Hamstring strain sidelines Russell for NLCS

The Chicago Cubs have a roster decision to make after announcing that starting shortstop Addison Russell will miss the National League championship series with a hamstring injury.

Russell suffered the injury in Game 3 of the division series against the St. Louis Cardinals as he strained his left hamstring running out a triple. The Cubs said Thursday the strain was "moderate."

Javier Baez, who hit a big 3-run homer in the clinching fourth game of the series, will replace Russell in the starting lineup in the NLCS.

The question now is who takes the roster spot of Russell. The best guess is that the Cubs will go with speedy outfielder Quintin Berry, who can pinch run in a key spot.

Russell, a rookie who came to the big leagues April 21, has been a big part of the Cubs' success this year.

"We'll continue to work on him," manager Joe Maddon said. "Hopefully if everything plays properly and we have another opportunity to play another round, he might be available at that time. But for sure not this one.

"He's such a mature kid. The conversation was easy. He got it. I think he was a little bit relieved in the sense that he did not have to push it right now."

Putting it on the board:

There was still a lot of talk Thursday about the home run hit by rookie left fielder Kyle Schwarber in Tuesday's Game 4 of the NLDS against the Cardinals.

The ball landed atop the videoboard in right field. The Cubs encased the ball in glass, and it will stay there, at least for the foreseeable future.

"I'm not focused on the home run ball," Schwarber said. "I'm focused on the next series and getting our bodies right."

Joe Maddon was all for leaving the ball on the board.

"Whoever thought of it, it's pure genius," Maddon said. "I heard about it, and I was like, 'I hope they put casing around it and don't move it.' That's exactly what happened. The way tradition and lore are dealt with around here, that could withstand the test of time.

"Now you have to definitely keep that scoreboard intact, right? If there's any consideration of doing anything differently, you've got to keep it there now."

Not playing favorites:

The Cubs were not scheduled to leave Chicago until Friday morning after finding out late Thursday if they were headed to Los Angeles or New York for the NLCS.

"Of course we had a good record against the Mets this year," manager Joe Maddon said of the Cubs' 7-0 mark against New York. "But they're a pretty different team than we had seen earlier. The Mets have outstanding starting (pitching) and a lot of power pitching across the board.

"The Dodgers have the two-headed monster (pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke), although their other starters are good, too. I don't know what the Mets look like right now. I know what they looked like a couple of months ago.

"The Dodgers present a lot of veterans. I'm talking about experience. If it comes down to which team I prefer, neither. Either one's fine. I've really have learned not to play that game."

Maddon said it all comes down to one thing anyway for his team.

"At the end of the day, play our game," he said. "Regardless who you're playing, the Cubs have to play like the Cubs play. We have to pitch well. We have to catch the ball. We've hit some home runs lately. We've played some other parts of the game better."