Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley . Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Braves star injured in Speedway Classic at Bristol

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Aug 3, 2025 2:51 PM ET

In a season full of hard luck for the Atlanta Braves, Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds brought more.

Star third baseman Austin Riley exited the Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway after tagging out Elly De La Cruz at home plate and saving a run in the bottom of the first inning.

Riley fielded a ball that was smoked to third base off the bat of Miguel Andujar and chased Cruz down at the plate to keep Cincinnati's lead at one run.

Riley runs down Elly to get the out at the plate for the @Braves!

: FOX pic.twitter.com/JunG88T9ey
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 3, 2025

The next time Riley came up in the batting order, however, it was 28-year-old Luke Williams who stepped into the batter's box. The official reason given for Riley's departure from the contest was lower abdominal pain. Riley struck out in his lone plate appearance on Sunday.

Riley, 28, is hitting .260 for Atlanta in 415 at-bats this season. He's hit 16 home runs with a .309 on-base percentage in 101 games.

Riley strained an abdominal muscle on July 11 in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, which led to the Memphis, Tenn., native being on the injured list until July 25. Atlanta is hoping that the pain he suffered on Sunday doesn't lead to a long-term injury.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

More must-reads: