Russell feeling better after hamstring scare
The Cubs got a scare in the fourth inning of Monday night's 8-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals when shortstop Addison Russell legged out a triple to the left-field corner. Russell slid into third base headfirst, and when the athletic trainer came out for a visit, it appeared Russell may have hurt his hand on the bag.
However, the Cubs announced the rookie pulled up lame with tightness in his left hamstring. Russell said after the game he was feeling OK and that he would get an MRI Tuesday only if he felt he needed one. He said he felt something tug as he was running the bases.
"I didn't see it," said manager Joe Maddon. "I was pretty much locked in on where the ball was hit, and then I was watching the replay. I talked to Addy, and Addy, he's a quiet dude, man, and just got to pull it (the information) out of him.
"When he started explaining to me what he was feeling, then we knew that he needed to come out of the game. He didn't fight it and told me he needed to come out of the game."
Feeling reflective:
It was under a blue-gray October sky Monday that got Joe Maddon feeling special about his time with the Cubs.
Specifically, Maddon had memories of his introductory news conference last November, when he talked of Cubs and playoffs.
"This is exciting stuff, to be able to play here," Maddon said before the Cubs beat the Cardinals. "I drove by the Cubby Bear driving in this morning. The weather was kind of the same in the sense with the gray skies, but not necessarily as cold.
"But I was back at that moment, thinking about flying into Chicago in November and how this all started, to come full circle almost within a year is kind of amazing at this particular moment with all this at stake. This is what you work for, man. It's wonderful."
It will get even better for Maddon if the Cubs can close out the division series Tuesday night. Before the playoffs began, Maddon repeatedly talked of his team playing in front of the fans at Wrigley Field.
They got their first chance to do that Monday night after playing the wild-card game in Pittsburgh last Wednesday and the first two games of the NLDS in St. Louis.
Bryant bashes:
Like teammate Anthony Rizzo, third baseman Kris Bryant was struggling in the postseason until he hit a 2-run homer in the fifth.
"No, not doing anything different at all," he said. "Just taking advantage of a pitch when I get it, hitting hit hard. The first one is obviously good to get out of the way.
This and that:
John Lackey, the Game 1 starter for the Cardinals, will get the ball in Game 4, as the Cardinals face an elimination game ... The Cubs hit 6 homers in a game for the first time since Aug. 2, 2011, when they hit 6 against the Pirates ... Starlin Castro's fourth-inning homer was the 50th home run in Cubs postseason history, according to historian Ed Hartig.
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