BOSTON -- It¡¯s now or never. Backs against the wall. Win or go home. It¡¯s do or die. No room for error.

Pick any clich¨¦ you like and it will be more than appropriate for the predicament in which the Twins, who escaped with a 12-inning, 4-2 win on Friday night at Fenway Park, currently find themselves.

The Twins and Tigers entered the day in a dead heat for the final AL Wild Card spot, two games behind Kansas City. But, it was also a no-harm, no-foul day, as the Tigers lost in Baltimore, who currently hold the first Wild Card spot. If it gets to that point, the Twins own every possible tiebreaker in a scrum that includes the Tigers, Royals and Mariners, including all two-team, three-team and four-team scenarios.

After the marathon game, there was reason for the Twins to be happy. The offense, which has struggled mightily lately, had 13 hits. Starter David Festa combined with eight relievers to record a franchise record 20 strikeouts.

¡°That was incredibly impressive and gutsy ¡­ you feel it watching that game,¡± said manager Rocco Baldelli. ¡°We felt it in the dugout the whole game. It was a very intense-type, good game and there were so many guys that we pushed in this game. A lot of the relievers came in and those guys just went out there and willed themselves through and were very determined.

¡°I loved what I saw out of the guys today. It¡¯s a huge win and our backs were up against the wall in that game. You could say, generally speaking in some ways, too, but the way that 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.¡±

In the top of the 12th inning, with the score tied at 1, Kyle Farmer, serving as the automatic runner at second, took third on Byron Buxton¡¯s single to left before scoring on a Trevor Larnach single that deflected off reliever Cooper Criswell¡¯s glove. After a walk to Carlos Correa, Matt Wallner singled to right, scoring Buxton. Willi Castro later added a sac fly to score Larnach for some always-needed insurance.

¡°Yeah, it was awesome,¡± said Festa, who threw five innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts. ¡°The job the bullpen did, coming in after me and that big 12th inning to kind of get us that separation and then [Griffin] Jax sealing the deal.¡±

Festa threw a career-high 103 pitches, while the outing raised his season-innings total to a career-high 120 1/3, split between the Majors and Minors.

¡°I don¡¯t feel worn down at all,¡± he said. ¡°This is my career-high in innings by a lot, but I threw 100-and-whatever pitches today and that¡¯s the first time I think I¡¯ve done that in all of professional baseball so far. So that¡¯s my career-high in pitch count. I don¡¯t believe I¡¯m worn down at all. I feel like I still feel very strong out there and I¡¯m just trying to give the team the best chance to win.¡±

¡°It¡¯s very exciting¡± said Cole Sands, who struck out the side in the seventh. ¡°It¡¯s good to get back to the win column. Everyone chipped in tonight, it seemed like. Just need to keep it rolling.¡±