ST.LOUIS -- The ninth inning between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals on Monday was not without drama -- and that had nothing to do with starter Kyle Hendricks and his near no-hitter.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon tried to stall after Hendricks gave up his first hit of the game, a home run to Jeremy Hazelbaker leading off the bottom of the inning. Closer Aroldis Chapman wasn’t quite ready to take over, but home plate umpire Joe West was having none of the stall tactic.
“We needed a little more time to get the pitcher ready, based on the situation,” Maddon said after the 4-1 win. “And I needed the catcher to go out to the mound. We were denied. I didn’t like that. I made my stand.”
As soon as Hazelbaker homered, catcher Miguel Montero walked out to the mound, which is customary after a no-hit bid is broken up, especially in the ninth inning. Montero returned, and then a couple infielders visited Hendricks. After West actually helped Maddon get Montero’s attention, he denied the catcher a second visit.
"He said, 'Hey, if you go out there, I’m going to count that as a visit,'" Montero said. "I was like, 'It doesn’t matter. He was coming out of the game anyway.'"
Maddon took issue with West's not allowing the Cubs to regroup after Hendricks lost his no-hit bid. His feeling was that usually there is some leeway, but West gave none. The two argued, and Maddon got ejected. The manager then went to the mound to make his pitching change after being tossed.
"I’m not supposed to go out there because I had been kicked out already," Maddon said. "It was inappropriate what had happened, so I was not going to be very honorable at that particular moment."
Maddon tried to steer the postgame focus to Hendricks and his masterpiece on the mound, but West's inserting himself into the ninth-inning action didn’t sit well with the Cubs' skipper.
“Just write it,” Maddon said. “You guys saw it. You know what happened. I don’t need to get into any more trouble. Just write it.”
