Cornelius has a grand old time with Tampa

Kevin Cornelius spent most of the past three seasons in Rookie ball. He's already making up for lost time after a month with Class A Adavnced Tampa.

The 23-year-old third baseman went deep twice and plated a career-high six runs as the Yankees topped the Clearwater Threshers, 8-5, on Tuesday night. He put Tampa ahead for good with a grand slam to left in the top of the 11th inning.

Cornelius jumped on the first pitch he saw from right-hander Ranfi Casimiro after singles by Trey Amburgey and Thairo Estrada and a walk to Connor Spencer loaded the bases. The blast continued a recent surge for the 6-foot-1, 180-pound prospect.

"The hitter in front of me had just walked had just walked and that at-bat was a bit erratic," Cornelius said. "I went up there hoping there'd be a fastball first pitch, but also that he might try to get me to chase something. I was sitting on fastball -- if he threw anything else I wasn't going to swing at it. I got the fastball and just put a good swing on it."

After going 0-for-19 during a six-game span from July 29 to Aug. 6, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound infielder sought help from Yankees hitting coach Tommy Slater. The meeting produced immediate results and the 2013 31st-round pick went 5-for-7 over his past two games.

"I went through a stint last week when I wasn't swinging too well," he said. "I went with Tommy ... working on timing, trying to be early and I guess I accomplished that. I have a pretty big leg kick and I need to start my load early to be on fastballs, which, everybody wants to hit fastballs. If I'm early, I'm on time in that sense."

Cornelius began his day with a first-pitch double to left in the second before hitting his first home run to left in the fourth, both off of Threshers starter Will Morris. He grounded out to end the sixth and walked in the ninth before coming through with the big hit in the 11th.

The Texas native played 13 games with Rookie-level Pulaski this season, slashing .367/.448/.878 with six home runs and 21 RBIs before skipping Class A to join Tampa. Cornelius wasn't sure what to expect after years in Rookie ball, but he hit safely in five of his first six games and hasn't looked back since.

"I've had a few injuries in the past, and for me to go to Rookie ball, I was excited about it, ready to perform ... and I did well there," he said. "Skipped Charleston altogether, and everybody's confident in themselves, but that's a pretty big jump that not a lot of people make. I was excited about it, but also a bit nervous -- I've looked up to a lot of guys at high-A over the years. I was really excited to get the opportunity to perform at that level."

Through 25 games with Tampa, Cornelius is hitting .310 with four homers and 22 RBIs through 25 games. His quick adjustment has as much to do with his mind-set as anything else.

"I think it's just knowing yourself as a player -- being realistic with yourself and knowing what you need to do to help a team and not try to do something that isn't in your skill set," he said. "Knowing what you need to do every day to perform and prepare and stay consistent -- if you can do that in baseball, you can remain consistent and succeed."

Cornelius has 10 home runs this season across two levels -- one more than his career total in 90 career games entering this season. He didn't go deep in his first 30 games before hitting his first long ball in his first game of the 2015 season -- a year in which he finished with nine homers in 60 games between Pulaski and Class A Short Season Staten Island.

"I think it goes back to the leg kick and working with [Pulaski hitting coach] Kevin Mahoney on that," Cornelius said. "I think the leg kick has helped me as a hitter tremendously. It's helped me with my timing, my power and my consistency. I feel like a lot of people don't correlate that with a leg kick, but for me, it's opened up new doors."

Matt Marsh (7-2) tossed two scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win after starter James Reeves allowed two runs on four hits while striking out eight in six innings.

Estrada went 3-for-5 with a double and three runs scored, scoring on both of Cornelius' home runs.

Morris allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk over six frames, while Casimiro (8-8) took the loss for Clearwater after giving up four runs on five hits in the 11th.