As I noted in the second half of this recent blog post, I’m driving to Cooperstown for this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony. My road trip started Sunday with South Bend as my destination, but thanks to perfect timing, I arrived in Joliet just in time for an unplanned trip delay in the form of a Frontier League game.

The visiting Windy City Thunderbolts’ 5-3 victory gave them their first back-to-back wins since late May. Joliet Slammers 1B Adam Giacalone, who batted .249 in 64 games with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers last year, went 1-for-5 with a two-run single. He also struck out to end the game.

Joliet Slammers 1B Adam Giacalone played for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers last year. (Photo by Craig Wieczorkiewicz/The Midwest League Traveler)

The Slammers are managed by Jeff Isom, who was skipper of the Timber Rattlers in 2009 and 2010. He pitched two seasons in the Midwest League, which I wrote about here.

On Tuesday I’ll be at the afternoon game at Four Winds Field for the rubber match of the three-game series between the South Bend Silver Hawks and the Peoria Chiefs. On Saturday the Chiefs won 2-1 in 10 innings; on Sunday the Silver Hawks won behind a masterful pitching performance by SP Markus Solbach, who gave up only three hits (no runs or walks) while striking out three batters in nine innings.

The Monday matchup of pitchers in South Bend will be Silver Hawks RHP Sean Furney (5-5, 4.46 ERA, 46 strikeouts in 13 starts) vs. Chiefs RHP Arturo Reyes (6-5, 3.43 ERA, 60 strikeouts in 16 games/15 starts).