Manager Joe Maddon hopes Kris Bryant will return on Saturday

CHICAGO (AP) - Cubs manager Joe Maddon hopes slugger Kris Bryant will return to Chicago’s lineup for Saturday’s game against Milwaukee.

Bryant was beaned during a victory at Colorado last weekend and missed his fourth straight game on Friday.

“I’m not going to jump the gun, but talking to everybody, I want to give him a chance to come back,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said after a 3-2 win.

Bryant wasn’t available to reporters.

“I think he’s feeling more like himself today,” Maddon said.

Bryant was hit by a pitch for the seventh time this season when German Marquez’s 96 mph fastball struck the underside flap of his helmet at Denver on Sunday. Last year, the slugger was hit by a pitch 15 times. Bryant was plunked 18 times in 2016, when he was voted NL MVP.

“Probably the word on the street is to pitch him inside,” Maddon said. “I’m not accusing anybody of throwing at us. I don’t think there’s anything sinister to this point.”

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