Austin Riley’s hot month continues as he beats Aaron’s record

The month of July was a hit for Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley as he smashed records.

Atlanta Braves Third baseman Austin Riley equalized and then surpassed a franchise-record Hank Aaron with a walk-off double Sunday afternoon.

Riley doubled over Arizona Diamondbacks Pitcher Merrill Kelly in the second inning to tie the record for number of extra base hits in a month.

Riley then ended the month with a walk-off double to midfield ahead of Mark Melancon, which surpassed Aaron’s previous record and gave him 26 extra base hits for the month of July.

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Riley helps Braves down the track

The double was scored by Matt Olson and allowed the Braves to have one Walk-Off Victory over the D backs, 1-0. The win allowed the Braves to sweep the D-backs. After a July 18-8, Sunday’s win brings the Braves’ record to 62-41. The Braves are now three games behind the New York Mets in the NL East.

Greg Harvey from Sports-Reference.com tweeted that Austin Riley on Sunday became the seventh player since 1901 to hit .420+ and have 26+ XBH in a single month. Riley is the first to do so since Richard Hidalgo in September 2000. The other 5 are Joe DiMaggio in 1937, Chuck Klein in 1930, Chick Hafey in 1928, Babe Ruth in 1924 and Tris Speaker in 1923. This is an impressive group, Riley joins after an amazing month of July.

Braves MLB.com reporter Mark Bowman said Riley’s 1,344 OPS in July is the second highest by a Braves player on 90 plate appearances in any month. Chipper Jones had a 1,470 in July 1999 when he won MVP honors.

During the month of July, Riley hits .298/.359/.599 with a .958 OPS, 29 doubles, a triple and 29 home runs. Riley has 62 runs scored and 67 RBI on the season. With two months left in the 2022 season, Riley is looking to increase his total and break more records to win the NL MVP honor.