First, the glass half-empty: The Slammers were swept at home by the team with the worst ERA in the Frontier League. Joliet was held to one run in Friday and Saturday losses to Traverse City.
Now, the glass half-full: The Slammers have more wins than all but one team in the league. They’re second in the East Division with 12 games left and would make the postseason if it started now.
“You don’t want to get swept,’’ designated hitter Justin Garcia said after Sunday’s 9-7 loss at Joliet Route 66 Stadium. “We should have taken one, maybe two.’’
To left fielder L.J. Kalawaia, even a good season comes with a few bad times.
“You’ve just got to understand it’s baseball, this happens all the time,’’ Kalawaia said. “You can be hot for one series or one week, and the next week be ice cold.
“It’s all about sticking with your plan, coming back the next day. Going into next week, flush whatever happened this weekend, start over.’’
Kalawaia was 3-for-5 Sunday to raise his average to .307, second-best on the team. The first-year Slammer is 12-for-28 over the past seven games.
“I hit my little slump earlier in the season,’’ Kalawaia said. “You’ve got to stick to your plan. Sooner or later it will come again when you start getting hot. You’ve got to remember what you’re doing that keeps you there.’’
Joliet manager Jeff Isom is glad to see Kalawaia lifted his average back above .300.
“I take a peek at the numbers and can remember looking at it last week and he dipped down to .280,’’ Isom said. “Now he’s back up there. He’s had some really good games for us. He’s swinging a hot bat.’’
Garcia hit a two-run homer in the ninth Sunday to cut the margin to 9-7, but it wasn’t enough to make up for shaky pitching.
The Slammers are off Monday before a three-game series at Lake Erie. They play Friday and Saturday against Windy City in Crestwood.
“We’ve got some big games and games we need to take advantage of,’’ Garcia said.
Nine of the Slammers’ remaining 12 games are on the road, but that may not be a bad thing. Joliet had a 5-1 road trip before the Traverse City series.
The playoffs are scheduled to start Sept. 4. The two division champions and the two teams with the next best records regardless of division will meet in two best-of-5 series.
When the Slammers return to Joliet Aug. 31 for their final homestand, they expect to have more than three games left in the season.
“We’re still in good shape for a playoff spot,’’ Isom said. “We won a lot of games middle of the season and on. We ran into a little bit of a speed bump. Regroup and get back on the road.’’
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The Slammers (47-37) are one game behind Washington (48-36), four games ahead of Lake Erie (43-41) and five ahead of Schaumburg (42-42).
“It’s a close race,’’ Kalawaia said. “We’ve got to stick to what we do. We can’t control what they do. Hopefully, it turns out for the best.’’
Tim Tierney is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.