| MLB | ||||
| Year | Round | Atlanta | Los Angeles | Result |
| 1996 | NLDS | Braves | Dodgers | Braves 3-0 |
| NBA | ||||
| Year | Round | Atlanta | Los Angeles | Result |
| 1969 | West Finals | Hawks | Lakers | Lakers 4-1 |
| 1970 | West Finals | Hawks | Lakers | Lakers 4-0 |
| NHL | ||||
| Year | Round | Atlanta | Los Angeles | Result |
| 1976 | Preliminary Round | Flames | Kings | Kings 2-0 |
| 1977 | Preliminary Round | Flames | Kings | Kings 2-1 |
In 1996, the reigning champion Braves began their postseason defense at Chavez Ravine against the wild-card Dodgers. The series pitted Atlanta's famed rotation of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz against L.A. bats like Mike Piazza, Raul Mondesi, Eric Karros and the '96 N.L. Rookie of the Year Todd Hollandsworth.
Game One was a terrific duel between Smoltz and Ramon Martinez. Martinez allowed only one run on three hits in eight innings, but Smoltz worked nine innings of four-hit ball and kept the game tied at 1-1 by setting down the last 13 men he faced. The game went into extras and Javy Lopez led off the top of the tenth against Antonio Osuna with a nine-pitch at bat that culminated with a go-ahead home run. Mark Wohlers worked a scoreless bottom half to save the victory.
Martinez and Smoltz made this game the 13th of 15 postseason games in which both starting pitchers posted Game Scores of 75 or higher:
| Rk | Player | Date | Series | Gm# | Tm | Opp | Rslt | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | GSc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon Backe | 2004-10-18 | NLCS | 5 | HOU | STL | W 3-0 | GS-8 | 8.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 82 |
| Woody Williams | 2004-10-18 | NLCS | 5 | STL | HOU | L 0-3 | GS-7 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 77 | |
| 2 | Mike Mussina | 1997-10-11 | ALCS | 3 | BAL | CLE | L 1-2 | GS-7 | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 15 | 80 |
| Orel Hershiser | 1997-10-11 | ALCS | 3 | CLE | BAL | W 2-1 | GS-7 | 7.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 75 | |
| 3 | John Smoltz | 1996-10-02 | NLDS | 1 | ATL | LAD | W 2-1 | GS-9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 80 |
| Ramon Martinez | 1996-10-02 | NLDS | 1 | LAD | ATL | L 1-2 | GS-8 | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 75 | |
| 4 | Vida Blue | 1974-10-08 | ALCS | 3 | OAK | BAL | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 90 |
| Jim Palmer | 1974-10-08 | ALCS | 3 | BAL | OAK | L 0-1 | CG 9 ,L | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 78 | |
| 5 | Ken Holtzman | 1973-10-09 | ALCS | 3 | OAK | BAL | W 2-1 | CG 11 ,W | 11.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 93 |
| Mike Cuellar | 1973-10-09 | ALCS | 3 | BAL | OAK | L 1-2 | CG 11 ,L | 10.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 84 | |
| 6 | Tom Seaver | 1973-10-06 | NLCS | 1 | NYM | CIN | L 1-2 | CG 9 ,L | 8.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 76 |
| Jack Billingham | 1973-10-06 | NLCS | 1 | CIN | NYM | W 2-1 | GS-8 | 8.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 75 | |
| 7 | Blue Moon Odom | 1972-10-18 | WS | 3 | OAK | CIN | L 0-1 | GS-7 ,L | 7.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 76 |
| Jack Billingham | 1972-10-18 | WS | 3 | CIN | OAK | W 1-0 | GS-8 ,W | 8.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 80 | |
| 8 | Bob Turley | 1956-10-09 | WS | 6 | NYY | BRO | L 0-1 | CG 10 ,L | 9.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 11 | 80 |
| Clem Labine | 1956-10-09 | WS | 6 | BRO | NYY | W 1-0 | SHO10 ,W | 10.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 81 | |
| 9 | Don Newcombe | 1949-10-05 | WS | 1 | BRO | NYY | L 0-1 | CG 9 ,L | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 79 |
| Allie Reynolds | 1949-10-05 | WS | 1 | NYY | BRO | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 88 | |
| 10 | Denny Galehouse | 1944-10-08 | WS | 5 | SLB | STL | L 0-2 | CG 9 ,L | 9.0 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 76 |
| Mort Cooper | 1944-10-08 | WS | 5 | STL | SLB | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 83 | |
| 11 | Waite Hoyt | 1921-10-13 | WS | 8 | NYY | NYG | L 0-1 | CG 9 ,L | 9.0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 76 |
| Art Nehf | 1921-10-13 | WS | 8 | NYG | NYY | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 77 | |
| 12 | Jimmy Ring | 1919-10-04 | WS | 4 | CIN | CHW | W 2-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 80 |
| Eddie Cicotte | 1919-10-04 | WS | 4 | CHW | CIN | L 0-2 | CG 9 ,L | 9.0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 75 | |
| 13 | Hippo Vaughn | 1918-09-05 | WS | 1 | CHC | BOS | L 0-1 | CG 9 ,L | 9.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 76 |
| Babe Ruth | 1918-09-05 | WS | 1 | BOS | CHC | W 1-0 | SHO9 ,W | 9.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 78 | |
| 14 | Sherry Smith | 1916-10-09 | WS | 2 | BRO | BOS | L 1-2 | CG 14 ,L | 13.1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 82 |
| Babe Ruth | 1916-10-09 | WS | 2 | BOS | BRO | W 2-1 | CG 14 ,W | 14.0 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 97 | |
| 15 | Mordecai Brown | 1906-10-09 | WS | 1 | CHC | CHW | L 1-2 | CG 9 ,L | 9.0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 79 |
| Nick Altrock | 1906-10-09 | WS | 1 | CHW | CHC | W 2-1 | CG 9 ,W | 9.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 77 |
Game Two saw Ismael Valdes outpitch Maddux for most of the day. Maddux gave up a pair of unearned runs on three hits in seven innings while Valdes held the Braves to one run in the first six frames. But that changed in the seventh when Fred McGriff led off with a game-tying homer and Jermaine Dye hit the go-ahead solo shot two batters later. Maddux, Greg McMichael and Wohlers closed out the 3-2 win to take a 2-0 lead back home.
Glavine pitched the third game and his offense finally broke out in the fourth inning against Hideo Nomo. Mark Lemke hit a two-run double and Chipper Jones cracked a two-run homer on the next pitch to open their lead to 5-0. Glavine allowed one run in six and two-thirds innings to wrap up the sweep with a 5-2 win. Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine combined for a 0.79 ERA in the series. In the next round they came back from 3-1 down to beat the Cardinals for the pennant before dropping the World Series to the Yankees in six games.
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The Hawks moved from St. Louis to Atlanta after the 1967-68 season and won 48 games in their first year down south. They finished second in the West behind the Lakers and after beating the San Diego Rockets in the playoffs, they took on L.A. in the Western Finals. The Hawks kept things close early, with a pair of two-point losses on the road before coming home and winning Game Three. But the Lakers took charge with a 15-point romp in the fourth game before going back home to clinch the series in five. Los Angeles moved on and lost yet another Finals to the Celtics.
The Hawks and Lakers finished 1-2 in the West in 1970 as well, but this time it was Atlanta that took the division crown and top seed. They met again in the West Finals and the Lakers rolled to a sweep behind Jerry West, who scored 35 or more points in three of the four games. They lost the seventh game of the NBA Finals again, this time to a gimpy Willis Reed and the Knicks.
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The NHL's quickie best-of-three preliminary round of the 1970s provided Kings/Flames playoff meetings in back-to-back seasons. L.A. swept Atlanta with a pair of one-goal victories in 1976 and although the Flames won a game in 1977, the Kings took the set 2-1.
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