Was Joe Maddon's ejection after Hendricks' no-hitter was broken up on purpose?

Most focused on Joe West's ump show, but maybe we missed something

Monday night in St. Louis, Cubs right hander Kyle Hendricks continued his impressive 2016 campaign by taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning. He would cough up a home run to Jeremy Hazelbaker to end both that and the shutout.

Naturally, Cubs manager Joe Maddon realized at this point that he should probably get Hendricks out of the game. It's not that Hendricks was overworked (96 pitches), but these things can unravel quickly, particularly against a powerful team like the Cardinals.

So after the home run, Maddon realizes he needs closer Aroldis Chapman to get ready in a hurry and he summons a few infielders to go talk to Hendricks in time-killing fashion. Before this can even happen, home plate umpire Joe West puts a stop to it.

I guess the rationale would be to keep the game moving, but players talk to the pitcher on occasion and the umpire rarely butts in so immediately. Plus, the game wasn't even 2 1/2 hours old at this point. It was just odd.

And then, the "ump show:"

I immediately thought this was nothing but West making himself the center of attention yet again. And, really, that is how it all started. Maddon kept it going, though, instead of just changing pitchers immediately and drew out the argument.

You know what was happening during the entire time this was all going down? Chapman was in a fire-drill situation in the bullpen, surely throwing an extra 5-7 warm up pitches.

After the Cubs' 4-1 win, Maddon told reporters there was simply a miscommunication between him and West.

But was there? The smart money is on Maddon knowing exactly what he was doing all along.