On Wednesday night, the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 behind seven strong innings from rookie Randy Wells.
Derrek Lee hit a two-run homer in the victory to win the three-game series in Pittsburgh.
But the news from the Steel City wasn't Lee going yard, or Wells dominating another team.
It was Lou Piniella getting ejected and showing emotion for the first time in what feels like a year.
In the sixth inning, on a bang-bang play that appeared to have been blown by the first-base umpire, Piniella left the dugout to argue that Wells was safe.
No bases were thrown. No gum was tossed. In fact, there appeared to be minimal phlegm donated by Piniella to the umpire's shirt.
But the hat came off and hit the dirt, and Piniella hit the showers for the effort.
The Cubs still managed to find ways to hit into lazy double plays and leave runners in scoring position, but the fact that Piniella showed some emotion is a startling departure from the manager who's admitted to trying drugs more than changing lineups in the last few weeks.
Other than Piniella, the other spark to the game was the left fielder who played great defense and hit the ball well.
Of course, that means Alfonso Soriano was on the bench.
Sam Fuld, recently called up and starting for Soriano, had a spectacular night in the field. He had a couple fantastic catches and threw a would-be run out at the plate. He also contributed at the plate, with a double among his two hits in the leadoff spot.
Wells improved to 3-3 with a sparkling 2.45 ERA for his rookie season. If he weren't pitching for the Cubs, he might be a contender for Rookie of the Year.
In 2007, a Piniella ejection catapulted the team to the division crown. Let's see if his emotion on Wednesday, coupled with a couple good kids, can get this year's team going in the right direction.
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