Ump Show: Craig Counsell made his first ejection as Cubs manager count

Craig Counsell was ejected for the first time as the manager of the Chicago Cubs on Monday while facing the Atlanta Braves. We learned two things from the incident.

First, first base umpire Junior Valentine needs to do some yoga and find some inner calm after ejecting a manager from more than 150 feet away.

Second, Craig Counsell is a damn good manager who understands how to turn an ejection into a boost for his team.

Craig Counsell's first ejection as Cubs manager helped out Shota Imanaga

Shota Imanaga was in a jam in the bottom of the fourth with bases loaded and Ronald Acuña Jr. at the plate. The batter avoided a second strike when he checked his swing on a 2-1 count. Counsell disagreed with Valentine, who gave the call from first base.

Despite being across the diamond, Valentine didn't care for Counsell's complaining and threw him out.

Counsell's ejection ultimately helped the Cubs. It resulted in a stoppage in play, giving the pitcher a chance to collect himself and taking the batter out of his rhythm. The manager delayed his exit as long as he could to give both of them as much time as possible to think. Imanaga's next pitch resulted in a fly out to end the inning.

The ump show is usually the worst part of any baseball game but this time the Cubs got something out of an official's unnecessarily quick trigger.

Chicago got out of the inning unscathed. Imanaga finished his night with no runs allowed and eight strikeouts in five innings of work. His ERA is now 0.97 on the season.

Of course, Imanaga needs help from the team around him. He had a chance to pass Jack Taylor for the most consecutive team wins for a Cubs pitcher to start his career but the lineup produced zero runs through six innings while the bullpen promptly gave up two runs after the pitcher's exit.