Seiya Suzuki slams, Pete Crow-Armstrong goes 30-30: With playoffs close, is Cubs’ offense back?

Kyle Tucker was encouraged to run at less than full speed in his long-awaited return to the Cubs’ lineup from a strained calf Friday.

Turns out, he didn’t have to run at all.

Back after a nearly monthlong stay on the injured list, Tucker was on base twice. But instead of being forced to test his calf on the bases, all he had to do was trot home from first base, scoring on two of the Cubs’ four home runs in a 12-1 rout of the Cardinals to start the final series of the regular season.

The Cubs have spent the 2½ months since the All-Star break waiting for their bats to wake up so they could return to the kind of thumpings they were handing out before the break, when they were one of highest-scoring teams in the majors.

With only days until they begin a best-of-three National League wild-card series against the Padres, how about this for an awakening?

‘‘There’s been so many games this year where the swings have been great, the at-bats have been great, [but] stuff hasn’t really fallen our way,’’ center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said after the game. ‘‘These last four games, what the offense has done is great. I love where we’re at going into October, and I’m ready for whatever happens.’’

Seiya Suzuki belted a grand slam as part of a seven-run seventh inning that smashed the game wide-open. It was his third home run in the last two games and his 30th of the season, which also sent him past 100 RBI. He became the third Japanese-born major-leaguer to accomplish both single-season feats.

Earlier, Crow-Armstrong hit his 30th homer, vaulting him into the 30-30 club. He joined Sammy Sosa as the lone Cubs to hit 30 homers and steal 30 bases in a season and formed his own 30-30-30 club, becoming the only Cubs player with 30 homers, 30 doubles and 30 steals in a season.

It’s enough to get Cubs fans dreaming about what might await as the calendar flips to the postseason next week.

‘‘This team’s a lot of fun to watch, and it’s a lot of fun to be a part of,’’ Tucker said. ‘‘I think we have a really good team and a really good shot of winning the World Series this year.’’

The most exciting player on the team, Crow-Armstrong — whose struggles have been perhaps the most dramatic among the hitters who went from sluggers before the break to slumpers after it — especially has rekindled visions of a North Side lineup firing on all cylinders.

He’s doing it in the fashion that made him an early-season MVP candidate, not just hitting homers but using his speed to make plays on the bases and in the field.

‘‘He’s a star,’’ Cubs president Jed Hoyer said before the game, ‘‘and he does things that help you win games. He showed that the last couple of nights.

‘‘For us to be our best version of ourselves, he’s doing those things on a nightly basis.’’

But Friday, importantly, was a teamwide showing. Second baseman Nico Hoerner and first baseman Michael Busch also homered. Third baseman Matt Shaw had an RBI triple. It was the Cubs’ second double-digit output in their last three games after they scored 10 runs Wednesday against the Mets.

For a team that has leaned on pitching since the All-Star break, this throwback couldn’t come at a better time, with Cade Horton’s health issues and Shota Imanaga’s home-run issues blurring the pitching picture a bit.

Of course, everything needs to get ironed out if the Cubs are going to make the kind of run they’ve dreamed of.

Resurrecting the big bats is a good start.

‘‘Realistically, if you’re going to have a run in October, you’re going to have to have both [hitting and pitching] going well at the same time,’’ Hoyer said. ‘‘Eventually, the team that’s going to win is going to be doing both things really well. We have the ability to do both things well.’’