With the score knotted at 0-0 in the bottom of the 9th Sunday afternoon and Matt Olson standing on first, Austin Riley did what he’s done all month long and delivered a walk-off double.
A double in the second inning saw Riley tie Hank Aaron’s franchise record for extra-base hits in a month with 25, and the walk-off in the 9th broke the record in dramatic fashion as he joins elite company.
On 92.9 The Game’s From the Diamond, Cory McCartney called Riley’s July “the best month ever for a Braves hitter” and shared that the 26 extra-base hits in a month placed him on a list alongside baseball giants like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams and several others. The All-Star currently leads the league with 61 XBH on the season.
In addition to the franchise record, Riley—with a .423 average, 11 home runs and 25 RBI—becomes just the second player in Braves history to hit .400 with 10+ home runs in a single month. The other player on that list? Another 3B with Chipper Jones reaching those same benchmarks in July 1999.
“This is the kind of thing that takes you from having a good season, or even a really good season, to having a great season,” Grant McAuley said explaining that Riley continues to climb the ranks in all of the meaningful metrics.
Both McAuley and McCartney were also in agreement that Riley’s inclusion in the MVP conversation is becoming progressively harder to deny with McAuley adding that it feels as though the best is yet to come for the Braves slugger.
On the season, Riley owns a .301 average and a .964 OPS—6th in MLB—with 29 home runs and 68 RBIs. With plenty of baseball left to be played, Riley is just four long balls away from tying his career high of 33.