Austin Riley’s recent offensive progression has created reason to believe Atlanta may indeed have its first longstanding third baseman since Chipper Jones.

OK, maybe it’s ridiculous to make this assessment based on a few weeks of production. But what Riley did over the final couple of weeks of August enhanced excitement for the Braves, who used their third baseman’s bases-loaded triple to claim a 6-3 win over the Red Sox on Monday night at Fenway Park.

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“That overall presence in the batter’s box, he looks like a confident hitter right now,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “There’s just an air about him or confidence that he is going to do some damage.”

Riley’s second career triple backed another strong effort from Max Fried, who allowed two runs, including one tallied via a balk, over five innings. The lefty entered with an MLB-best 1.35 ERA and exited with a 1.60 ERA through eight starts. He is the first Braves starter to begin a season 6-0 since Denny Neagle in 1997.

Like Fried, Riley has made significant strides this year to more firmly entrench himself at the Major League level.

“He’s a great player,” Fried said of Riley. “At the end of the day, he can do a little bit of everything. He’s got a high baseball IQ. I knew it was only a matter of time before he got his bearings. Now, he’s just out there playing. He looks like he belongs, and he’s just running with it.”

Ozzie Albies has missed nearly four weeks with a right wrist bone contusion, and multiple ailments have limited Ronald Acuña Jr. to just five games since Aug. 10. But the Braves’ offense has continued to produce courtesy of Freddie Freeman, on a 14-game hitting streak, and Riley, who has seen his OPS rise from .517 to .757 in 11 games.

Red Sox starter Colten Brewer surrendered Adam Duvall’s long homer in the fourth and then walked two of the first three batters faced to load the bases in the fifth.

This set the stage for Riley, who showed good plate coverage as he smacked Brewer’s outside sinker off the right-field wall and then raced toward third for the triple.

“I was thinking maybe it went foul right when I hit it,” Riley said. “But the right-field line is short. So, I was just lucky to get a triple.”

After hitting 14 homers and producing a .930 OPS through his first 42 career games last year, Riley tallied just four homers with a .492 OPS over his final 123 plate appearances of the season. His quick decline was a product of becoming too susceptible to sliders, especially chasing outside the zone.

When Riley hit .150 with a .517 OPS through his first 18 games this year, he struck out 33.8 percent of the time -- actually slightly better than last year’s 36.3 percent strikeout rate. But while the struggles might have seemed similar to those from last year’s second half, they were now a product of his trouble against fastballs.

Riley went just 2-for-30 against fastballs through this season’s first 18 games. During his current 11-game surge, he is 11-for-23 against fastballs and is striking out just 23.2 percent of the time.

“It’s definitely a weight lifted off my shoulders, because I was putting up good at-bats earlier in the season,” Riley said. “I just wasn’t getting hits. Now that the hits are falling, it’s a big confidence booster. Just got to keep it rolling.”