BOSTON — A baseball season is so often described as a marathon, a 162-game race in which teams must pace themselves to be able to handle the rigors of the six-month season.

Now, it’s a sprint.

The nine-game mad dash to the finish — and what the Twins hope is a postseason berth — began on Friday night in Boston with the Twins grabbing a lead out of the starting block thanks to a 4-2, 12-inning win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park in a game that was a marathon in and of itself.

The Twins’ (81-73) bullpen, in an valiant effort from seven different relievers, held the Red Sox (76-78) quiet long enough for offense to finally break through in the 12th inning.

“That was an incredibly impressive and gutsy and — come up with all the words — but you feel it watching that game, we felt it in the dugout the whole game,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “A lot of the relievers came in and those guys just went out there and willed themselves through and were very determined.”

The offensive breakthrough came on a Trevor Larnach infield hit that deflected off of pitcher Cooper Criswell’s glove, allowing Kyle Farmer, the automatic runner, to score from third.

Matt Wallner’s single gave the Twins some breathing room and Willi Castro added on with a sacrifice fly, allowing the Twins to finally summon their top reliever, Griffin Jax, in from the bullpen to finish the game.

It followed an effort in which Cole Sands pitched around a leadoff double to strikeout three batters in the seventh, Jhoan Duran loaded the bases but wiggled out of it in the eighth, Louie Varland, pitching for the third straight day, stranded a runner at third base in each of the next two innings and Scott Blewett left a pair of runners in scoring position in the 11th to keep the Twins’ hopes alive.

For four straight innings, the Red Sox seemed to have Twins’ pitchers on the ropes with a runner on third base. But for four straight innings, the Twins relievers held strong.

“It went through everyone, really,” Sands said. “All the bullpen guys did their job and that’s really all we can do there, keep them from scoring. I know we gave up some hits, but left some guys on base. This time of year, that’s all we can do.”

The Red Sox finished the day 1 for 19 with runners on scoring position, leaving 17 on while striking out 20 times. It was sorely needed on a day where Twins’ hitters could not capitalize on their many of their opportunities, either.

Their only run before extra innings came in the seventh, tying the game up when Byron Buxton came around to score on a Carlos Correa groundball to third.

They had been trailing since the fourth when David Festa, in the most important start of his young career, walked the leadoff batter in the inning and later gave up a run on a Trevor Story RBI single. But Festa gave the Twins everything he could, stepping up to the challenge in front of him and throwing a career-high 103 pitches. He finished off the fifth inning of work — his last — by inducing a double play, after which he pumped his fist, slapped his glove and let out a yell of emotion.

“That’s my career high in pitch count,” 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 on Friday, and from there, the bullpen went to work, throwing six scoreless innings before Jax, who allowed an unearned run in his inning, finally came in to nail down the Twins’ most hard-fought win of the season.

The win gave the Twins a one-game lead back in the wild card race, as the Detroit Tigers were blown out 7-1 by the Baltimore Orioles.

“It’s a huge win,” Baldelli said. “Our backs, they were against the wall in that game. You could say generally speaking in some ways, too, but the way the guys continued to play hard, play well, was exactly what you’re looking for. One of the better games you’re going to see.”

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