Bichette showing signs of progress

Dante Bichette Jr. has stopped worrying about his batting average recently. As a result, it's on the rise.

The Yankees' No. 9 prospect homered and had his second straight mult-hit game to back Rafael De Paula's 11-strikeout outing as Class A Charleston bested Greenville, 6-3, on Thursday.

Bichette got off to a quick start, hitting the first pitch he saw over the left-field wall for a two-run homer in the first inning. After fanning in the third, Bichette was thrown out trying to turn a single into a double in the sixth. Bichette lined out in his final at-bat in the eighth.

"I decided to stick to a new approach yesterday and they threw some pitches I could take advantage of," the Florida native said. "First pitch of the game was a fastball right down the middle, that's the one I homered on. Later in the game, a lefty [Francisco Tavares] came in and hung a changeup. I almost doubled on it, but got thrown out at second."

The 20-year-old third baseman was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Wednesday's win. It's just the second time this season the 2011 second-round pick has had back-to-back two-hit games for the RiverDogs.

"[I'm] just not worrying about batting average really, just want to get quality at-bats and stay back," Bichette said. "I've had a bit of bad luck, but my RBIs and homers are decent right now. It's not too frustrating. Instead of changing something because it didn't work, I'm just sticking with my routine."

Bichette is batting .186 with three homers and 25 RBIs for Charleston.

De Paula (4-2) allowed two runs on three hits over six innings for the RiverDogs. He currently leads the South Atlantic League with 69 strikeouts.

"He's pretty dominant, it seems like he can throw strikes whenever and they can't hit it," Bichette said. "He's our guy right now. De Paula has taken that job over and has done a real nice job every night."

Charleston's Gregory Bird slugged a two-run homer and scored twice while Cito Culver was 3-for-4 with a run scored.

Mookie Betts hit a solo homer in the loss.