Manfred: No timetable on finishing Russell investigation

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters Tuesday that MLB is going "day by day" in its investigation of domestic violence charges against Cubs shortstop Addison Russell, who remains on administrative leave.

"I think we will have a final decision shortly, is the best I can (say)," Manfred said. "The most important thing is to take our time, make sure we have all the facts and make sure we try to make a decision at a point in time when it doesn't affect roster decisions and things like that."

Cubs manager Joe Maddon said he had not heard a word about Russell.

Strop makes playoff roster, Edwards off:

The Cubs had one up and one down with the bullpen for Tuesday night's wild-card game at Wrigley Field.

Reliever Pedro Strop, who was aiming to be back for the playoffs, found himself on the 25-man roster.

On the downside, the Cubs left reliever Carl Edwards Jr., off the wild-card roster with what they said was right-forearm discomfort, which he experienced after this past Sunday's game against the Cardinals.

Edwards has been having problems with his command in recent games.

"Carl had a little bit of like a strain in the forearm the other day, so we wanted to be very careful right now, and we thought if we did not push him right now, he would be available for the next series," Maddon said.

Strop has been out since straining his left hamstring running the bases in Washington on Sept. 13.

"All in," he said in the dugout before the game. "That's all I can say. All in like I've always been. Even in the regular season, every time I go in there, I go with passion and with my heart, and I always to try to give my team an opportunity to win.

"My goal since I got hurt was just be ready for the playoffs. I was working so hard and doing whatever I could to help that thing to heal so as quickly as possible so I would be able to pitch in the playoffs."

Although Maddon never officially proclaimed Strop the closer, he had been working in that role since Brandon Morrow went out for the season in July with a biceps injury.

Putting it behind them:

Both the Cubs and the Rockies lost games Monday to get into the wild-card game. The Cubs lost to the Brewers at Wrigley Field while the Rockies fell to the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

So neither team really go to "celebrate" a postseason berth following their 163rd game of the regular season.

"I'm not disappointed," said Cubs shortstop Javier Baez, who joined center fielder Albert Almora in meeting the media before Tuesday's game. "We had a good game. You know, we fought. Everybody thinks we struggled because our bullpen is down, but like I said (Monday), we only had 3 hits the whole game. If we hit and score runs, our pitcher doesn't have to worry about throwing more strikes or whatever or the bullpen don't have to come and be with pressure I don't think.

Historic Javy:

Javier Baez became the first player in franchise history to reach 40 doubles, 30 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season. Baez led the National League with 111 RBI and is only the third middle infielder in club history to reach 111 RBI and the first since Ernie Banks drove in 117 runs in 1960.

Banks reached 111 RBI four times as a middle infielder while Rogers Hornsby owns the club record for a middle infielder with 149 in 1929.