Eloy Jiménez stood near home plate and waited. And waited.

He watched to see if his towering fly ball to left in the fourth inning Wednesday would stay fair.

It did, resulting in a game-tying, two-run home run for the Chicago White Sox against the Minnesota Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“I thought it was foul the first time,” Jiménez said. “And then good job.”

More than good for the Sox, who are hoping to receive an offensive boost with Jiménez’s return from the injured list. He came through again in the seventh with an RBI single to tie the game once more.

“It was one of the days you feel like, ‘Yeah, I’m back,’” Jiménez said.

Clutch hitting was on display throughout the day for the Sox, who rallied four times to force extra innings. And in the 10th, Leury García drove in Adam Engel with a single to left against reliever Jovani Moran to give the Sox a thrilling 9-8 victory in front of 18,393.

“Every day is going to be different — this is baseball,” Jiménez said. “Sometimes you are going to score a lot of runs and sometimes you don’t. But this is a team we can do what we did (Wednesday).

“We come out, compete and do our best and see what happens. Everybody knows that we had that team that can score runs. And to see that (Wednesday), it was good.”

The Sox avoided being swept by taking the finale of a crucial three-game series. They are in third place in the American League Central, 5½ games behind the division-leading Twins.

“(Playing) it at home, three-game series, you don’t want to get swept,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “We lost a couple heartbreakers in that series over there (April 22-24 in Minnesota). So it’s good to get on the right side for a lot of reasons. Mostly because it was inspirational to watch the guys refuse to quit.”

Jiménez, who went 2-for-5 with three RBIs, hit one of three home runs for the Sox.

Luis Robert’s two-run homer in the fifth tied the game at 5. Andrew Vaughn’s two-run homer in the eighth tied it at 8.

“We swung it well,” Vaughn said. “It went our way a couple times, and it was awesome.”

Jiménez has waited a long time to contribute again. The left fielder had been on the IL since April 24 with a torn right hamstring tendon suffered the previous day while trying to beat a throw to first base against the Twins at Target Field.

“When we got the results, I said, ‘It’s bad, but the good thing is I’m going to be back,’” Jiménez said. “So I tried to do my best and now I’m here. Back to the game.”

Wednesday’s game was Jiménez’s 12th of the season. He entered the day slashing .222/.256/.333 with one home run and seven RBIs.

He slashed .246/.317/.351 with two homers and seven RBIs in 17 games during a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte. There was a short pause during the assignment when he experienced what the team called “normal leg soreness.”

He displayed solid timing at the plate Wednesday.

“That smile lights everything up. It was great to get him back,” La Russa said. “But when he’s productive like that, that’s exactly what we need, that thump in the middle to produce runs. That’s what inspires us.”

Jiménez also made a nice play defensively, running to foul territory to track down Luis Arraez’s fly ball with two outs and two on in the seventh.

“I feel finally I can run,” he said.

But this game was largely about offense. The slugfest, featuring a combined six home runs, went to extra innings tied at 8.

José Ruiz induced a double play in the top of the 10th to get out of the inning without allowing a run.

Engel began the bottom of the 10th on second and moved to third on a passed ball as Josh Harrison walked. The Twins brought in the infield, and García hit a grounder past diving third baseman Gio Urshela, setting up a Sox celebration near first base after Engel scored.

It was the second time in less than a week that García came through late. He drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the ninth inning of Friday’s 1-0 victory against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

“The game was on the line there and it was very good to be able to contribute,” García said through an interpreter.

After dropping the first two in the series, the Sox didn’t shy away from the meaning of Wednesday’s victory.

“It was huge,” said catcher Seby Zavala, who had two hits and scored once. “Anytime we can get a game from anyone who’s ahead of us in the standings, it’s big.”

Yoán Moncada day to day with bruised right foot

Third baseman Yoán Moncada exited before the seventh with a bruised right foot. X-rays were negative, the Sox said, and he is day to day.

Moncada fouled a pitch off his foot in the fourth.

Before the game, the Sox placed infielder Jake Burger (bone bruise in his right hand) on the 10-day IL and right-hander Vince Velasquez (blister on his right index finger) on the 15-day IL. Pitcher Jimmy Lambert was recalled from Charlotte.

Infielder Danny Mendick, who tore his right ACL last month, was transferred to the 60-day IL.

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