And he still isn't satisfied with his performance Tuesday night.
Loosen up a little, James.
Clifford drove in five runs with a two-run triple and a three-run home run to highlight Lancaster's 18-hit performance in a 14-5 win over Visalia at Recreation Park.
"I've had pitches, I just haven't been hitting them like I can," said Clifford, who was struggling at the plate coming into the game. "There was some balls I should have hit better tonight and didn't."
Clifford struck out looking in his first at-bat and had a little talk with manager Dave Brundage before his second at-bat in the third.
He promptly hit the first pitch he saw from Oaks starting pitcher Larry Rodriguez into the right field corner for a triple.
"`Brundy said basically just relax and swing," Clifford said. "He said relax and start hitting the ball. I'm just hoping to build on today."
The win for the JetHawks in front of 545 fans helped them improve to 4-2 at the halfway point of their 12-game road trip to begin the season.
"Anytime we score that many runs it's a good thing," said Shane Monahan, who went 3-for-6 with four runs scored.
Lancaster wasted no time in getting to Visalia starter Larry Rodriguez, a Cuban defector who signed a $1 million bonus with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Marcus Sturdivant walked to open the game and Monahan got the first of his two bunt singles to put runners on first and second.
Cruz followed with a long double to right-center field that scored Sturdivant. Two batters later, Carlos Villalobos drove in Monahan with a groundout to make it 2-0.
The JetHawks put four more runs on the board in the third.
Monahan led off by reaching on an error and Cruz singled. Clifford, who entered the game batting just .105, drove both runners in with a triple into the right field corner to make it 4-0.
Clifford scored when David Roberts dropped a fly ball hit by Villalobos in shallow center, and Villalobos scored one batter later on a single by Dusty Wathan to make it 6-0.
Monahan got things going again in the fourth with a double to right field. He advanced to third on groundout and stole home on a delayed steal to make it 7-4.
Pitcher Ivan Montane cruised through the first two innings but ran into trouble in the third.
He walked Elvis De La Rosa to lead off the inning, and Yuri Sanchez stroked Visalia's first hit of the game, a single to center field to put runners on first and second.
After David Roberts singled to load the bases, Eloy Arano grounded out to drive in De La Rosa with the Oaks' first run. Chris Facione then ripped a double down the right field line, scoring a pair of runs and making it 6-3.
Eric Danapills singled down the right field line to score Facione and make it 6-4. Montane came back to strike out hot-hitting Del Marine (10-for-15 entering the game) to end the inning.
The Oaks got their fifth run in the fourth on a two-out error by third baseman Villalobos that allowed Sanchez to score.
Jason Cook gave the JetHawks a three-run lead in the fifth with his homer to left with one out. The home run was Cook's first of the season and second for Lancaster in six games this season.
Villalobos made up for his fielding problems (four errors in the series) with an RBI single off reliever Pete Southall in the eighth that made it 9-5.
Shawn Buhner and Cook also had run-scoring singles off Southall in the eighth to extend the lead to 11-5.