Dodgers Don’t Quit and Win in 13th Inning : Baseball: Game begins Tuesday, ends early Wednesday. L.A. comes from behind twice against Cubs.

It was such a magical, mysterious night that even a screaming, jumping outfielder who was trying to call time out could not beat the Dodgers.

At 12:29 a.m. Wednesday, in a game against the Chicago Cubs that had begun Tuesday night, Eddie Murray stepped to the plate in the 13th inning with runners on first and second.

Suddenly, one of the few remaining fans at Dodger Stadium threw a ball into left field. As it rolled toward the infield, left fielder George Bell began screaming for time out. The umpires did not hear him, so Bell threw his cap high into the air and began jumping up and down.

By then, pitcher Mike Bielecki was already into his motion. Murray swung, the ball bounced down the first-base line and over first baseman Mark Grace, and Juan Samuel scored from second base, giving the Dodgers a 6-5 victory.

It was perfect ending to perhaps the most compelling Dodger victory this season. Thanks to a couple of intriguing plays, they rebounded from deficits in the 11th and 12th innings and won their first extra-inning game in three tries.

But the biggest play of all might have been the one few saw.

“We all saw Bell waving his arms up and down, but then it was too late,” said Mark Cresse, bullpen coach. “Because five seconds later, our whole team was waving their arms up and down.”

Said Bell: “I’m sure the umpire saw me. One hundred percent. We might have won the game. We might have popped him up. It might have been a double play.”

The Dodgers were so thankful for the escape that most of the players who were already out of the game waited in street clothes to congratulate those still in uniform. Brett Butler was so excited, he ran onto the field in his civvies.

“Those are the kinds of games we won in 1988,” said Tim Belcher, the starting pitcher who had left the game after seven innings with the score tied, 3-3. “I’d guess we won eight or 10 games like that, and that was enough to separate us from the rest of the pack.”

The Dodgers were thinking it might be a frustrating night in the top of the 11th inning, when the Cubs took a 4-3 lead on Shawon Dunston’s single after Juan Samuel’s two-out error loaded the bases.

But that set up perhaps the best at-bat of the season. In the bottom of the 11th, with a runner on first and two out, Chris Gwynn drove a two-strike fastball from Dave Smith to the center-field fence for a game-tying triple.

It was an average play except for two things--Gwynn was not aware of the count, and the only other hit in his career against Smith was also a triple.

The Cubs took the lead again in the 12th inning on Ryne Sandberg’s run-scoring infield single, but that set up another memorable Dodger effort.

With runners on first and second and two out in the bottom of the 12th, Stan Javier grounded a ball to Grace. Murray, running from first base, paused long enough to momentarily block Grace’s view.

When Grace finally fielded the ball, he had no choice but to throw to second base. Even then, he had to throw around Murray, who was purposely running upright. The throw was wide and Samuel scored the tying run from second base.

“This team knows that one run isn’t anything to quit over,” Murray said with a smile. “Yes, this was a good game to win.”