KANSAS CITY -- There’s a feeling that seems to wash over the Royals when the bullpen doors open and reliever Scott Barlow runs out, ready to take over on the mound and close out a game -- no matter how many outs are needed.

A similar feeling seems to happen when catcher Salvador Perez walks up to the plate in a crucial moment of a game, needing to make an impact.

And in the biggest moments on Tuesday night, the Royals leaned on two of their most reliable players to get the job done. Perez knocked in the eventual game-winning run, and Barlow recorded a five-out save to close out a 5-4 win over the Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

“Barlow is the best closer in the game,” Perez said. “There are a lot of other teams that have good closers, too, but what [Barlow] is doing this year is amazing. I don’t think he feels anything when he pitches. It’s amazing. He’s calm. He knows what he’s got to do.”

The results of the Royals’ season have been disappointing, and there are plenty of questions that await them in the offseason. But watching Perez continue to come through in big moments like clockwork, and watching Barlow turn into one of the best closers in the Majors with a 2.37 ERA and 22 saves in 68 1/3 innings is something the club can build around in 2023.

Barlow now has nine saves of four-plus outs, the most by a Kansas City reliever since Royals Hall of Famer Jeff Montgomery had nine in 1995. Barlow came in during the eighth after Jose Cuas hit two batters with one out.

Barlow promptly retired the next five batters, including three strikeouts.

“The biggest thing for me is just being calm,” Barlow said. “In those situations, it can get pretty hectic. But just being able to be calm in that moment and trusting yourself … I’ve always enjoyed just pitching in general. The more times I get to do it, I’m pretty pumped about it.”

Barlow’s calmness and confidence have rubbed off on his teammates, including his fellow relievers, who rely on Barlow to help them out in messes.

“He goes into the same situation with the same mentality,” Cuas said. “That’s something we see from the outside, how much confidence he walks around with. He knows he’s going to get the job done. I’ve caught onto that, and hopefully in the future, it’ll help me out as well.”

Manager Mike Matheny added: “That’s the greatest compliment you can have, when your teammates realize, regardless of the mess we’re in, this guy’s going to figure out a way to get it done.”

The same thing happens when Perez comes up with the ability to change a game. With the game tied in the seventh, MJ Melendez doubled, but he was thrown out at home when he made a baserunning blunder by tagging up on Bobby Witt Jr.’s double.

That brought Perez up in the same situation, and he swung at a slider way off the plate, knocking it down the right-field line to score Witt. It marked Perez’s 35th career go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning or later and his fourth this season.

“It’s almost like, ‘I’ll take this, you guys watch,’” Matheny said. “We’re also watching Bobby right there, in that exact situation. Just had a mistake on the baserunning that didn’t allow that to drive in the run. But you need that guy that steps in and says, ‘OK, I’ll take care of this.’”

The Royals had been 0-66 when trailing by three runs this season. So when the Twins put together a three-run second inning off Zack Greinke -- who recorded his 1,000th strikeout as a Royal in the second inning to become the seventh pitcher in franchise history to do so -- recent history wasn’t on their side.

But the comeback in the series opener against Minnesota helped Kansas City break out of all kinds of slumps. Melendez hadn’t homered since Sept. 3, but his two-run blast to center field in the third inning brought the Royals within one run.

Hunter Dozier was mired in a 1-for-25 slump and he hadn’t homered in 115 at-bats dating to July 31 at Yankee Stadium. But his towering home run in the fifth inning tied the game at 3.

The Royals are hopeful that what happened next will have a lasting effect, putting the finishing touches on a comeback late in a season that has Kansas City building toward next year.

And the consistent veterans showed how it’s done.

“Winning a game like that, it’s a great experience for the young guys,” Perez said. “Hopefully they learn from that, and next year, we play like that every game.”