Despite France's 3.2 Strong Innings, Space Cowboys Fall In See-Saw Affair On Friday

Davidson Drives First Homer With Sugar Land

By Jordan Silversmith/ Space Cowboyss

August 9, 2025

While RHP JP France fired a season-best 3.2 innings and Logan Davidson homered, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (14-20, 53-56) dropped a back-and-forth affair, 6-4, to the Sacramento River Cats (22-15, 58-54) on Friday night at Sutter Health Park. Sacramento took a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first

While RHP JP France fired a season-best 3.2 innings and Logan Davidson homered, the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (14-20, 53-56) dropped a back-and-forth affair, 6-4, to the Sacramento River Cats (22-15, 58-54) on Friday night at Sutter Health Park.

Sacramento took a 1-0 advantage in the bottom of the first with a solo homer from Luis Matos, but France responded by fanning the final two batters of the frame.

First K of the night for France! pic.twitter.com/PcfdJR80CA
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) August 9, 2025

Davidson ambushed the first pitch of his at-bat and drilled a solo homer to start the second, his first home run as a Space Cowboy. In the ensuing at-bats, Zack Short singled and Colin Barber whipped a double into the right-field corner as three-straight Sugar Land batters recorded a hit to begin the frame. With one out in the inning, Jacob Hurtubise’s productive groundout plated Short, giving the Space Cowboys their first lead, 2-1.

DAVIDSON'S FIRST DINGER AS A SPACE COWBOY pic.twitter.com/GEOcYxyydB
— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) August 9, 2025

The River Cats loaded the bases with two outs in the home half of the second, but France induced a weak groundout to sidestep the runners. In the third, the right-hander hurled a 1-2-3 inning and retired the first two batters of the fourth before giving way to RHP Alimber Santa. France went 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts while setting down six of the final batters he saw. Santa struck out the first batter he faced, but a wild pitch on strike three let Thomas Gavello reach first. With two outs in the inning, Drew Ellis hit a two-RBI double as Sacramento retook a 3-2 lead.

Sugar Land answered in the top of the fifth. Jacob Melton and Shay Whitcomb recorded back-to-back singles to lead off the frame and Melton scored on an error from Brett Wisely, tying the game at three. Later in the inning, Short plated Whitcomb on a go-ahead RBI single to make it a 4-3 game. However, the River Cats stole the lead back with a three-run bottom of the fifth as Sacramento went up, 6-4.

After RHP Miguel Ullola (L, 5-4, BS, 1) sat down the River Cats in order in the sixth with back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning, the Dominican Republic native spun a scoreless seventh and eighth while retiring nine of the final 10 batters he faced.

Sugar Land loaded the bases in the ninth as Whitcomb reached on an infield single and Jon Singleton and Davidson walked. However, a strikeout and a flyout to center left the runners on base as the Space Cowboys fell, 6-4.

NOTABLE:

JP France registered 3.2 innings on Friday, a rehab high, tossing 63 pitches and 32 strikes, while allowing two runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts. France topped out at 95.0 mph on Friday while sitting 93.3 with his four-seam fastball.
Shay Whitcomb went 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored on Friday. In his last 15 games with Sugar Land, he has gone 21-for-62 (.339) with five doubles, a homer, 10 RBI, five walks and nine runs scored.
Brice Matthews went 1-for-5 on Friday and has reached in 28 of his last 29 games with Sugar Land. Over that span, Matthews is 39-for-118 (.331) with nine doubles, three triples, five homers, 19 RBI, and 16 walks. Matthew’s 112.8 mph single in the first was his hardest-tracked ball of the season.
With a 2-for-5 game on Friday with a run scored, Jacob Melton is currently on a seven-game on-base streak, going 9-for-28 (.321) with three doubles, a homer, four RBI, four walks and four runs scored.
After drawing a walk on Friday, Jon Singleton is currently on a 21-game on-base streak with Sugar Land with two doubles, four homers, 12 RBI, 20 walks and 13 runs scored.
Zack Short recorded his first multi-hit game with Sugar Land since June 27 against the El Paso Chihuahuas after going 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored on Friday.
On Friday, Colin Barber picked up the first two-double game of his Triple-A career and his first two-double game since May 27 with Corpus Christi.

The penultimate game of Sugar Land's series against Sacramento starts Saturday at 8:37 pm CT. RHP Tyler Ivey takes the mound for the Space Cowboys against RHP Mason Black. The game can be seen live on the Bally Sports Live App or MLB.TV and can be heard anywhere at SLSpaceCowboys.com.

ABOUT THE SUGAR LAND SPACE COWBOYS:

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros and compete in the Pacific Coast League. They are the reigning Pacific Coast League Champions and Triple-A National Champions. They began playing as the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in 2021 and began playing under the Space Cowboys brand in 2022. The Space Cowboys play at Constellation Field, located at the corner of Hwy-6 and US-90 Alternate in Sugar Land, Texas. Follow the team on Twitter (@SLSpaceCowboys), Instagram (@slspacecowboys), Facebook (SLSpaceCowboys), and their official website (slspacecowboys.com). Fans can purchase full-season and partial-season plans for 2025 by visiting slspacecowboys.com/tickets.