Umpires do Cubs no favors in season opener

ATLANTA - The Cubs may have felt home-plate umpire Derryl Cousins had a tight strike zone.

And they certainly felt second-base umpire Marvin Hudson blew a call, when he ruled Braves center fielder Nate McLouth caught Marlon Byrd's sixth-inning flyball.

The play resulted in Aramis Ramirez being doubled off first base with the Cubs trailing only 8-5 in a game they went on to lose 16-5.

Replays showed Hudson missed the call.

"He dropped the ball," Ramirez said. "No doubt about it. He (Hudson) just missed the play. That can happen to anybody. He's human. He missed the call, and it went against us."

Manager Lou Piniella put up a brief argument, but the umpires upheld Hudson's call after a conference. That type of play is not reviewable under Major League Baseball's replay rules.

"I thought it was a catch; Aramis saw it better," Byrd said. "He said it rolled out. Umpires don't have replay on that play. The human element, that's part of baseball."

The Cubs were quite human, as they committed 2 errors while their pitchers walked eight.

Solid debut: Left-handed reliever James Russell was one of the few bright spots. Russell, son of former big-league closer Jeff Russell, make his major-league debut and worked 2 scoreless innings, giving up 2 hits.

"It felt good," said Russell, who made the team out of spring training. "It's a long time coming, but it felt good. I wish we could have done a little better today. Overall, I'm happy with how I handled myself out there."

Russell had dinner with his dad Sunday night, and they'll do so again in Atlanta. The younger Russell received plenty of support from his teammates and coaches in the dugout after each inning.

"It felt real good," he said. "Words can't describe that, but it's just awesome."

Rookie watch: Cubs rookie Tyler Colvin flied out as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. Jason Heyward of the Braves crushed a long homer in his first big-league at-bat in the first inning against Carlos Zambrano.

The Cubs were impressed.

"He's got a real good approach at the plate, a lot of pop," said Aramis Ramirez. "He's big and strong."

Who's the fan? Lou Piniella said he sent a note to Brad Stevens, the basketball coach of Butler, which played Duke on Monday night for the NCAA title.

"I heard that he was a Cubs fan," Piniella said.

Piniella was informed that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, a Chicagoan, also is a Cubs fan, even though Krzyzewski recently was quoted as saying: "Just judge people for who they are right now. We're not the Yankees. We're not, thank goodness, the Cubs."

Said Piniella, taking the remark in stride: "Cub fans are Cub fans."