Mulligan's Powers Past Bowser

By Josh Yohe, MCKEESPORT DAILY NEWS

Tyler Scruggs homered twice and Jim Samolovitch went deep as Jeff Kuzma's squad continued to destroy Bowser pitching in a 14-8 victory. The Brewers have scored 43 runs against Bowser in three games this season. Earlier this week, Bowser and Mulligan's played to a 16-16 tie.
"They have a very intimidating lineup," Brettschneider said. "You have to give them that."
Although Mulligan's has wrapped up the No. 1 seed and a bye in the opening round of the playoffs, Kuzma viewed Thursday night's game as more important than one might think. Not only is there a very real possibility that these two teams could meet in the playoffs, but Mulligan's will see few opportunities in coming days to stay sharp. Kuzma's team has the least amount of games left in the regular season, and then will have more than a week off during the first round of the playoffs. "These at-bats are so crucial for our team," Kuzma said. "It was nice to see how we responded." Much like Monday's game at the Winkle Dome, the five-time defending champions jumped out of the gates early. Already ahead 1-0, Bowser jumped to a 4-0 advantage when Dalaine Ofchinick's towering blast to left landed just inside the foul pole for a three-run homer.
Ron Kramer later added another three-run shot for the Twins. Even without three key regulars in Jared Frye, Kyle Lucot and Dan Lippert, Bowser's offense isn't the problem. "I am very happy with our lineup and it's not like everyone was here," Brettschneider said. "They beat our B-lineup tonight." Of course, the Mulligan's "B-lineup" put up 16 runs against Bowser earlier this week. Playing without a number of regulars, the Brewers still managed to destroy Bowser pitching. For the Twins, starting pitching is clearly a major concern. "It needs to be better," Brettschneider said. "And obviously, against that lineup, it's just really tough." Indeed, the Mulligan's lineup is simply destroying the DNL. Samolovitch might be the league's most powerful man and showed off his ability with a three-run blast deep over the left field fence in the third inning. "He's just so good, so strong," Kuzma said. "On the days he is here, it just makes our lineup so much better. It's nice knowing you have a guy who can hit a ball 450 feet at any given time." It's also pretty nice having Scruggs in the lineup. The former South Park star might not be available in the postseason because he plays football at Duquesne University, but Kuzma will take Scruggs for as long as he can have him. The hulking catcher hit home runs to left and right field against Bowser. "We're lucky because we also have another really good catcher in Mike Neckerman," Kuzma said. "But would I like to have Tyler Scruggs in the playoffs? Oh yeah, there's no doubt about that." The playoffs are on everyone's mind as the DNL regular season begins to wind down. Mulligan's is assured a bye and will play the winner of the No. 4/No. 5 first round series. Bowser's goal is to avoid that series and could do so by claiming the No. 3 seed, which is very much up for grabs. Bowser and Klingensmith Insurance are the teams most likely to get the No. 3 seed. "We would be very happy getting that spot," Brettschneider said. "We just need to get into the playoffs. Then we'll see what happens." The Twins used to be the ringleaders of everything, circuses and the DNL included. Now, for the first time since 2003, they won't be the favorite headed into the postseason. At this point, that distinction clearly belongs to Mulligan's. Brettschneider, who has never lost a playoff series as manager, is hoping his team will find its old magic in the postseason. "The old Bowser bravado will be back," he said. Rubinsak isn't quite as suer. "Those guys can still hit a little bit," he said. "But I think we pushed the fork into them a little deeper tonight."

Date: July 22, 2010     Time: 6:00pm      Venue: Clairton Park