Austin Riley leaves game with left side strain (UPDATE)

The successes keep coming for the Atlanta Braves. Austin Riley left Sunday’s game in New York in the fourth inning after appearing to injure his team on a swing and miss. He initially remained in the game in the third, but was replaced late in the fourth by new acquisition Zack Short at third base.

The Braves later announced that Riley left the game with a strain on his left side.

Riley is off to a slow start at the plate, hitting .241/.317/.386 with three homers and a 101 wRC+. Still, he played good third-down defense and has shown signs of offensive rebounding as of late. The Braves will play it safe with him and Riley will likely be headed for further evaluation. Atlanta has been without wide receiver Sean Murphy since Opening Day due to an oblique injury in what looked like a similar situation.

UPDATE – Brian Snitker was interviewed during the fifth inning and said Riley first felt some tension in his side during batting practice and then again during that swing in the third inning. The Braves wanted to play it safe and took him out of the game. The temperature at Citi Field is in the 50s.

We will communicate more details as they become available.