HOUSTON—With their fading World Series series hopes hinging on a strong pitching performance against the Atlanta Braves, the Houston Astros announced Tuesday that they would be starting Nolan Ryan in Game 6 on 10,268 days’ rest. “We’re trying to be really careful not to overwork our pitchers to keep them fresh with the series on the line, and Nolan hasn’t appeared in a game since Sept. 22, 1993, so he should be good to go,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker, adding that the longtime Astros pitcher looked sharp in a light pitching session with his grandson 15 years ago. “You can win a World Series with a fresh arm like Nolan on the mound, since he’s had over 4,000 games off plus the strike-shortened 1994 season and the Covid-shortened 2020 season. His stuff should really benefit. Especially since we’re down a few guys, with Framber [Valdez] unavailable after struggling in Game 5 and Phil [Maton] giving us relief innings two games in a row, we’re really counting on Nolan to go out there and get us through the Braves lineup at least twice. If we have to pull him early, though, we’re hoping Bob Knepper will be able to help us on 11,454 days’ rest.” At press time, Fox commentators Joe Buck and John Smoltz had spent two straight hours debating whether 10,268 days’ rest for a pitcher was too much rest or not enough rest.