CINCINNATI — Jameson Taillon admitted it was difficult to totally tune out the trade rumors that surrounded him in the 5 days since his last start.

“I’d say there’s been a little bit of noise and stuff and I’m human and I’m aware of it,” Taillon said after the Cubs’ 7-1 loss to the Reds.  

But when Sunday rolled around, a message from manager Craig Counsell helped him ease into his final start before Tuesday’s 5 p.m. trade deadline.

“Craig told me yesterday, ‘Don’t listen to anything, you’re starting tomorrow,’” Taillon said. “And I went to bed last night knowing I was pitching.

“It was nice. I was acting as if I was gonna start and then just hearing it let me go to bed last night knowing, ‘All right, I’m waking up tomorrow. Tomorrow’s a start day. Go through the normal routine and all that.’”

That’s why he insists that Monday’s tough outing — he allowed a season-high 6 earned runs in 4.1 innings — had nothing to do with a distraction while pitching.

“When you’re out there, it’s like, the last thing you would ever think of when you’re between the lines,” the veteran righty said. “So, maybe a little extra noise like between starts, but when it comes time to get out there and compete, it’s just not even a consideration.”

Instead, Taillon insists, the issues came from a pair of mistakes.

With 2 outs in the 2nd inning, Taillon spun a 2-2 curveball on the 8th pitch of the at-bat over the middle of the plate that the Reds’ 8-hitter, Will Benson crushed for a 388-foot home run to right field.

“I wanted that pitch, the curveball below the zone,” Taillon said. “We had been in a little bit of a foul ball war there. Hitters get in that aggressive swing mode, and I wanted to try to take advantage of that with a pitch under the zone.”

In the 5th, Taillon surrendered a 3-run home run to TJ Friedl on a fastball at the top of the zone that made it 6-0 and put the game to bed.

“Made a couple of bad pitches that I paid for,” Taillon said. “Homers with runners on base can obviously be the factor that wins and loses games.

“Just giving up homers with runners on base did us in, but I don’t think it was like feel good or feel bad.”

Luckily for Taillon, the noise that comes with the trade deadline will end — one way or another — on Tuesday. He’s reiterated his desire to stay in Chicago — but hasn’t been in constant communication with Jed Hoyer or the Cubs front office about that.

“I don’t feel like I have to go shout it from the rooftops,” Taillon said. “Chicago is a great place to play. Wrigley’s the best. Fans are the best. So, hopefully, it works out. But yeah, I haven’t had conversations with anyone, really.”

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Taillon has some control over his market — he can block deals to 10 clubs each year — but that hasn’t come up either.

“I haven’t had any conversations about it,” he added. “I don’t know if my agent has with them, but I haven’t had to say yes or no to anything.”

It’s a similar feeling to what Craig Counsell has felt.

“His name has been mentioned, so you can link it and you’re gonna think about it when you see your name, you’re going to think about it, that’s real, for sure,” Counsell said. “But Jamo knows he’s got a job to do as well, and I expect him to be here tomorrow.”

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