It was becoming that Jameson Taillon began essentially the most consequential Cubs sport of the season.
Taillon signed with the Cubs in 2022 exactly for moments like Thursday: A win-or-go-home playoff sport at Wrigley Area.
He needed the ball on Thursday with the strain of dealing with the Padres’ difficult lineup and elimination hovering over the group after a quiet Recreation 2 loss. Taillon threw 4 scoreless innings, placing out 4 and strolling zero batters within the Cubs’ 3-1 wild-card win over the Padres to advance to the Nationwide League Divisional Collection for the primary time since 2017.
After the Cubs didn’t win the division or clinch a postseason begin final season, he lamented that Wrigley Area ought to be a spot that groups don’t need to play at. He mentioned, “Groups shouldn’t need to come to Wrigley Area.”
The followers had been deafening within the first inning after Taillon struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. on three pitches for the primary out of the sport. From pitch one till a fly ball fell into middle fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong’s glove to clinch the win, the 40,895 followers at Wrigley Area had been glued to the motion on the sphere. Taillon’s want from final season had became actuality.
“Wrigley was electrical tonight,” Taillon mentioned. “The fan base introduced it.”
Taillon, like shortstop Dansby Swanson and proper fielder Seiya Suzuki, joined the Cubs in 2022 through the early phases of the rebuild to re-establish the membership as a pressure. The Cubs’ 2025 playoff look was the end result of the journeys of Taillon, Suzuki and Swanson.
Suzuki and Swanson every had their huge moments within the first two video games of the collection. On Thursday, it was Taillon’s flip to step up, and he met the second. He managed the Padres’ hitters and executed his pitches exactly.
“It’d’ve been the most effective I’ve ever seen him,” Swanson mentioned.
Regardless of not being the loudest or most boisterous on the Cubs roster, there’s a quietness to Taillon that belies the competitor in him. He’s a locker-room connector, keen to speak about pitching with anybody. He brings a professionalism to the group whereas additionally holding gamers accountable.
“He’s a man that does a lot for this group that nobody would ever see,” Swanson mentioned. “[He has an] potential to carry others accountable, to say little nuggets right here and there that will make a distinction for a younger pitcher or hitter.”
Taillon’s efficiency was vital in placing the Cubs’ relievers in advantageous spots.
Padres right-hander Yu Darvish had the other impact, permitting two runs on 4 hits and being chased out of the sport within the second after loading the bases with out recording an out.
Taillon lasted lengthy sufficient to assist the Cubs’ bullpen. He struck out Xander Bogaerts to finish the fourth inning with a runner on second, permitting lefty Caleb Thielbar to enter within the fifth with a clear inning and towards an advantageous spot of the Padres’ lineup — Thielbar confronted three consecutive lefty hitters.
“I believed the sport was about what Taillon gave us at the beginning,” supervisor Craig Counsell mentioned. “I believed it was completely essential. We knew we had been going to have a few guys that had been going to must work actually exhausting, however with him giving us 4 innings and getting 12 outs, he actually put it collectively.”
Although Taillon understood Counsell’s resolution, it didn’t make it any simpler as Taillon watched the remaining six innings from the dugout.
“I used to be just about simply leaning over the rail, paralyzed,” Taillon mentioned. “I may really feel my coronary heart beating out of my chest. It’s bizarre once you really feel like you haven’t any management over one thing.”
The Cubs put collectively a whole sport. Struggling stars Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong mixed for 5 hits, Michael Busch clobbered his first postseason homer and Swanson was spectacular defensively.
The Cubs should shortly flip their consideration to 2 video games in Milwaukee, however, for now, they’ll relish within the celebration of surviving to play one other spherical.
“Having the ability to play an element in getting this group to the subsequent spherical, [and getting] to play extra playoff video games at Wrigley Area, that’s what I’m actually enthusiastic about,” Taillon mentioned.
