For the better part of the past month, Chris Sale has been as close to invincible as possible.

He was just as dominant Friday against the Twins, racking up 10 strikeouts to bring his major-league leading total to 207.

Tying a bow on Sale’s 12th win of the season seemed automatic when Red Sox manager Alex Cora called on Craig Kimbrel to close things out — even if he turned to Kimbrel earlier than usual.

With Matt Barnes going 1⅓ innings Thursday, Cora planned ahead of time to go with Kimbrel early if he needed to.

“We were talking about four outs already, regardless of the situation,’’ Cora said.

For just the sixth time this season, Cora brought Kimbrel out of the bullpen with two outs in the eighth inning.

What he didn’t count on was Kimbrel blowing the save for just the third time this season in arguably his shakiest appearance of the year. Kimbrel walked a season-high three batters and gave up a two-run double to Eddie Rosario in the ninth inning that put the Sox in a 3-2 hole.

“I got ready for the situation and came in and couldn’t find the strike zone,’’ Kimbrel said. “You can’t walk guys, you can’t put guys on like that. I just kind of pitched myself into some trouble and just couldn’t get out of it.’’

But before Kimbrel could hang his head, Rafael Devers managed to salvage things in the bottom of the ninth with a game-tying solo homer.

The laser to right field just barely buzzed by Twins right fielder Max Kepler and over the bullpen fence.

“If he caught it, I’d just be screaming,’’ Devers said through interpreter Daveson Perez.

After Devers forced extra innings, Mookie Betts made it short and sweet, blasting an 0-and-1 fastball from Matt Belisle into the Monster seats for a walkoff homer that provided the bailout in the Sox’ 4-3 win.

“He’s our guy,’’ Kimbrel said. “He’s done it all year.’’

The homer was Betts’s first career walkoff and the victory broke up back-to-back losses for the Sox, who haven’t lost three straight since April.

It was a relief for Kimbrel after having his streak of 24 straight saves converted snapped.

“That’s the definition of a team,’’ Betts said. “We’ve just got to pick each other up. We may not do everything well in one particular day, but we can find a way to win a game and that’s what makes us good.’’

Kimbrel is now 8 for 12 with a 4.20 ERA in eighth-inning save opportunities.

“I definitely didn’t have my best stuff going out there tonight,’’ Kimbrel said. “And I did my best to try to work through it. Disappointing, I think any time you have Sale on the mound, he deserves the W.’’

Sale didn’t factor into the decision, but he became the only pitcher in Fenway history to strike out 10 or more batters without giving up a run in three consecutive starts at the ballpark. In those games he’s struck out 35 over 20 shutout innings.

“We expect that out of him, which is sometimes not fair,’’ Cora said. “It’s kind of like we take him for granted, but we don’t. We know how hard he works and how tough it is because everybody gets up for Chris Sale. Let’s just be honest. Right now he’s the best pitcher in baseball and he’s up to the challenge.’’

With 57 strikeouts in 33 innings over his past five starts, batters looked more like props in Sale’s one-man show.

The Twins appeared to be next in line as his eager assistants when Sale struck out five of the first eight batters he faced.

But for a flash in the fourth inning, he showed something opponents hadn’t seen in awhile: vulnerability.

In what almost felt like a glitch in the baseball matrix, Sale loaded the bases with two outs without giving up a hit.

He walked Ehire Adrianza, hit Max Kepler, then walked Robbie Grossman and left the door open for the Twins to break a scoreless tie.

The catch, of course, was that it was up to No. 9 hitter Jake Cave to make it happen.

The 25-year-old rookie had all of 87 major league at-bats under his belt. He was the only batter in the Twins lineup who hadn’t been struck out by Sale because he hadn’t faced him before.

Cave made it interesting, getting ahead, 3 and 1, and fouling off the fastballs and sliders Sale tried to blur by him.

Even though Sale was in a bases-loaded jam, a 3-and-2 count meant Cave was the one with his back against the wall.

Sale challenged him, pumping a 97 miles-per-hour heater above the zone. Cave couldn’t resist.

He took a massive hack and came up empty.

As plate umpire Joe West clinched his fist, Cave hunched over as if he’d just taken a gut punch, then hopped as if the dirt in the batter’s box had turned to hot coals.

Sale walked off the mound almost affectless, taking an icy stare back with him to the dugout.

He gave the Sox six innings, allowing three hits.

A two-run homer by Jackie Bradley Jr in the fifth inning gave the Sox a 2-0 lead.

But it took some work from the bullpen and a lemons-to-lemonade double play to keep the Twins from tying the score in the seventh.

Ryan Brasier, who’s gradually earned the trust of Sox manager Alex Cora, came on and ran into trouble when he gave up a leadoff double to Kepler.

He got Grossman to bounce one back to the mound for the first out of the inning but ended up in a jam when Cave reached on an error by Eduardo Nunez at second that allowed Kepler to score, cutting the Sox’ lead to 2-1.

Jorge Polanco singled up the middle to make it first and second with one out for Eddie Rosario.

In desperate need of a double-play ball, Brasier got the oddest one imaginable. Rosario shot a ground ball to Steve Pearce at first. Pearce made the scoop on the infield grass and fired to Xander Bogaerts to start the double play. As Pearce scrambled to get back to cover first, he slipped but found a way to smother the bag with his body. Out of keen awareness, Bogaerts’s throw came in low. Belly to the ground, Pearce stuck up his glove just in time, then covered up as Rosario stepped on the bag and hurdled over him.

Pearce rolled over and let out a deep breath, ending the inning and avoiding injury at the same time.

“To me, Bogey made a better play than I did,’’ Pearce said. “He put it right where only I could catch it and after that, I was just bracing for pain. I thought I was about to get murdered. I was going to do whatever I could to make the play and brace after. Thankfully, he missed me.

“My whole body was on the bag, so I was bracing for it. I wouldn’t have been mad if he just put his cleat right in my back. That’s just part of the game. I’m just thankful we got the out and he didn’t kill me.’’

Sale’s overall streak of 23 scoreless innings is now the longest in the majors, surpassing Eduardo Rodriguez (19).

Sale has held opponents to one run or fewer in six straight starts. His 0.23 ERA over that stretch is the second lowest of any Sox pitcher over a six-start span in a single season, behind only Babe Ruth (0.16 in 1916).

“I’ll be completely honest, I’m not the biggest fan of talking about stuff like that,’’ Sale said. “For me, when I’m handed the ball, I have a job to do and I try to do that job to the best of my ability. No matter where we’re playing, the temperature, the score, this guy, that guy, sore, not sore, flights whatever. I try to win. And that never changes — good, bad or indifferent.’’

The Sox swung through the entire good-bad-ugly spectrum Friday but managed to come away with their major-league leading 72 victory.

Kimbrel said, “It’s nice to have a bad night and our team still come back and win.’’

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.