Austin Riley!! Welcome to October!!
In the Philadelphia Phillies-Atlanta Braves game on Tuesday afternoon, Austin Riley clubbed a huge three-run home run against the Phillies‘ dominant closer, Jhoan Duran, to give the Braves a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The MLB playoffs are here, and they are already electric.
Update: The Braves won 5-3, and took game one of their NL Wild Card series against the Phillies.
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Austin Riley’s 3-Run Blast Sends Truist Park Into Frenzy!
In Jhoan Duran’s second inning of relief work, he started to wear a little bit, and Austin Riley took advantage of that by parking a middle-middle fastball for an opposite-field home run into the right-field seats.
Here are some reactions from across the MLB social media landscape:
After a pretty rough regular season for Austin Riley, that’s by far the biggest swing for Riley this season, and it puts the Braves in the driver’s seat to advance to the NLDS.
@d3Benchwarmer_: “Austin Riley with a go-ahead rocket that sends Hotlanta into a frenzy. Nothing like hearing Matty V on the call. What a crowd pop. Way to over manage Donny, putting in your closer in the seventh. Phils bullpen strikes again.”
More Reactions to Austin Riley’s Huge Swing in NLWC
Gut punch is right for the Philadelphia Phillies, who will now face a win-or-go-home game scenario on Wednesday afternoon.
Christopher Sanchez will get the start for Philly on Wednesday, and Atlanta will roll with Tyler Mahle as their starter.
Either way, what a huge moment for Austin Riley and the Atlanta Braves to kick off the MLB playoffs!
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MLB World Reacts to Austin Riley Moment in Phillies-Braves Game