Brewers' Houser strong in AFL victory

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Brewers prospect Adrian Houser made a strong Arizona Fall League debut and followed it up with another impressive performance on Tuesday at Salt River Fields.

Despite not having his best stuff, Houser threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings and led the Surprise Saguaros to a 3-1 win over the Salt River Rafters.

"I made some pitches, got some groundballs and they hit them right at my defensive players, and they really helped me out today," Houser said. "[I] was just working with my fastball, changeup a lot, couldn't get the curveball down."

Houser, the No. 27 prospect in the Brewers organization, threw three one-hit innings in his first start of the fall, and although Tuesday's outing wasn't as crisp, it's hard to argue with a second consecutive scoreless start.

The right-hander threw 28 of his 49 pitches for strikes and allowed two hits, while striking out one.

Houser got off to a shaky start as the first two batters reached, but the right-hander used a double play to escape the first unscathed before settling down and finishing strong.

Opposite Houser, D-backs No. 5 prospect Yoan Lopez got the start for Salt River and struggled with command. The 22-year old threw 41 of his 66 pitches for strikes and allowed three runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings.

As Lopez struggled with command in the third, the Surprise offense seized the opportunity.

Seven of nine batters -- via four hits and three walks -- reached base in the third as the Saguaros tallied a trio of runs.

"It's a great thing when the guys put up three runs for you, and you go out there and pitch your butt off and let them work behind you," Houser said. "We're playing some good baseball and we're having fun."

Michael Reed, the No.17 prospect in the Brewers organization, drove in the game's first run with an RBI single, and after Royals prospect Bubba Starling loaded the bases with his second hit of the day, Cardinals No. 12 prospect Patrick Wisdom brought in a run with an RBI single of his own.

Houser joins the Arizona Fall League after a pretty crazy 2015 campaign. He played for four teams -- Lancaster, Corpus Christi, Biloxi and Milwaukee -- across two organizations as he was traded from the Astros to the Brewers in the trade that sent Mike Fiers and Carlos Gomez to Houston.

"It was a whirlwind, I think that's an easy way to say it," Houser said. "Start in High A, then move up and then get traded. The trade was a good thing for me, it put me in position, right where I needed to be."

The trade to Milwaukee opened up a door for Houser as he was called up late in the season and made his Major League debut on Sept. 26.

"It helped me out a lot," Houser said of his brief stint in the Majors. "They taught me the ropes up there, how things are [and] how they do things. I've just got to stay with the same work ethic that they showed me up there and keep it going."

Houser appeared in two games for the Brewers and threw two scoreless innings and now that he's appeared in a Major League game, he's got his sights set on appearing in more.

"It gave me a taste of it and made me want to work that much harder to get another call and get back up there," Houser said.