Household of Rays prospect killed in triple murder
Jeff PassanESPN
CloseESPN MLB insider
Writer of “The Arm: Contained in the Billion-Greenback Thriller of the Most Worthwhile Commodity in Sports activities”
The spouse, youngster and mother-in-law of a Double-A pitcher within the Tampa Bay Rays group have been killed in a small Virginia city Tuesday, with police arresting the brother-in-law of right-hander Blake Bivens and charging him with three counts of first-degree murder, sources advised ESPN.
Matthew Thomas Bernard, 18, of Keeling, Virginia, was arrested after a manhunt that dispatched dozens of cops across the neighborhood close to the Virginia-North Carolina border.
Police stated they didn’t know the motive of Bernard, who was bare on the time of his arrest after main authorities on a brief on-foot chase. Police haven’t named the victims.
In a press release, the Rays stated: “Earlier in the present day we discovered that Blake Bivens, a pitcher with our Double-A affiliate, the Montgomery Biscuits, suffered a horrible household tragedy in southern Virginia. Our hearts are damaged for Blake.”
The Biscuits had canceled a doubleheader scheduled for Tuesday in Chattanooga, Tennessee, due what the staff known as a “tragic occasion.”
CEO Lou DiBella later tweeted out a press release.
An announcement from CEO & Managing Proprietor, Lou DiBella. pic.twitter.com/Uocm0juKb7
— Montgomery Biscuits (@BiscuitBaseball) August 28, 2019
Bivens, 24, was chosen by Tampa Bay within the fourth spherical of the 2014 draft out of highschool in Danville, Virginia. After spending most of his profession as a beginning pitcher, he transitioned to a aid position this yr and was Four-Zero with a three.95 ERA.