The San Francisco Giants have been one of the most disappointing teams in baseball through the first half of the 2026 season. The record has been ugly. The performances have been inconsistent. Friday night at Wrigley Field felt like a different team entirely.
San Francisco routed the Chicago Cubs 18-3, putting up a season-high seven home runs and 19 hits in one of the most explosive offensive performances of the year. Three Giants hitters went deep twice. A rookie hit his first career home run. And one veteran third baseman had a night that will be remembered in franchise history for a long time.
Matt Chapman was the story.
Chapman Makes Giants History
GettyGiants third baseman Matt Chapman.
Chapman finished with a career-high eight RBIs on Friday, going 2-for-3 with two home runs and a sacrifice fly. The performance placed him among the most productive single-game run producers in Giants history. Since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920, only Phil Weintraub with 11 in 1944 and Irish Meusel with nine in 1925 have produced more in a single game for the franchise. Chapman’s eight ties for third in Giants history during that span.
He also matched the San Francisco-era franchise record for RBIs in a game, joining Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, Brandon Crawford, Joc Pederson, and Wilmer Flores in that company. Mays was the first Giants player to reach eight RBIs in a game after the franchise relocated to San Francisco in 1958.
The biggest moment came in the fourth inning. Chapman launched his fourth career grand slam off Cubs starter Edward Cabrera during a six-run rally. He added a sacrifice fly in the fifth before crushing a 432-foot three-run homer in the sixth that capped a seven-run frame. The two-homer night doubled his season total to four and pushed his RBI count to 31.
His eight RBIs are the third most in a single game in San Fransisco Giants history, sitting behind Phil Weintraub’s eleven in 1944 and Irish Meusel’s nine in 1925.
A Historic Offensive Explosion
GettyWilly Adames of the San Francisco Giants.
Chapman was not the only Giant making history on Friday. Willy Adames and Casey Schmitt each homered twice alongside him, making it only the third time in franchise history that three Giants players have hit multiple home runs in the same game. The previous instances came in July 2002 and July 1956.
Adames opened the scoring with a 427-foot two-run shot in the first inning and added another in the sixth for his 12th career multi-homer game. Schmitt homered in the fourth and ninth, giving him a team-leading 15 home runs through 64 games, the most by a Giant at this point in a season since Barry Bonds hit 18 through the same stretch in 2004.
Rookie Jonah Cox also contributed three hits and hit the first home run of his major league career in the ninth inning. It was a night where the entire lineup showed up.
What It Means for the Giants
Friday’s win extended San Francisco’s winning streak to three games, matching their longest of the season. The Giants have scored 30 runs across their last two games while collecting 39 hits, including a 20-hit performance against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.
The grand slam parade has been a running theme. Chapman’s blast in the fourth was San Francisco’s second in consecutive games and their sixth of the season, all coming within the last 18 games. The Giants became just the sixth team in major league history to hit six grand slams within a 20-day span.
For a team sitting well below .500, these numbers are a reminder that the talent is there. The Giants have not been able to sustain it over a full season. Three straight wins and 30 runs in two games at least suggests the potential.
Final Word for the Giants
Matt Chapman came to San Francisco to be a difference-maker. Friday night at Wrigley, he was exactly that.
Eight RBIs. Two home runs. Franchise history. On a night where the Giants needed to remind everyone what they were capable of, their third baseman delivered something nobody in the organization will forget quickly.
Three straight wins. The offense is alive. Now comes the part where San Francisco has to keep it going.
Giants’ Matt Chapman Joins Rare History Dating Back 82 Years