Bryant back and feeling better after illness

ST. LOUIS -- Kris Bryant was back in the Cubs' lineup and feeling better in Friday night's 3-2 loss in St. Louis. He went 1-for-4 with a sac fly, and was caught stealing after sliding past the bag in the fifth inning.

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The rookie was pulled from Thursday's game after two innings because of flu-like symptoms, and said he's actually been fighting it since the weekend series in Minnesota.

Video: CHC@STL: Bryant beats the throw for an infield single

Bryant, who was bothered by allergies last year, said he tried to recover by sitting in the weight room between innings Thursday to cool off.

"It kind of just hit me," Bryant said Friday. "Earlier in pregame, I felt fine. It hit me really hard. It just came out of nowhere."

Even though manager Joe Maddon has talked about giving Bryant a day off, the third baseman would prefer to keep playing.

"I'm not too much of a fan of days off," he said. "I think they're missed opportunities."

Bryant didn't pay attention to the surge of trade rumors that started when he was pulled from Thursday's game.

"That's kind of funny," he said of erroneous reports that he was headed to the Mets.

Some ill-informed social media wags speculated Bryant was out because of a hangover. That wasn't funny to him.

"I think if you know the type of person I am and my friends and family and everybody in here knows who I am and what I believe in [you wouldn't say that]," Bryant said. "A trade would be way more believable."

• Jorge Soler, on the disabled list with a left ankle sprain, ran the bases for the second straight day. The Cubs want to see how the outfielder feels after the workout before deciding whether he's ready for a rehab assignment.

• Maddon admitted he hasn't paid much attention to the computer hacking story regarding the Cardinals and Astros.

"It's not on my top 10 list right now -- it's not even 11," he said.

However, Maddon has changed his password.