Luke Maile hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the 12th inning off of reliever Brian Johnson to give the Blue Jays a 5-3 win over the Red Sox on Friday night.

By Bill Koch / @BillKoch25

TORONTO — Fresh off a grueling three-game series with the Yankees, the Red Sox certainly didn’t need this.

An overnight trip and an early morning arrival north of the border begged for a routine result at Rogers Centre, not another grind into the late innings.

Friday’s final score only added insult to injury. Boston’s bullpen cracked again and the Blue Jays were only too happy to take advantage. Luke Maile’s second homer of the game, a two-run shot in the bottom of the 12th, gave the Blue Jays a 5-3 walk-off victory.

Brock Holt’s leadoff single in the 12th was the only hit the Red Sox managed in seven innings against the Toronto bullpen. Five different Blue Jays relievers combined to hold Boston scoreless, with Sam Gaviglio going the final three innings to earn the win.

Brian Johnson was tagged with the loss, walking Curtis Granderson and allowing Maile to crush the decisive drive to deep right center.

It was the second extra-inning loss for Boston here this season. Curtis Granderson’s walk-off homer against Craig Kimbrel gave Toronto a 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Red Sox on April 24, and Kimbrel remained in the bullpen this time while Johnson was charged with the defeat.

Chris Sale completed nine innings for the first time since August 2016, his final season with the White Sox. His 15 strikeouts matched a career high, and the 26 swings and misses he forced were a new career best. He became just the third Red Sox pitcher to fan 15 and not issue a walk in a game, joining Pedro Martinez (four times) and Roger Clemens (three).

None of those milestones earned Sale the win, a chance that went by the boards with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Sale had retired 15 straight men until Maile ran into a belt-high fastball on the plate’s inner third, pulling it to the home bullpen in left to make it 3-3.

In fact, Sale was an eyelash from being tagged with the loss in the bottom of the ninth. Kevin Pillar sent a one-out liner up the gap in right center, digging for third base as the Red Sox set up the relay. Holt’s throw was in time and Pillar was retired on a head-first dive, denying Toronto a chance with the winning run 90 feet away.

The two teams traded the lead in the early going, with Boston jumping on top in the first. Mookie Betts walked to lead off the game, went first to third on an Andrew Benintendi single, and scored on a J.D. Martinez infield out to make it 1-0.

The Blue Jays answered immediately in the bottom half, jumping on Sale from the opening pitch. Teoscar Hernandez sent a liner to deep left center for a double and Josh Donaldson’s RBI single up the middle evened the game at 1-1.

Toronto struck again in the second, starting with another leadoff double from Kendrys Morales to deep right. Maile’s single to center gave the hosts a 2-1 lead, and Toronto looked on its way to a decent offensive night against the left-hander.

Boston’s two-run fourth was of the somewhat unconventional variety. Xander Bogaerts led off by splitting the television cameras in center field with a rocket, his solo home run representing his first of the month. That tied the game at 2-2 and turned the page to the bottom of the Red Sox order.

And that’s where things got a little strange. Holt stood on first base with two outs courtesy of a fielder’s choice. Sandy Leon swung at a breaking ball in the dirt on a third strike, and Maile couldn’t immediately locate it from behind the plate. Leon hustled for first, Maile’s throw sailed high to the right field corner and Holt came all the way around to give Boston a 3-2 edge.

That’s when Sale asserted his dominance, recording three groundouts in the third and fanning six straight to get the side in order in the fourth and fifth. The left-hander went 1-2-3 again in the sixth and was up 0-1 on Maile after retiring the first two hitters in the seventh. Sale caught too much of the plate with a 95 mph fastball, and Maile changed the game on one swing.

Bill Koch writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.