Twins finally find offense in extra innings and beat Boston 4-2 in 12

BOSTON – Maybe the Twins learned something from their four nail-biting games in Cleveland, because on Friday night, they won in a very Guardians way: They had the better bullpen.

Barely.

David Festa gave up only one run in a taxing five-inning start, and seven members of the Twins’ relief corps put zeroes on the scoreboard (and strikeouts on the scorecard) the rest of the way. The Twins, shut out by Boston rookie Richard Fitts for five innings, eventually managed to scrounge up their biggest inning since Monday — three whole runs — against Red Sox relievers and claim a 4-2, 12-inning victory at Fenway Park.

“That was incredibly impressive and gutsy. There were so many guys that we pushed in this game,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said after his pitchers combined to strike out 20 Red Sox hitters, the most in Twins history. “A lot of the relievers came in and just willed themselves through it, very determined. I love what I saw out of the guys today. It’s a huge win.”

It was only their sixth in the past 17 games, but it carried even more meaning, once the ballpark’s old-fashioned scoreboard confirmed that the Tigers were getting badly beaten in Baltimore. The two results mean the Twins once again own a lead on hard-charging Detroit, a one-game edge with eight to play for the final American League wild-card invitation.

“It’s good to get back to the win column,” said Cole Sands, who gave up a leadoff double to Ceddanne Rafaela in the seventh inning, then stranded him by striking out the next three hitters. “Everyone chipped in tonight, it seemed like. We just need to keep it rolling.”

It’s hard to describe this victory as a statement game, unless the statement is about how their offense remains stuck in quicksand. Yes, the Twins racked up 13 hits on the night, but 12 of them were singles, and until the 12th inning, none of them, not even the four that came with runners in scoring position, drove in a run.

The breakthrough came, finally, nearly four hours after the game’s first pitch. With Cooper Criswell, the seventh Boston reliever called upon, on the mound, Byron Buxton singled off third baseman Romy Gonzalez’s glove, moving courtesy runner Kyle Farmer to third base. Trevor Larnach followed with a hit that traveled an even shorter distance, glancing off Criswell’s glove and bouncing toward shortstop.

But it was enough to score Farmer with the tiebreaking run, and when, after Carlos Correa walked to load the bases, Matt Wallner singled to right, Buxton scored, too. The final run of the Twins’ biggest inning since Monday scored when Willi Castro drove a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right field.

BOXSCORE: Twins 4, Boston 2 (12)

MLB standings

Boston put runners on base in every inning but the second, but wound up with 17 runners left on base, thanks to their 1-for-19 futility with runners in scoring position. Their only such hit, Trevor Story’s fourth-inning soft liner to right-center, scored designated hitter Tyler O’Neill with the lone Red Sox run.

Festa pitched his way through some long at-bats — twice he struck out Red Sox hitters with his eighth pitch, and he needed 11 pitches to whiff O’Neill in the first inning. All that effort ran his pitch count to a career-high 103 pitches in five innings.

“I don’t feel worn down at all. I threw [103] pitches today, and that’s the first time I’ve done that in all of professional baseball,” Festa said. “I still feel very strong out there and I’m just trying to give the team the best chance to win.”

He did, with an armed and determined bullpen behind him.

“At most points of the season, most of those [relievers] would have been [unavailable] today, they’ve worked so hard,” Baldelli said. “But this time of year, everyone is available, and those guys gave some of their very best performances.”