CHICAGO — The flags in center field were fairly still as Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya stepped up to the plate in the ninth inning with two outs and his team trailing by a run.

The winds had shifted throughout the night – they were blowing out to center field at nine mph at first pitch – but, near the end of the game, things had calmed down. Amaya still felt confident when he launched a 100.5-mph flyball to center field, though.

“As soon as I hit it, I felt like it’s out,” Amaya said after the Cubs’ thrilling 11-10 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Wrigley Field.

[Cubs takeaways: What we learned in instant-classic win vs. Dodgers]

But when he saw Dodgers center fielder Tommy Edman start to camp at the foot of the wall, he had some doubt.

“‘Oh my god, I gotta run,’” Amaya thought to himself.

But wind or not, the ball carried just enough and landed in the basket to tie the game, force extra innings and spark the Cubs to a huge come-from-behind win against the defending World Series champions.

“Love those basket-balls,” Amaya quipped.

The Cubs do, too.

“Basket hurt us a couple times last year,” manager Craig Counsell said. “It was helpful tonight.”

It was arguably the most clutch hit of the season for the Cubs. A game-tying home run in the ninth with two outs is the type of thing kids dream about growing up. Doing so against one of the game’s best closers – Tanner Scott – adds a cherry on top. The lefty had allowed six home runs over the last two seasons (150 innings of work) and had permitted just one this season.

“Just, what a swing – that’s not an easy one to get in the air,” said Cubs left fielder Ian Happ, who delivered the walk-off single in the 10th. “[Scott’s] one of the best in the game and it’s a really hard fastball to get in the air for a right-handed hitter. So just a really impressive swing from Mig there.”

That was the backstop’s approach there. Trailing by a run, Amaya knew just playing it safe wouldn’t be enough. It’s hard to stack together multiple hits against an elite closer and even harder to do so with two outs.

So Amaya looked to lift the ball – try to hit a homer, sure, but try and lift the ball to slug it.

“Look something in the middle that I could do damage and hit in the air, and that’s what I got,” Amaya said. “I got that fastball right in the middle and hit it pretty good.”

It sent Wrigley Field into pandemonium after a wild night.  

The Cubs trailed twice in the game – they allowed three runs in the top of the first and answered back with five of their in the bottom half. Then, in the seventh inning, they gave up five runs, turning a two-run lead into a three-run deficit. Kyle Tucker hit a two-run home run in the eighth to cut it to a one-run game, setting the stage for Amaya’s heroics.

“We don’t quit here,” Amaya said. “If they score five, we’re ready to score one per inning. The mentality here is to go out there and compete every single pitch; that’s what has been helping us.”

It also showed the Cubs’ moxie – one that has been prevalent through their first 25 games.

“I mean it’s a fun team to watch play,” Counsell said. “That’s what I’d tell you. Come out to the park and watch the team play, because this homestand they’ve done some amazing things and some resilient things.

“Most importantly, you win games like that early in the season, it’s a great kind of carry forward for the rest of the season. But we did a heck of a job against a very good baseball team. Just keep going.”