In 1992, Avery lowered his ERA to 3.20, but his record fell off to 11–11, mostly due to the Braves inability to score runs when he pitched. However, his playoff success continued when he took the mound against the Pirates in the 1992 NLCS. He extended his mastery over the Pittsburgh offense to 22 shutout innings before giving up five runs in the seventh inning of a Braves rout in Game Two. After lasting only of an inning and giving up four runs in his second start in Game Five, Avery kept the Pirates at bay in the crucial middle innings of Game Seven in relief of John Smoltz. Avery's clutch performance kept the game close enough for Francisco Cabrera to perform his game-winning heroics in the ninth inning, when he cracked a two-run single that scored David Justice and Sid Bream.