Royals' Pounders unscored upon in AFL

While his big league club has World Series aspirations, Brooks Pounders is dominating in a different fall classic.

The Kansas City right-hander allowed one hit while striking out four over five innings for his third straight scoreless start as Surprise topped Peoria, 3-1, on Tuesday afternoon in the Arizona Fall League.

"I felt good, I didn't feel like I had my best stuff, but I had to work with what I had. Commanded four pitches and got away with a couple pitches, had some great defense behind me," Pounders said. "Just establishing a fastball inside and then moving away from there and throwing two-seam in on some right-handers' hands probably induced some ground balls."

Pounders gave up a single to Tyler Smith (Mariners) in the first inning and then retired the next 11 batters he faced before No. 11 Reds prospect Phil Ervin reached on a dropped third strike. To compensate for not having his top stuff, the 25-year-old said he utilized offspeed pitches earlier in the count and forced seven groundouts.

After returning from Tommy John surgery in 2014, Pounders was sidelined again this year in Spring Training with a lat tear. The 2009 second-round pick made the rounds at four different levels as he rehabbed back to health.

"It takes its toll on you, mentally and physically, but it's just something you have to battle through and get through. It's rewarding now to see some success," he said. "Ultimately, I wanted to pitch a little more and [I'm] just happy the Royals sent me out to the Fall League and glad I can show them what I'm capable of doing."

The Temecula, California native is looking forward to his family coming to watch next week, but in the meantime, he is putting on a show for the Surprise locals.

In three AFL starts, Pounders has held hitters to five hits over 12 innings. The 6-foot-4 hurler has struck out 14 without issuing a walk and earned Pitcher of the Week honors Tuesday after his first two scoreless outings.

"[I've found success] just being able to command four pitches for strikes, working backwards when I need to -- getting a lot of ground balls with sinkers, getting ahead of guys and ultimately putting them away," he said. "You can never have a good start without the defense that goes on behind you, nothing goes on unnoticed out there. Everybody's making great plays and playing hard and it's a fun team to play on."

Pounders said center fielder Brett Phillips made a great play behind him, and the Brewers' No. 2 prospect also led the Saguaros offensively with two hits and a run.

In other Arizona Fall League action:

Salt River 9, Scottsdale 4

Hot-hitting first baseman Dominic Smith slugged an RBI ground-rule double, walked twice and scored for the Rafters. The Mets' No. 5 prospect is batting .519, and he's reached base multiple times in six of eight AFL games. No. 8 Rockies prospect Raimel Tapia doubled, singled, plated a run and scored, and No. 21 Nationals prospect Spencer Kieboom hit a three-run homer -- his first dinger of the autumn. Kyle Freeland (1-1), ranked right behind Tapia in the Colorado system, allowed a run on three hits and two walks while striking out a pair over six innings for the win. Thirteenth-ranked San Francisco prospect Mac Williamson was 3-for-3 with a homer, two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored for Scottsdale. Gameday box score

Glendale 9, Mesa 5

No. 13 White Sox prospect Jake Peter went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI to lead the Desert Dogs, and the Pirates' Adam Frazier also doubled, scored twice, stole a base and plated a run. No. 30 White Sox prospect Brandon Brennan threw three shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks while whiffing three, and the Dodgers' Michael Johnson (1-0) picked up the victory with 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. The Angels' Chad Hinshaw went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a walk and is now batting .545 for the Solar Sox. No. 24 Rays prospect Jake Bauers hit his second homer and scored twice. Gameday box score