KANSAS CITY -- When Kyle Isbel steps to the plate in a big moment, the crowd noise typically gets blocked out as he focuses on the pitch he’s about to see.

That was not the case Saturday night.

With two on base, one out and the Royals down by two runs in the eighth inning, the 29,160 on hand at Kauffman Stadium were about as loud as they could be, urging the Royals to their eventual four-run inning and 4-2 win over the Twins.

After all, they had been waiting all night for the Royals to show some offense. Twins starter Bailey Ober had simply dominated Kansas City’s lineup for seven scoreless innings.

When Twins manager Rocco Baldelli opted to go to fireball reliever Jhoan Duran in the eighth, the Royals -- and their fans -- were ready to make some noise.

“Usually the crowd, when you’re in the moment, gets kind of blocked out,” Isbel said. “But I heard them the whole time. It was just an incredible atmosphere. They were bringing it all night. They stood with us all night long.”

It was well worth it, too, because the win gave Kansas City the series win ahead of Sunday’s finale. The Royals now lead the Twins by 1 1/2 games for second place in the American League Central, pulling within 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Guardians, who lost to the Dodgers.

The Royals maintained their strong hold for the second AL Wild Card spot, too, 5 1/2 games over the Red Sox.

After Freddy Fermin hit a one-out single in the eighth and Robbie Grossman got hit by a pitch, bringing in Dairon Blanco as a pinch-runner, Isbel poked a two-strike fastball into left-center field for the Royals’ first run of the night. As he stood on first listening to the crowd while the Twins brought in Griffin Jax to face the top of the Royals’ order, Isbel had a feeling.

“I knew we were going to win at that point,” Isbel said. “I just didn’t know how it was going to happen. But that was the mindset. It’s just the momentum. … When you can scratch one with guys on base, you can start to feel it coming.”

Tommy Pham hit an infield single up the left side, and with Blanco running from second, third baseman Royce Lewis couldn’t get to the ball, forcing shortstop Brooks Lee to scramble and make an errant throw to first base.

That tied the game and Bobby Witt Jr. quickly delivered a go-ahead single into shallow center field.

“Those are the moments you want to be in,” Witt said.

Even though Witt was thrown out at the plate trying to score on MJ Melendez’s RBI single, the Royals had flipped a snoozer into an electric win, all in a matter of minutes because of how quickly Lucas Erceg shut the Twins down in the ninth for his 10th save of the year.

“That’s baseball,” Witt said. “One pitch at a time. You never know when you’ll get your one pitch, make something happen, and just like that it turns around.”

Royals starter Alec Marsh, who gave up two runs in five innings, and reliever Daniel Lynch IV, who tossed three scoreless innings, kept the Royals in the game, but even a two-run comeback seemed difficult with the way Ober was pitching. After allowing 14 runs in 6 1/3 innings across his first two starts against the Royals this year, Ober completely stymied Kansas City on Saturday.

He was only at 83 pitches after seven, but the Twins were confident going to one of their best relievers in Duran. The Royals were just happy to see a different arm.

“[Assistant hitting coach] Joe Dillon called it a sneak attack,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Didn’t see it coming. I mean, what do you say? The quality of at-bats against Duran was outstanding.”

Quatraro noted that Saturday night might have been the loudest he’s heard Kauffman Stadium all year. Witt likened it to the crowds he knows packed this stadium in 2014-15, which is, of course, what the Royals are trying to emulate in ‘24.

Witt is leading that charge, wanting to bring October baseball back to Kansas City and feel the kind of support he sees Patrick Mahomes and the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs receive across the parking lot at the Truman Sports Complex.

All that pressure has swirled around Witt the entire season. Yet when he stepped to the plate in the eighth inning on Saturday, he didn’t feel much pressure at all.

“Just be there in the present moment and you don’t have to do too much,” Witt said. “It’s the same game.

“Maybe a little louder.”