SEATTLE -- On a night Joe Maddon was down four relievers and had his only available arms barely staving off a pesky Mariners lineup, the Cubs needed a late offensive injection.

Enter: Kyle Schwarber.

Schwarber pummeled a middle-middle changeup from Seattle reliever Brandon Brennan 440 feet into the second deck at T-Mobile Park with two outs for a two-run, go-ahead homer during the eighth inning that pushed the Cubs to a 6-5 victory. It marked the Cubs’ 12th win in their last 16 games, and kept them three games back in the National League Central.

“Those are moments that you all live for, especially a baseball player, where you hit a late-inning RBI or a late-inning home run that takes the lead, those are the things baseball players live for,” Schwarber said.

“That’s a big win. I think that was a big character win for us right there.”

The blast came in a 1-0 count and just after Brennan had consulted Mariners catcher Omar Narvaez in an official mound visit. He began the at-bat with a changeup off the plate away. Schwarber said that he sensed what was coming, but that he was also cognizant of Brennan’s high-90s velocity.

“He was definitely sitting on it and got a pretty good piece of it,” Brennan said. “I’m pretty sure everyone in the stadium knew that was gone off the bat.”

The Cubs were coming off a 15-inning game on Sunday in which they emerged with a 6-5 win over the D-backs but left with a taxed bullpen. Maddon said following Tuesday’s game that after going to Brandon Kintzler, Brad Brach and Steve Cishek -- who emphatically closed out the win -- rookie Dillon Maples was the only available arm remaining, on a night where Cole Hamels didn’t give up a hit until his 13th batter but struggled the second and third time through the batting order.

As Schwarber meandered to left field, where he started instead of at designated hitter in a late lineup swap, he couldn’t help but acknowledge the contingent of Cubs fans gathered among the 27,545 on hand cheering him.

Through the lens of small sample sizes, Schwarber’s past week is a stark contrast to the production, or lack thereof, he exhibited over most of the season’s first month, when he hit under the Mendoza line. Schwarber leads all Cubs with a .381 batting average over his past seven games, dating back to last Tuesday’s win over the Dodgers, with a 1.101 OPS in that stretch that trails only Anthony Rizzo, who also homered Tuesday with a 389-foot shot in the fifth off Felix Hernandez.

The uptick in Schwarber’s offensive production isn’t necessarily a coincidence. He has committed extra time in the batting cage lately with hitting coach Anthony Iapoce. Schwarber wouldn’t divulge the specifics of what they're working on, but he did suggest that the insights that he’s gleaned are translating to the batter’s box.

“I continually talk about one phrase [with Schwarber], and that's to stay behind the ball,” Maddon said. “When he stays behind the ball and lets the ball come to him, as opposed to traveling out there, that's it. He just has to stay behind his front side, stay behind the ball, not be so quick with his body. Those are the kinds of things. When he lets the ball come to him, that's what happens.”

Schwarber has gone through more highs and lows than perhaps any Cubs player over the past five years, rocketing from the hype of No. 4 overall Draft pick to playing a key role in ending a 108-year World Series title drought, followed by a spiral in 2017 that led to a Minor League demotion.

“Schwarbs, that's what we know he's capable of doing,” Maddon said. “Not just line-drive base hits to right. That kind of a homer. Hopefully that feel will be replicated soon, but he's just a hard worker. He's a hard-working man, and technically, he let that ball come to him. That's the difference.”