CHICAGO — Daniel Murphy is a contact hitter known for shaky fielding and occasionally getting lost on the bases.

This playoff impersonation of Babe Ruth, Roberto Alomar and Derek Jeter all rolled into one, he can’t explain it. Nor can his manager.

“Question is, who is this guy?” skipper Terry Collins said.

Murphy homered in his record-tying fifth straight postseason game, Jacob deGrom pitched seven strong innings and the New York Mets beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2 Tuesday night for a 3-0 lead in the NL Championship Series.

Murphy tied the homer mark set by Houston’s Carlos Beltran in 2004 with his drive off Kyle Hendricks in the third.

Murphy’s home run was his sixth of the postseason in his 30th at-bat —he’s hit just 62 in 3,354 at-bats in the regular season. The free agent-to-be second baseman also is making sharp plays in the field and showing heads-up, aggressive instincts running the bases.

“I wish I could explain it,” said Murphy, who hit a career-high 14 homers in the regular season. “I would have done it like six years ago. I can’t explain it.”

Yoenis Cespedes and David Wright each had three hits for the Mets. Cespedes scored the go-ahead run on a two-out wild pitch by Trevor Cahill on a strikeout of Michael Conforto in the sixth inning.

Royals 14, Blue Jays 2

TORONTO — Whether it’s a long ball by Ben Zobrist, a slashing single from Lorenzo Cain or another exhilarating trip around the bases for Alcides Escobar, these Kansas City Royals are relentless — and one win from a return trip to the World Series.

Zobrist hit a two-run homer on knuckleballer R.A. Dickey’s fourth pitch of the game, Alex Rios connected an inning later against his former team and the Royals romped past the Toronto Blue Jays 14-2 Tuesday for a 3-1 lead in the American League Championship Series.