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AP Photo | ELOY JIMENEZ (74) of the Chicago White Sox celebrates at home plate after hitting a two-run home run while Chicago Cubs catcher Victor Caratini looks away during the ninth inning Tuesday at Wrigley Field.

CHICAGO (AP) — Eloy JimÈnez came up in a big spot and delivered. It was exactly how he pictured the moment when he became a professional ballplayer.

With one major twist.

JimÈnez hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning in his first game against his first major league organization, helping the Chicago White Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Tuesday night.

The 22-year-old JimÈnez was a top prospect for the Cubs before he headlined a rare trade with the White Sox for veteran left-hander JosÈ Quintana in July 2017. The JimÈnez deal will live on in sports bars all over Chicago for many years to come, and the rookie added another wrinkle with one big swing in his first game at Wrigley Field.

“It was a dream come true,” he said. “I wanted to hit one at Wrigley, but now with the White Sox it feels really good.”

James McCann hit a leadoff single before JimÈnez drove a 1-0 pitch from Pedro Strop (1-3) over the wall in left for his 12th homer. Considered one of baseball’s top young sluggers, JimÈnez has gone deep six times in his last nine games.

“We were hoping he could get a pitch he could handle and obviously he did,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “It was a big blow.”

Adding another layer to the accomplishment, JimÈnez cracked his bat on the swing. He smiled as he proudly displayed the broken lumber after the victory.

“It was an amazing moment,” he said.

Evan Marshall (3-0) got two outs for the win and Alex ColomÈ worked the ninth for his 15th save. Four White Sox relievers combined for four scoreless innings after Iv·n Nova turned in one of his best starts of the season.

The slumping Cubs kicked off a 10-game homestand with their fourth loss in five games. Kyle Schwarber connected for his 16th homer and Cole Hamels pitched seven effective innings, but that was it for the North Siders.

“We just have to do a better job offensively,” manager Joe Maddon said.

Hamels became the 10th left-hander with 2,500 career strikeouts when he threw a called third strike past Nova for the first out of the third . The crowd of 41,192 responded with a big cheer when his accomplishment was displayed on the videoboard, and Hamels tipped his cap in appreciation.

“To do it in front of fans that really understand and get it, that’s a very special moment,” Hamels said.

JimÈnez had a chance to get the White Sox off to a fast start when he batted with the bases loaded in the first. But Hamels got him to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

Schwarber then lined Nova’s first pitch of the game into the bleachers in left for his fourth career leadoff homer . He also started Thursday’s 7-3 loss to the Dodgers with a home run on Clayton Kershaw’s first pitch.

The White Sox tied it in the sixth. Leury GarcÌa led off with a double and Tim Anderson followed with a hard grounder into the hole at shortstop. Javier B·ez made a sliding stop, but he threw wild to first and GarcÌa hustled home on the error.

IN ACTION

Craig Kimbrel took another step toward joining the Cubs when he worked a perfect inning in his first appearance with Triple-A Iowa. The 31-year-old Kimbrel is ramping up after finalizing a three-year contract with Chicago on June 7. The closer could pitch in another minor league game Thursday or Friday.

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