Chapman (8 RBIs) among trio of Giants with 2 HRs in 18-run Wrigley romp

CHICAGO -- Suddenly, the Giants appear to have found their power stroke.

San Francisco crushed a season-high seven home runs -- including two apiece from Willy Adames, Matt Chapman and Casey Schmitt -- to cruise to a commanding 18-3 win over the Cubs in Friday afternoon’s series opener at Wrigley Field.

This is the third time in Giants history that they've had three players with multiple homers in the same game, joining Damon Minor, Reggie Sanders and Tsuyoshi Shinjo (July 2, 2002) and Willie Mays, Daryl Spencer and Wes Westrum (July 8, 1956).

San Francisco (26-38) has now reeled off three straight victories, matching its longest win streak of the season. The Giants pounded out 19 hits on Friday and have combined for 30 runs over their last two games, their most over a two-game span since a doubleheader on April 30, 1944.

“Obviously, we kind of didn’t have many guys swinging the bat early [in the season], and it seems like everybody has kind of come alive at a similar time,” Chapman said. “We score a lot of runs and it looks great on the scoreboard, but the quality at-bats everybody has been taking down the line for the last couple weeks is probably what’s led to this.”

Chapman accounted for most of the damage for the Giants, most notably delivering his fourth career grand slam to fuel a six-run rally against Cubs starter Edward Cabrera in the fourth inning. The Giants rank in the middle of the pack in homers this year, but they lead the Majors with six grand slams, all of which have come in the last 20 days.

“I think the confidence has grown from the offense,” manager Tony Vitello said. “We’ve got the potential to do that. Usually to hit a grand slam, there’s probably a walk somewhere in there. We just didn’t have that in our repertoire early on in the year. Now, up and down the lineup, you see guys -- maybe not walking, you don’t necessarily want to coach them up to walk -- but the takes are ones that are encouraging. Guys are going to get a pitch that they can hit. Chappy’s at-bat was perfect.”

Chapman added a sacrifice fly in the fifth and a three-run blast in a seven-run sixth to finish with a career-high eight RBIs, tied for the third-most by a Giants player in a game since RBI became an official stat in 1920, behind only Phil Weintraub (11 on April 30, 1944) and Irish Meusel (nine on Sept. 2, 1925).

“You could see the build with the swings,” Vitello said. “If I'm not mistaken, [Wrigley Field] was the only [MLB] park he had not hit a home run in, so that made it twice as nice. It was a tremendous day for him.”

Chapman, 33, tallied only one home run over his first 58 games of the year, but now has three in his last five games, a sign that he’s finally starting to drive the ball more consistently.

“It feels good,” Chapman said. “It feels good to be able to drive the ball and feel like I’m able to kind of execute what I want to go up there and do.”

Adames kicked off the slugfest with a two-run shot that traveled a Statcast-projected 427 feet out to left field in the top of the first inning. Adames’ 10th home run of the year came on a 99.5 mph four-seam fastball from Cabrera, making it the fastest pitch the 30-year-old shortstop has homered on over his nine-year career in the Majors.

Adames went deep again in the sixth, belting another two-run shot off Cubs left-hander Hoby Milner to secure his 12th career multihomer game.

Schmitt and rookie Jonah Cox (Giants' No. 24 prospect) also joined the home run party, launching back-to-back solo shots off position-player pitcher Carson Kelly in the top of the ninth.

It was the first career homer for Cox, who also collected his first career hit off another catcher -- the Rockies’ Brett Sullivan -- in the Giants’ 19-6 blowout win at Coors Field on Sunday.

“It’s fun just to sit there and watch the offense just explode,” said Cox, who finished 3-for-3 despite not entering the game until the sixth inning. “Willy and Chapman were hitting homers, and it was fun to watch. It was fun to get your name called and then you get to go into it.”

Schmitt also homered off Cabrera in the fourth, giving him a team-high 15 homers on the season. That’s the most by a Giant through the first 64 games of the season since Barry Bonds had 18 to start the 2004 campaign.