CHICAGO — The Cubs will turn to Jameson Taillon as their starting pitcher Thursday as they try to survive Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the San Diego Padres and advance to the NL Division Series.

The team announced the decision after its 3-0 Game 2 loss on Wednesday.

“I’m excited,” Taillon said after the game. “I thought the Padres threw really well today and made it tough on us. And as the game got going there, I just started getting excited for tomorrow — just kind of putting my head down and starting to think about what tomorrow’s going to look like and feel like.”

Padres manager Mike Shildt also confirmed that former Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish will start for the visitors.

Taillon, 33, made 23 starts for the Cubs in the regular season, pitching to a 3.68 ERA across 129.2 innings. His best stretch of the season came in his final six starts, in which he allowed just five earned runs across 28.1 innings (1.59 ERA). That bodes well for Taillon and for the Cubs, who will need the right-hander to be at his very best against a tough Padres lineup.

Still, Taillon isn’t letting his recent success dictate his mindset for Thursday.

“Every start kind of has its own life,” Taillon said. “They don’t care how I’ve been feeling — I have to go out there and execute pitches. That being said, you obviously want to go in with some momentum and some confidence.

“I feel good about where I’m at. I feel good about the work we’ve done between starts, and I’ll be ready to go.”

Had the Cubs won Game 2 and swept the series, Taillon would have been lined up to start Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday in Milwaukee. 

Now, they’ll pivot to their alternate game plan in a rotation that’s already down Cade Horton. The 23-year-old rookie landed on the 15-day injured list on Sept. 27 with a fractured right rib and likely won’t be able to pitch until after the NLDS, should the Cubs advance.

Colin Rea could have been given the start, too, but he pitched 1.1 innings of relief in the Game 2 loss.

Instead, it all will come down to the veteran righty Taillon in just his third career postseason appearance. His most recent playoff outing came in Game 1 of the 2022 ALCS, in which he took the mound for the New York Yankees and threw 4.1 innings of one-run ball in an eventual loss to the Houston Astros.

A playoff game at Wrigley Field, of course, will be a totally different atmosphere than the postseason environments Taillon has pitched in before. He felt all of it in the first two games of this series.

“It’s big. It’s been electric the last couple days,” he said. “I think I get more adrenaline just sitting on the sidelines — I get nervous sitting in the dugout.

“So, yeah, the fans are bringing it, and I know they’ll bring it again tomorrow. And I’m sure when I’m lying my head down tonight, I’ll envision what that looks like and feels like. That way, tomorrow, we’re ready for it.”