I don't want Aroldis just to get totally amped up yet because it wasn't necessary.

"So it's an 0-2 pitch that goes in the seats. It becomes necessary. He was close. He needed about 60 seconds, and that's not an exaggeration. That's all. That's all that we needed. That's why we needed the guys to go talk to him (Hendricks)."

Praise for Montero:

Amid all the hype surrounding Cubs rookie catcher Willson Contreras, Joe Maddon praised veteran Miguel Montero, both for his work in catching Hendricks' gem Monday and his play of late.

"Look at Miggy last night," Maddon said. "People don't talk about him enough. This whole month, a couple, three weeks, he's been playing really well. He caught a magnificent game last night."

Hendricks echoed his manager's sentiments.

"It's really tough to find guys like Miggy," he said. "He controls the tempo, really. There aren't many catchers who can control the tempo of a game. He keeps me in sync. He keeps me on time. He knows when to take a break, to give me a breather. He has a really good feel."