CHICAGO — Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series between the Chicago Cubs and the San Diego Padres is set for 4:08 p.m. CT on Thursday. It will be broadcast on ESPN.

Marquee Sports Network will air an hourlong pregame show beginning at 3 p.m. previewing all the action. Stay tuned shortly after final out on Marquee for “Cubs Postgame Live!”

The game time depended on a variety of outcomes, but the Cubs will play in the late afternoon slot following wins by the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 of their respective series.

The Dodgers are the only team to advance beyond the wild-card round so far. All three of the other series are all going the distance in the best-of-three format.

The Cubs took an emphatic Game 1 win on Tuesday, setting down San Diego with help from a dominant bullpen performance and clutch, back-to-back home runs from Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly.

In Game 2, the Padres’ pitching staff silenced the Cubs’ bats and forced a rubber match in a 3-0 shutout win.

Game 3 will feature Jameson Taillon on the mound for the Cubs and right-hander Yu Darvish for the Padres. In the 2025 regular season, Taillon posted a 3.68 ERA over 129.2 innings, and has enjoyed a dominant six-start stretch in which he’s allowed just five earned runs in 28.1 innings (1.59 ERA) to finish the year.

The former Cub Darvish struggled in his 13th MLB season to the tune of a 5.38 ERA in 72 innings pitched. The 39-year-old dealt with right elbow inflammation for much of the season’s first half, limiting him to just 15 starts following a 60-day IL stint.

Thursday could come down to bullpen usage for both teams. The Padres deployed their best arms on Wednesday in the effort to continue their season, sending each of Adrián Morejón (33 pitches), Mason Miller (27 pitches) and Robert Suarez (18 pitches) to the mound in the win. Both Miller (13 pitches) and Morejón (9 pitches) also pitched in Game 1.

Aside from Andrew Kittredge, the Cubs on Wednesday did not use the bulk of their relievers who threw 4.2 perfect innings in the series opener — meaning Daniel Palencia, Brad Keller and Drew Pomeranz will all be on a day’s rest for the finale.

If the Cubs clinch on Thursday, they’ll advance to the divisional series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Game 1 of the NLDS is scheduled to be played on Saturday, but the first pitch time will be based on the outcomes of the other wild-card series.