Maddon ejected after sticking up for players

ST. LOUIS -- Before Wednesday's game, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said rookie Kris Bryant was "getting pitched to as if he won the Triple Crown last year." In the sixth inning of the Cubs' 6-5 win, Maddon felt it was time to defend his young players, including Bryant.

Maddon was ejected in the sixth for arguing balls and strikes with home-plate umpire D.J. Reyburn. It's the second time Maddon's been tossed this season.

Maddon was not happy about calls during Bryant's and Jorge Soler's at-bats in the fifth. Both struck out looking against the Cardinals' Lance Lynn.

During Starlin Castro's at-bat to lead off the sixth, Maddon said something from the dugout after the second pitch, a called strike, and Reyburn signaled that he'd heard enough. Maddon then went to home plate to express his frustration with Reyburn before leaving.

"I had enough," Maddon said. "I had enough, had enough. It was the whole game. It was egregiously bad. You cannot permit that to happen. We're trying to ascend, and we're not going to take that from anybody, anywhere at any time.

"We played a veteran club with a veteran battery, and we've got guys who've barely had a month in the big leagues, and I'm not going to take it," Maddon said. "Our guys deserve equal treatment, and I'm not going to take it."

Maddon was pleased to see how Bryant, Soler and Addison Russell handled the calls.

"They didn't turn on an umpire, didn't say anything disrespectful, they didn't act like a bunch of babies -- they didn't do any of that," Maddon said. "I thought that was spectacular, also.

"I'm not going to put up with anything," he said. "I'm not going to permit our guys to get short-changed based on the fact that our guys haven't been here a long time."

Bryant appreciated the support.

"I've played for a lot of coaches in my life, and to have him go out there and stand up for us is pretty good," Bryant said. "It definitely gives us that extra edge, and you want to go out there and perform for him and do well. I think that was pretty cool to see."

Maddon also was ejected April 17 against the Padres for arguing balls and strikes.