Inside Atlanta’s (Mostly Heartbreaking) Game 6 History

The franchise has played in four of the most compelling Game 6s of the last three decades. Will tonight’s be another all-time classic?

As the saying goes, the two best words in sports are “Game 7.” Whether hearing that makes you want to puke or run through a wall likely depends on if you consider it an adage or a cliché. Either way, there is truth to the hype that leads up to the do-or-die championship game.

And yet, this completely overlooks the excitement of Game 6, either the penultimate installment before the possible Game 7, or the climactic conclusion all on its own. Sometimes, Game 6 is better than the winner-take-all game that it forces. The best Game 6s become singular events: The David Freese Game (2011), “Touch ‘Em All, Joe!” (1993), The Kirby Puckett Game (1991), Buckner (1986), Don Denkinger (1985), Mr. October (1977)—you get the idea.

Kirby Puckett :: John Iacono/Sports Illustrated

Atlanta has played in four of the most memorable World Series Game 6s over the last 30 years. The “Team of the 90s” played in five World Series that decade, with four of them reaching Game 6. The franchise’s lone World Series title since moving to Atlanta came in 1995, in a 1–0 Game 6 decided on a David Justice sixth-inning home run. Tom Glavine pitched eight scoreless innings and was named World Series MVP.

One year later, the Braves were looking to repeat as champions, this time facing the Yankees. They outscored New York 16–1 over the first two games of the series, played in the Bronx, before the Yanks swept them at the final three games at the old Fulton County Stadium to set up Game 6 back at Yankee Stadium. This one came down to the wire, with New York ahead 3–1 entering the ninth. Atlanta’s Marquis Grissom singled with two on and two out to make it a one-run ballgame before Mark Lemke’s foul out stranded the tying and go-ahead runners and gave the Yankees their first championship since 1978.

The 1992 World Series between the Braves and Blue Jays also ended in a thrilling Game 6. Atlanta was facing elimination with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Otis Nixon’s RBI single tied it, 3–3. In the top of the 11th, Dave Winfield erased his Mr. May moniker when his two-out double put Toronto back on top. The first two Braves batters reached in the home half of the inning, and an RBI groundout made it a one-run game and put the tying run on third with two outs. It was Nixon again at the plate, with a chance to walk it off and give us yet another iconic entry in the Game 6 canon. The runner on third was John Smoltz, who pinch ran for Damon Berryhill. Nixon tried to catch the Blue Jays off guard and dropped down a bunt, but he was thrown out at first to end the series and any chance of our calling it “The Otis Nixon Game.”

The 1991 World Series was the franchise’s first appearance in the Fall Classic since 1958, when it still played in Milwaukee. This was the most exciting series Atlanta played in—and, for Braves fans, perhaps the most heartbreaking. Atlanta held all the momentum entering Game 6. The Twins took the first two games at home before the Braves swept the next three in Atlanta. Now, it was back to Minnesota, with the Braves’ having two chances to win it all.

Then, Kirby Puckett happened. His first-inning triple gave the Twins the early lead, and he scored their second run two batters later on Shane Mack’s RBI single. He made an incredible leaping grab at the wall to rob Ron Gant of an extra-base hit in the top of the third. After Terry Pendleton, that year’s NL MVP, hit a two-run blast in the fifth to tie the game, Puckett promptly helped Minnesota retake the lead with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the inning. Atlanta tied it up again in the seventh, and the game went to extras. Leading off the 11th, Puckett ripped a walk-off home run to set up an all-time classic Game 7. Jack Morris pitched a 10-inning shutout and the Twins walked it off on Gene Larkin’s single.

Last week, SI ranked the top 10 World Series moments. Coming in at No. 6, fittingly, was Puckett’s walk-off home run. Our list also featured more Game 6 moments (four) than Game 7s (three).

That brings us to tonight’s Game 6 in Houston. Atlanta has been on the wrong end of three of the best Game 6s of all time. Will Braves starter Max Fried channel the performance legendary lefty Glavine delivered 26 years ago, the last time they won a World Series Game 6 and hoisted the Commissioner’s Trophy? Or, will this year’s 30th anniversary of the Kirby Puckett Game bring yet another Barves World Series collapse on the road?

Whichever team wins, let’s hope we get another epic that lives on forever in the catalog of Game 6 classics.

Have any questions for our team? Send a note to mlb@si.com.

Dylan Lee and Travis d'Arnaud :: Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports

1. THE OPENER

“The Braves’ World Series run thus far has featured a roller coaster of pitching strategy—responding to the loss of ace Charlie Morton, brushing up against a no-hitter, navigating the treacherous waters of rookie-opened bullpen games on back-to-back days...”

So begins Emma Baccellieri’s story about catcher Travis d’Arnaud, the man whose task it is to prepare for this complicated pitching strategy, even when he has no idea who is going to pitch.

Read Emma’s entire piece here.

2. ICYMI

Want a Game 5 refresher before tonight’s Game 6? Here ya go!

Houston's Worst Hitter Haunts Atlanta in Fitting Farewell to Original Baseball by Tom Verducci
Astros catcher Martín Maldonado helped keep their season alive on Sunday with some unexpected prowess at the plate.

Wondering what’s going on with the slumping Alex Bregman? We’ve got the inside story on what broke his swing.

Alex Bregman Still Searching for His Swing Ahead of Game 6 by Stephanie Apstein
He responded to being dropped in the batting order with an RBI double last night, but he’s still off his game. A September wrist injury could be the reason why.

We went into more depth about the Astros in yesterday’s newsletter. Need to get caught up? You can find that here:

The Astros Aren't Done Yet. Here's Why. by Matt Martell
We dig into Houston's offensive awakening and explain what it means for the rest of the World Series.

3. WORTH NOTING from Stephanie Apstein

The Astros believe a closed roof at Minute Maid Park provides them an advantage. They feel comfortable with the conditions and enjoy the echo of crowd noise. MLB prefers an open roof when weather allows, and MLB is in charge, so tonight, that’s what we’ll get.

There are no publicly available stats on how an open roof affects play. It sounds like the Astros themselves don’t even have any: “I don't know how it's going to affect the ball, if it carries better or worse,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said before Game 2, when MLB required the team to open the roof. (It was closed for Game 1, which Atlanta won.) Baker added, “There's always going to be a predominant wind direction, which with the roof open will probably take away some of our home-field advantage, because we don't really probably know much more how the ball's going to carry in a predominant wind any more than they do.” The Astros won Game 2. In the end, it’s probably not a big deal—but at this time of year, everything matters.

4. WHAT TO WATCH FOR from Will Laws

Travis d’Arnaud has done a good job guiding Atlanta’s pitching staff through Houston’s dangerous lineup thus far despite having to take on the challenge of planning for two bullpen games. But one must wonder if his poor control of the run game will come back to bite the Braves in tonight’s Game 6 (8 p.m. ET, Fox).

Opposing baserunners are 18-for-18 on stolen base attempts against Atlanta this postseason, including a 5-for-5 showing by the Astros. Houston is a perfect 12-for-12 during the playoffs, the second-most attempts by any team with a perfect stolen base record in postseason history—behind only the 2021 Dodgers, who converted all 16 of their attempts, including 11 against Atlanta in the NLCS. It hasn’t all been d’Arnaud’s fault, as many of those runners have gotten excellent secondary leads against inattentive Braves pitchers. But he’s already made two throwing errors in the World Series that have bounced into center field and given the Astros an extra base. Max Fried’s elite pickoff move—his 20 career pickoffs are the most in baseball since his debut in 2017—should help matters in Game 6, but Houston won’t be afraid to push the envelope in the later innings once he’s been relieved.

Luis Garcia :: Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports

5. THE CLOSER from Emma Baccellieri

Tonight may or may not be the last game of the season. But it’s definitely the last game where you’ll be treated to the delightful wind-up of Luis Garcia—a rock-the-baby, one-two-step motion unlike anything else in the sport right now. Houston skipper Dusty Baker mentioned earlier in this series that he’d never run across a pitcher with this kind of delivery before. “I’ve never seen a wind-up like that,” he said. “That’s a basketball move wind-up. You know, when you rock the baby and then you go right or left?”

Garcia, for his part, says that there isn’t any particular reason for the motion. “It started to happen by itself,” he said before Game 3. “Nothing special.” But it’s clear that the delivery works for him. In his last start, with the bases loaded in the third inning, Astros pitching coach Brent Strom came out for a mound visit. Garcia had been pitching from the stretch with runners on—and he was all over the place. Strom encouraged him to go back to the wind-up, despite the baserunners, and Garcia proceeded to get two quick outs to get out of the jam. So expect to see plenty of that glorious delivery tonight—perhaps even in situations where it might not be the obvious choice.

That’s all from us today. We’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow. In the meantime, share this newsletter with your friends and family, and tell them to sign up at SI.com/newsletters. If you have any questions or comments, shoot us an email at mlb@si.com.