By MIKE MONACO

SOUTH BEND — South Bend broke away with seven runs in the seventh inning and surged past the Fort Wayne TinCaps, 11-5, in the series opener Friday night in front of 7,189 fans at Four Winds Field.

The TinCaps (6-13) evened the score, 3-3, in the sixth inning, but the Cubs (12-10) sent 11 men to the plate in the seventh and scratched out seven runs on six hits.

“That’s what you want when you’re up there, bat around a couple times, get some guys up there, see some pitches and score some runs,” cleanup hitter Cael Brockmeyer said. “Filling up the box score, that’s what you want to do every day out there.”

Rashad Crawford (2-for-5, one run, one RBI), Gleyber Torres (2-for-5, one run, one RBI), Chesny Young (3-for-5, two runs, one RBI), Brockmeyer (2-for-4, one run, one RBI), David Bote (2-for-2, one run, one RBI) and Yasiel Balaguert (2-for-3, four RBI) paced the offensive outbreak. Seven players tallied at least one RBI.

That’s what good teams have,” Brockmeyer said. “Anybody can come in there and help produce. I think we’ve got guys that whenever they get their shot, they’re ready to go up.”

South Bend starting pitcher Zach Hedges allowed three runs in six innings, scattering seven hits and walking none. Reliever David Garner worked the seventh and eighth frames without allowing a run. The Cubs have won three games in a row for the first time this season.

“I think they’ve kinda relaxed and are getting to do the things they know how to do,” Cubs manager Jimmy Gonzalez. “That’s coming out and it’s showing.”

South Bend nudged onto the scoreboard in the second inning when left fielder Yasiel Balaguert drove a two-out RBI single to left field to score designated hitter Justin Marra. The Cubs have scored first in 20 of their 22 games this season.

Fort Wayne countered in the top of the third, as No. 3 hitter Nick Torres blasted a solo home run to left field to knot the score, 1-1. South Bend pitchers had only allowed one home run — a third-inning shot on Opening Night — through the first 21-plus games, a homerless streak that stretched 188.1 innings.

Cubs second baseman Chesny Young ripped the lead right back with an RBI single to left field in the home half of the third, pushing South Bend ahead 2-1 as center fielder Rashad Crawford scored. Young moved to third on the throw home by the TinCaps, and he then scored on an RBI base knock up the middle by Brockmeyer.

Fort Wayne trimmed the margin to 3-2 in the fourth inning when TinCaps first baseman Trae Santos mashed a run-scoring double to deep center field. The TinCaps evened the score, 3-3, in the sixth on two singles and an RBI groundout.

The Cubs grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the seventh. Balaguert worked a leadoff walk and moved to third on a single to right-center field by Jeffrey Baez. With the Fort Wayne infield in, Crawford punched an RBI single up the middle to score Balaguert. Cubs shortstop Gleyber Torres then hauled in Baez and extended the lead to 5-3 with a hard-hit triple to the opposite field.

With two outs, David Bote dribbled an infield single up the third-base line. Fort Wayne committed an error on the throw to first, and Young raced around from second to push the lead to 6-3. Marra followed with an RBI single to right field. Balaguert then hammered open the floodgates with a bases-clearing triple to center field to lift South Bend up 10-3.

“When you come through clutch like that, it pumps everybody up,” said Gonzalez, who greeted Balaguert emphatically at third base.

Bote pounded an RBI single through the middle in the eighth to make it 11-3. The TinCaps nabbed two runs in the ninth.

South Bend and Fort Wayne meet for the middle game Saturday at 7:05 p.m. ET at Four Winds Field. Cubs right-hander Trevor Clifton (1-1, 3.09 ERA) is scheduled to oppose TinCaps lefty Taylor Cox (0-2, 6.00 ERA).