Singleton drives in career-high six

After struggling for the first half of the season, Jonathan Singleton decided to change things up for the final months.

"I just didn't want to try to do too much while I was hitting, so over the break, I decided to slow things down a little bit," he said. "I'm starting with a clean slate in the second half."

That approach paid off Tuesday night as the 19-year-old outfielder went 3-for-4 with a homer and a career-high six RBIs. His Class A Advanced Clearwater lost to Tampa, however, 11-9.

Singleton fell a triple shy of the cycle en route to his third three-hit game of the season. MLB.com's No. 30 preseason prospect credited his success to sticking to his gameplan.

"Just to hit the ball hard, get solid contact," he said. "It didn't matter what count I was in or what pitch it was."

Singleton's previous career high for RBIs was five, which he accomplished twice last year for Class A Lakewood -- on June 12 against West Virginia and just over a week later on June 20, when he hit two home runs against Kannapolis.

The California native said Tuesday's performance ranked among the best of his career.

"It's definitely up there with that [two-homer] game last year," he said. "Both of them were memorable experiences."

Singleton started his night off with a one-out RBI double in the first, knocking in Jiwan James. Four innings later, with the Threshers down, 8-3, he launched a three-run homer that got the team back within two.

"It was actually a first-pitch fastball," Singleton said. "It was down over the plate, and when I first hit it, I wasn't sure if it was gonna be a home run or not. It was more of a line drive than one of those high, towering home runs. But I definitely hit it hard."

The Phillies prospect tacked on a two-RBI single in the sixth, then walked in his final plate appearance in the eighth.

Selected in the eighth round of the 2009 Draft, Singleton established himself as one of the top prospects in the game when he hit .290 with 14 homers, 77 RBIs and a .393 on-base percentage for the BlueClaws last year. This season, he is batting .254 with four homers, 27 RBIs and a .373 on-base percentage.

Singleton said his approach right now is just to do his best and control what he can.

"Just play hard," he said. "The coaches taught us the tools that we have. It's up to us to put them in play and use to the best of our advantage. We just have to go out there and play hard and be smart."

While Singleton was the main contributor for the Threshers, the Yankees' offense was more spread out. Seven Tampa players knocked in a run, while three -- Kevin Mahoney, Zoilo Almonte and Kyle Higashioka -- hit home runs.

Jarred Cosart (6-4) took the loss for Clearwater after allowing four runs on five hits in four innings.

Scottie Allen (3-4) was credited with the win despite surrendering six runs -- five earned -- on eight hits over five frames.