Ian Happ, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber make history as Cubs power past Reds

You won’t see an offensive performance like the one the Cubs put together against the Reds too often. In fact, no one had ever seen it -before.

The Cubs became the first team in major-league history to have all three starting outfielders hit multiple homers in the same game.

Ian Happ, Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber each went deep twice. The Cubs had three multihomer players for the first time since April 16, 1955.

“This game has been going on for a while now, so it’s pretty rare to have a first,” Happ said. “To be able to do that as a group with two other guys that you care about a lot and you’ve played with for a long time, that was really special for all of us.”

The outfielders did all the damage in the Cubs’ 10-1 victory Sunday against the Reds with a season-high six homers in the series finale.

The home-run barrage started in the fourth inning, when Schwarber launched a blast off Reds starter Luis Castillo, who had allowed only one homer coming into this start.

Happ and Heyward each homered in their next two plate appearances to give the Cubs a comfortable lead.

“To be a part of history is awesome,” Heyward said.

“I know the fact that Happ went to school in Cincinnati and Schwarber being from here, there’s also a lot of cool irony in that. So it’s a special moment for us as players.”

“Those two guys right now, they’re consistent,” Schwarber said. “They’re consistent staples in the lineup right now. Putting in great at-bats. Happ going up there and stepping up big in that leadoff spot with Kris [Bryant] being down. [Heyward] having professional at-bat [after] professional at-bat. I mean, you can’t say enough.”

With two-thirds of the Cubs’ outfield having a pair of homers, it was Schwarber who saved the best for last.

He put an exclamation point on a historic day by crushing a 444-foot grand slam in the ninth -inning.

“We made some history today,” Schwarber said. “So having all of our outfielders go out there and perform at the plate and be able to do our thing feels pretty cool.

‘‘Whenever you have a little piece of history, you always keep that with you.”

The historic game gave the Cubs a lot to be excited about, but everything didn’t go according to plan.

Right-hander Tyler Chatwood left early after experiencing discomfort in his right elbow.

In the third inning, Chatwood spiked his first two pitches to Joey Votto, then called for trainer PJ Mainville. After a quick chat with Mainville and manager David Ross, he was removed.

“He felt a little something on the breaking ball,” Ross said. “And then he threw the next pitch, which I believe was a changeup, and it was like that short-spike changeup, and he called us out right away.”

It was Chatwood’s second start since returning from the 10-day injured list after suffering a mid-back strain. The Cubs will re-evaluate him Monday, when the team returns to Chicago before heading to Pittsburgh.

Left-hander Jose Quintana, who allowed one run in three innings in relief, would be the next man up to slide into the rotation if Chatwood misses time.

“That’s why it’s so hard to plan sometimes,” Ross said. “It was so nice to have Q there on the back end of that and that we could stretch him out a little bit more.”