KANSAS CITY, Mo. >> Don’t look now, but are the Giants suddenly a force to be reckoned with in the early innings?

Since hitting the road after their latest homestand, the Giants have scored first in all five games. They again built an early and overpowering lead while slugging five home runs on a steamy Saturday afternoon at Kaufmann Stadium to secure a 9-0 victory and clinch their third straight road series.

Matt Chapman and LaMonte Wade Jr. homered back-to-back to lead off the fourth inning and each added another homer before Mike Yastrzemski turned it into a rout with the final blow of a six-run sixth. All nine of the Giants’ runs came in the first six innings, bringing their total on the trip to 19, tied for the fifth-most in the majors dating to Tuesday’s 10-0 win in Baltimore.

When the Giants boarded their charter flight for their final trip of the season, they were having a hard time scoring in any portion of the game, having been shut out their past three games. But over the course of the season, their offensive troubles have been magnified in the early innings.

They had scored 412 runs in the first six innings, fifth fewest in the majors, and 241 in the seventh or later, tied for the seventh most.

But the trend has turned over the past five games. Wade started things with a solo shot off Royals starter Brady Singer in the first. The Giants piled on from there, improving to 4-1 on the trip with all but 10 of their 29 runs coming in the first six innings.

The early run support powered one rookie starter, Mason Black, to his first career win Friday night and a second, Landen Roupp, on Saturday.

“The offense was unreal today. Once they (put up a six-spot in the sixth), I was like, I think we’ve got it in the bag and I was going to get my first win,” said Roupp, who became the second Giants pitcher in as many days to be dumped in a laundry basket and doused with everything in sight. “I got to do it last night for Mason and got it done to me tonight. Can’t beat that.”

The Royals put runners on base in all five of Roupp’s innings but weren’t able to cash in against the 26-year-old right-hander, who used a heavy dose of his curveball to complete five shutout innings,

In 22 games, Roupp owns a 2.70 ERA and has been even better since moving into the rotation at the start of September. Including his four-inning stint out of the bullpen that prompted the move, he has logged 19 innings while allowing just two runs — a 0.95 ERA — on 11 hits.

The Giants’ five home runs tied their most in one game all season, matching their April 13 win at Tampa Bay. Chapman and Wade’s power display accomplished an ever rarer feat. It was the first time two Giants players hit multiple home runs in one game since Thairo Estrada and Joc Pederson on June 11, 2023.

“The offense has really improved these last couple series, which is a really good sign, to see guys aren’t just throwing in the towel,” Wade said.

Chapman, a new dad, and Wade, who had 120-plus friends and family in the stands in Baltimore, were both riding emotional highs. As for Yastrzemski, well, he’s just been hot. His two-run shot in the sixth was his seventh homer of the month, giving him 18 on the year.

Chapman arrived about three hours before gametime Saturday after his wife, Taylor, gave birth to their first daughter on Thursday. Before catching his 8 a.m. flight from Arizona, he said, “I told her I was going to hit a homer for her. I was thinking about her when I was running around the bases.”

With seven games left, he could set his sights on Giants lore: the 30-homer threshold, which no San Francisco hitter has reached since Barry Bonds.

“I don’t know, I’m going to have to go on an Ohtani run,” grinned Chapman, whose pair of homers still made him one of four Giants to reach 26 since 2010.

If ever was the time, it’s now. One thing everyone in the clubhouse could agree on was the boost of becoming a new dad.

“With Chappy’s newfound dad strength, not that he needed anymore pop in his bat,” said Curt Casali, who quarterbacked three pitchers to the Giants’ 10th shutout of the season. “It happens all the time. It’s just so crazy how when you have a kid, you’re going to homer that day. It’s wild. To do it twice is a really special thing to do.”

“I think dad strength is real,” added Wade.

Notable >> Marco Luciano was optioned to Triple-A, but he’ll report to Arizona, where he’ll begin taking reps in the outfield for the first time in his career.