Last night in San Diego, California, the much anticipated rematch of former Rhode Island High School baseball stars was on national TV. I am so Rhode Island honored and pleased to announce that once again Bishop Hendricken High School’s Michael King (San Diego Padres) faced Classical High School’s Jeremy Peña (Houston Astros) in another Major League game. These two Rhode Island historically faced off about a year ago when King was a reliever/starter for the NY Yankees. He faced Peña, the starting shortstop for the Astros and got him to ground out to end a rally, if I can recall. Now, we have Round 2 of this Rhode Island baseball superstar matchup and here is how it went down…

Their first matchup was in the Top of the 2nd inning. Michael King, wearing the Padres #34 got Jeremy Peña, wearing the Astros #3, to flyout to centerfield. 82 mph sweeper, here’s the snip from the MLB recap:

Next at bat, King was in a bit of trouble, having giving up a few hits and an “excuse me” double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with less than 2 outs. Peña came up to the plate and immediately punched a ground ball to the right side of the infield, scoring Alex Bregman. RBI – Peña.

3rd at bat in the top of the 7th inning was all King. With the score tied and it looking like this might be his last inning of work, King made quick work of Peña, striking him out on 4 pitches. The final strike, a 95 mph high fastball.

So, the Padres’ Michael King ended up going 7 innings, allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, and striking out 7 (including Peña, 1). The Astros’ Jeremy Peña went 1 for 4, with 1 RBI (vs King) and played outstanding defensive shortstop. And since it is a team game, I also wanted to mention that the Astros prevailed 4-3 in extra innings over the Padres in a very competitive, playoff like game. For me, it was another cool Rhode Island baseball experience watching two former RIHS baseball standouts playing in a Major League baseball game, and facing each other – pitcher to batter. Great stuff and I wish Michael King and Jeremy Peña continued success in their Major League baseball journeys!