France allowed three hits and a walk while striking out five over five scoreless innings in a no-decision versus the Mariners on Saturday.
France threw 51 of 84 pitches for strikes in his major-league debut. He was in line for the win before a meltdown from Rafael Montero and Ryne Stanek in the eighth inning. France was solid with a 2.33 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 26:11 K:BB over 19.1 innings with Triple-A Sugar Land to start the year. The 28-year-old could stick in Houston's rotation for a while since Luis Garcia's (elbow) season is over while Lance McCullers (forearm) and Jose Urquidy (shoulder) are also on the injured list. France is tentatively projected to make a road start versus the White Sox next week in the likely event he stays up with the big club.