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Game 6:
Saturday, October 26, 1991 at Hubert H. Humphrey
Metrodome, in Minneapolis, Minnesota
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| Box Score Info. - (read me) | |
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Both teams had each other in their palms. The Braves were one win away from their first world championship since 1957 while the Twins were returning to the Metrodome where they had a 9–1 postseason record (including 6–0 in the World Series) entering the do-or-die Game 6. After the reshuffling of the Braves' rotation following Game 1, Steve Avery would start for Atlanta on three days' rest. The Twins kept their three-man rotation with Scott Erickson, who had been batted around in Game 3, getting the start for Minnesota. In the top of the first, the Braves got two baserunners on, but they would eventually be stranded. In the bottom of the first, Knoblauch singled and Puckett tripled, scoring Knoblauch and setting the tone for the rest of the evening. After retiring Davis for the second out of the inning, Avery faced Shane Mack. Mack was 0-for-15 in the series and had sat Game 5 in favor of the bat of Chili Davis, the Twins normal DH. Mack finally broke the hitless streak with a broken-bat single to score Puckett. Leius then singled, advancing Mack to third base, but Avery got Hrbek out to keep the score 2–0. The Braves hit Erickson hard, but failed to score against him. No better example can be cited than Gant's deep fly to the fence in the top of the third with Pendleton on first. Kirby Puckett leaped and made a sensational catch against the thirteen-foot Plexiglas upper part of the fence, sending Pendleton back to first (where Puckett nearly doubled him off) instead of around the bases for Atlanta's first run. Erickson got out of the inning by getting a ground out from Justice. In the fourth, the Twins appeared ready to increase their lead, putting runners at second and third with one out. But Avery buckled down and retired the side to keep the game close. Another critical play occurred in the fifth when Belliard kept the Twins from completing a double play with a fierce slide. His hustle enabled Lonnie Smith to reach first. This became important when Pendleton golfed Erickson's next pitch into the seats to tie the game at 2. With two outs, Justice lifted what appeared to be a go-ahead home run for the Braves to right, but at the last instant, the ball hooked foul by about two feet. Erickson retired Justice and the Twins came to bat with the score tied. Gladden responded with a walk and a steal of second. He moved to third on Knoblauch's liner to right and scored on Puckett's center field sacrifice fly and the Twins led 3–2. The Twins kept their one-run lead into the seventh. Lemke singled to center and went to second on a wild pitch by reliever Guthrie. After a strikeout, Smith walked and Pendleton then reached on an infield single. The Braves now had the bases loaded and one out as CBS commentator Jack Buck said the World Series was on the line right there. Gant hit what seemed to be a sure double play ground ball off the Twins' Carl Willis. The ground ball retired Pendleton, but Gant beat the relay to first and Lemke scored with the tying run. Willis, however, got out of the jam by striking out Justice to end the inning with the score tied at three. The game remained tied at three until the eleventh. Bobby Cox sent Game 1 starter Charlie Leibrandt to the mound to face Kirby Puckett. Puckett recalled telling Chili Davis that he planned to attempt to bunt for a base hit, to which Davis responded "Bunt my ass. Hit it out and let's go home!" Puckett replied that he would take a few pitches first. After taking three pitches from Leibrandt and with a two-ball, one-strike count on him, Puckett launched the next pitch into the left-center-field seats for a dramatic game-winning home run that tied the Series at three games apiece. Jack Buck famously called the home run with the line "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" This moment is captured in statue of Puckett just outside of Gate 34 at the Twins' new home, Target Field. The statue is of Puckett rounding second base, pumping his fists after hitting the dramatic walk-off home run. Puckett's home run forced the first Game 7 since the 1987 World Series, which was also played at the Metrodome. With his walk-off home run, Puckett completed the game a double shy of hitting for the cycle. Rick Aguilera took the decision for the Twins after pitching the 10th and 11th innings, while Leibrandt earned his second loss of the series. |