1992 National League Championship Series


The 1992 'National League Championship Series' was a semifinal series in Major League Baseball’s 1992 postseason played between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates from October 6 to 14. A rematch of the 1991 NLCS, Atlanta won the 1992 NLCS in seven games to advance to their second straight World Series. The series ended in dramatic fashion; in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with Atlanta down 2–1 and the bases loaded, the Braves' Francisco Cabrera cracked a two-run single that scored David Justice and Sid Bream. Bream famously slid to score the Series-winning run, beating the throw by Pirates left fielder Barry Bonds.
The Braves would go on to lose to the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series in six games, while the Pirates did not return to the playoffs until 2013, suffering a sports-record 20 consecutive losing season drought.
As of, this is Pittsburgh’s last postseason appearance outside of the divisional round.

The teams

The Braves were attempting to return to the World Series one year after their dramatic seven-game loss to the Minnesota Twins. Atlanta featured largely the same lineup that had won the 1991 pennant, but they still fell into a tie for last place, seven games behind the Giants, by the end of May. However, Atlanta went 19–6 in June and 16–9 in July and pulled away from the rest of the NL West by winning 15 of their first 18 games in August.
The Pirates were in the NLCS for the third year in a row after losing to the eventual World Series champion Cincinnati Reds in 1990 and the Braves in 1991. It was also the third of four straight NLCS appearances by either the Pirates or their in-state rivals, the Philadelphia Phillies. The 1992 NLCS would also be the first time two teams faced each other in back-to-back postseasons since 1978, when all three postseason series were rematches of 1977.
The Pirates lost slugging right fielder Bobby Bonilla to free agency after the 1991 season, replacing him with speedster Alex Cole. Ace pitcher John Smiley was traded to the Minnesota Twins. Despite the departure of Smiley and Bonilla, Pittsburgh charged out to a seven-game lead by late June, suffered through an 11–15 July that allowed the Montreal Expos to tie them for the lead by the end of the month, then won 11 straight in early August before pulling away from the Expos in September to earn its third straight NL East title, becoming the first team to win three straight NL East titles since the Phillies from 1976 to 1978. Future home run champion Barry Bonds won his second MVP Award and led the Pirates with 34 home runs and 103 RBI.
Pressure beyond the moment made it imperative for the Pirates to break through and win the pennant in 1992. Financial demands had already resulted in losing Smiley and Bonilla, and the departure of pending free agents Bonds and Doug Drabek loomed. 1992 appeared to be the last chance for Pittsburgh to win with its current core of players.

Atlanta Braves vs. Pittsburgh Pirates

Game summaries

Game 1

Tuesday, October 6, 1992 at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
The first game of the NLCS pitted Atlanta's John Smoltz against Pittsburgh ace Doug Drabek. Smoltz was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the previous NLCS, where the Braves shut out the Pirates, 4–0. Drabek had won once and lost once in the 1991 NLCS.
The Braves scored all five of their runs in the first seven innings. In the second, Mark Lemke's single scored Sid Bream to put Atlanta on the board. They added two more in the fourth inning as Bream doubled to score David Justice and then scored on an error when Orlando Merced threw the ball away while attempting to field a bunt. Jeff Blauser's home run in the fifth made it 4–0, and Terry Pendleton drove in Otis Nixon in the seventh to complete the Braves' scoring.
The Pirates' José Lind was responsible for his team's only run as he homered in the eighth inning off of Smoltz. Lind's run, however, was the first the Pirates had scored against the Braves in 30 innings, going back to Lind's RBI single in Game 5 of the 1991 NLCS.
Smoltz went eight innings for the win, while Drabek suffered the loss and was pulled in the fifth inning.

Game 2

Wednesday, October 7, 1992 at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta's Steve Avery, who defeated Pittsburgh twice in the 1991 NLCS without surrendering a run, started Game 2 in Atlanta while Danny Jackson, who was a late season acquisition from the Chicago Cubs, started for Pittsburgh.
The Braves scored early and often in Game 2. Jackson gave up a single to Brian Hunter, then walked Ron Gant. Damon Berryhill followed with a single to drive in Hunter, and Mark Lemke added one of his own to score Gant. Avery then flied out to center field to score Berryhill from third, and after Otis Nixon popped out Jeff Blauser followed with a triple, scoring Berryhill and chasing Jackson from the game. In the fifth, Gant faced Bob Walk with the bases loaded and two out. On the third pitch of the at-bat Gant hit a deep fly ball to left field that cleared the fence for a grand slam home run, his first career grand slam.
With Avery still pitching a shutout into the seventh, the Pirates struck. With Barry Bonds on base and one out, Lloyd McClendon doubled to score him. Don Slaught followed with a walk and Jose Lind hit a triple after that, scoring both runners ahead of him and making it an 8–3 game. With Cecil Espy batting, Avery then threw a wild pitch enabling Lind to score and cut the lead in half. After Espy singled, Marvin Freeman came in to relieve the tiring Avery and retired Orlando Merced to get the second out. Jay Bell followed with a single, but Mike Stanton forced Andy Van Slyke to ground out to end the inning.
The Braves put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh. With Gant on base and two outs, Stanton doubled him home. Denny Neagle then intentionally walked Nixon and unintentionally walked Blauser, then gave up a double to Terry Pendleton to score Stanton and Nixon. David Justice then singled, scoring Blauser and Pendleton and ending Neagle's afternoon. The Braves did not score again, and after Slaught scored on a passed ball in the eighth nothing further was done and the Braves took a 2–0 lead in the series with a 13–5 victory.
Avery kept his winning streak in postseason play intact, having yet to lose in five postseason starts. Jackson took the loss after giving up the first four Atlanta runs.

Game 3

Friday, October 9, 1992 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
As play moved to Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Atlanta turned to 20-game winner Tom Glavine to try to give them a 3–0 series lead. Pittsburgh countered with rookie Tim Wakefield, a knuckleballer who had made 13 starts during the season.
The first run of the game came in the top of the fourth as Sid Bream homered to give the Braves an early 1–0 lead. In the bottom of the next inning, Don Slaught hit a home run of his own to tie the score. The Pirates added a run in the sixth to take the lead as Andy Van Slyke scored on a Jeff King double. Ron Gant hit a home run in the top of the seventh to tie the game, but the Pirates scored what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as Van Slyke doubled to score Gary Redus.
Wakefield pitched a complete game and earned a victory. Glavine took the loss after pitching seven innings.

Game 4

Saturday, October 10, 1992 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Game 4 saw a rematch of the Game 1 starters, as Doug Drabek faced John Smoltz for the second time.
As they had in Game 1, Atlanta scored early against Drabek. With two runners on and two out in the second, Smoltz drove in the first run by singling to center and scoring Ron Gant. Otis Nixon followed by singling himself, scoring Mark Lemke. Pittsburgh responded in their half by scoring twice, as a single by Alex Cole with one out scored Mike LaValliere. On the same play, Jose Lind scored as Jeff Blauser made a throwing error at shortstop. Orlando Merced drove in a run in the third by doubling home Jeff King.
In the top of the fifth, the Braves scored again as David Justice singled with two runners on, scoring Nixon. Randy Tomlin came in to face pinch-hitter Brian Hunter, and he promptly grounded to third. King, however, decided to throw home to try to get Blauser at the plate and made an error allowing a second run to score. Atlanta scored twice more the next inning as Nixon drove in Smoltz with a two out double and scored himself when Blauser singled off of Danny Cox. Andy Van Slyke drove in Cole with a double in the seventh but the Pirates got no closer and Jeff Reardon shut them down in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the postseason.
Smoltz, in addition to scoring a run and driving in a run, stole a base and got his second win of the series. Drabek took his second loss, having failed to get out of the fifth inning for a second time in as many starts. The Braves now had a 3–1 series lead and needed only one more win to advance to their second consecutive World Series.

Game 5

Sunday, October 11, 1992 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Looking to clinch the series, the Braves trotted out Steve Avery for the second time in the series. The Pirates decided not to go back to Danny Jackson after his performance in Game 2 and instead called on Bob Walk, who also saw action in Game 2 and gave up the grand slam to Ron Gant that broke the game open, to make his first start of the series
This time, the Pirates solved Avery after failing to do so in any of his three previous starts against them in the LCS. Gary Redus led off the home first with a double, scoring on a single by Jay Bell. Avery then induced a groundout off the bat of Andy Van Slyke, which turned out to be the only out he recorded. Barry Bonds, Jeff King, and Lloyd McClendon all doubled following the first out, and three more runs scored before Avery was pulled. McClendon scored Bonds on a sacrifice fly in the third, Redus doubled in Don Slaught in the sixth, and Slaught drove in King in the seventh with a single to make it 7–0. The Braves' only run came in the eighth, as Lonnie Smith led off the inning with a triple and scored on a groundout. Smith's triple was one of only three hits Walk allowed in a complete game, the second for the Pirates in the series.
As it took the Pirates until 2013 to reach the playoffs again, Game 5 of the NLCS was the last postseason game ever played in Three Rivers Stadium.