Section 219 guest post: Dinkelman's night to shine

Section 219 frequent commenter Jason Iacovino (ilovesid) is a long time Twins fan, radio announcer, and attorney from Owatonna, Minnesota. He filed this blog post after Saturday night's game.

Question: What do Harmon Killebrew, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Denard Span, and Jim Thome all have in common?

Answer: Their names could be seen scattered throughout Kauffman Stadium on Saturday night, yet none of them appeared in the box score. In fact, the only Twin whose jersey I saw both on the field and in the stands Saturday was Michael Cuddyer. He made his fans proud with a towering ninth inning homerun which capped a 7-2 Twins win, their third in a row and 20th of the season.

But this night belonged to Brian Dinkelman.

Anyone who tells you baseball is the same boring game every night really doesn't get it. When I bought our third baseline seats back in mid-march, I hardly thought we'd see any of Saturday's outfielders, much less a guy named Dinkelman. Brian acknowledged those of us who cheered on his every move in his MLB debut with a tip of the cap at the end of the game. He went 1-for-3, was hit by a pitch, intentionally walked (Astoundingly), and made the defensive play of the night. Those of us in Section 113 found ourselves chanting "Dink-el-man, Dink-el-man" many times, as did Twins fans throughout the park.

It was a fun reminder that even a season which appears doomed can have some memorable moments. While Dinkelman was enjoying his moments, the play of the night was actually made by manager Ron Gardenhire. He sent baserunners Ben Revere and Alexi Casilla on a 3-2 pitch to Michael Cuddyer in the top of the sixth, which kept Cuddy from having his second GIDP of the night. Instead, down 2-1, the Twins ended up with runners at second and third with one out and took the lead later in the inning.

If Gardy doesn't send the runners, Danny Valencia's groundout would have ended the inning and Royals starter Luke Hochevar would've kept a lead and control of the game through six innings.

Speaking of a Kauffman, a quick tangent, you will not convince me Target Field is better than the K. I'm not saying that to be an antagonist as I really love the Twins new ballpark, but "The K" is better. It gets you closer to the action, is absolutely picturesque, and has the best HD scoreboard of any pro sports stadium in America. We took many pictures as we toured the new outfield concourse by the fountains after the game. It's truly an amazing place.

So far, myself, another Jason, Brett, and Neil have had barbeque at Arthur Bryant's, dancing at Power and Light, golf at Tiffany Greens, and 90-plus fastballs and mercury at the ballpark.

On a night when Gardy fielded his weakest lineup of the season, the Twins played one of their strongest games. I have to admit it was fun watching those youngsters fly around the outfield compared to their slower veteran counterparts. Revere made a great overlooked fielding play in the third when he kept a ball in front of him after diving for a liner that might well otherwise have been an inside the park homerun.

That was a strange inning for starter Nick Blackburn, who gave up several line drive hits to the outfield in an otherwise effective five innings of work. Casilla was 4-for-5 with 2 RBI, Matt Tolbert had a pair of doubles, and Cuddyer looked comfortable in the three-spot.