Atlanta Braves' Austin Riley Joins Incredible Club in Team History
Atlanta Braves slugging third baseman Austin Riley made history in multiple ways on Thursday night.
Playing against the Philadelphia Phillies, Riley hit two mammoth home runs. We detailed that history here.
Also on Thursday, Riley joined an incredibly exclusive club in Braves lore. Bally Sports put the information out on Twitter:
500 career games for Austin Riley
The only other @Braves players to reach 500+ hits, 100+ home runs and 300+ RBI in their first 500 games with the franchise: Fred McGriff, Eddie Mathews and Bob Horner.
Mathews is one of the most storied players in baseball history and McGriff is going into the Hall of Fame this year, so that's prestigious company for the young star.
Entering play on Friday, Riley his hitting .264 on the season and now has nine home runs and 26 RBIs. For his career, he's a .272 hitter with 106 home runs and 302 RBIs.
At the age of 26, Riley has already made an All-Star team (2022), won a Silver Slugger award (2021) and received MVP votes in two separate seasons. He also was integral in helping the Braves win the 2021 World Series over the Houston Astros, when he hit 33 homers and drove in 107.
At the time of this posting, the Braves and Phillies game has just started. It's 0-0 in the top of the second inning. Young lefty Jared Shuster is pitching for Atlanta while Taijuan Walker is pitching for the Phillies.
The Braves won on Thursday by a score of 8-5.
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