I had the opportunity today to speak with one of my favorite journalists of the game...Jamey Newberg of The Newberg Report. Jamey is well known for his fabulous coverage of the Texas Rangers, his daily newsletters, and his annual bound edition of the Rangers year in review. The Newberg Report has a tremendous following that even gathers together once a year at the Ballpark in Arlington to celebrate the team they love.

Today in this pre-recorded special edition of BDD Talk Radio, Jamey talks about the season that was, the job Jon Daniels is doing, and what we can expect to see in the near future deep in the heart of Texas. Click on the link below (starting at around 6:00 PM ET) to listen to the show.

Jhonny Peralta and Casey Blake each had 2 hits and hit home runs to lead a 7-run 5th inning and give the Indians all the runs they'd need to get by the Red Sox, 7-3. Paul Byrd allowed just 2 runs on 6 hits over 5 innings. Boston's Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, and Manny Ramirez hit solo back-to-back-to-back home runs to account for all of the Sox runs on the evening. Indians lead the series 3-1.

FINAL 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E  Red Sox  0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 3 8 1  Indians  0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 X 7 9 0
W: P. Byrd (W, 1-0); L: T. Wakefield (L, 0-1)
HR: BOS: D. Ortiz (1), K. Youkilis (1), M. Ramirez (2). CLE: J. Peralta (2), C. Blake (1).

Game Notes

- For the first time in LCS history, three players connected on back-to-back-toback home runs, as the Red Sox hit 3 straight home runs in the top of the 6th inning

- In each of the last 3 games of this series, Red Sox starting pitchers have lasted 4.2 innings each, the 2nd time in Boston postseason history that three consecutive starters failed to pitch 5.0 innings.

- The Indians have scored first in every game this series.

Recapping the Game in Quotes

Q. You neutralized one of the best teams in baseball over five innings. How?

PAUL BYRD: You know, I went out there, and my goal going in was to move the ball in and out, inside part of the plate, outside part of the plate. I think sometimes these guys can scare people and shy away from throwing the ball in, thinking they're going to hit another home run. So that was my goal going in, was to move the ball in and out. I didn't really expect to strike anybody out. I was hoping to jam some people. I had a good fastball. I hit 90 miles an hour, which happens a few times a year. I high-fived a couple of guys in the dugout and said, hey, pick me up here, I just hit 90. But Wakefield was really tough. He threw a great game, was phenomenal tonight, and I wasn't expecting very many runs, and next thing you know we have seven. So it was a great night for us.

Q. Last night Jake I think threw 21 out of 28 first-pitch strikes. You were at a high percentage tonight, too. Is that something you guys changed from Game 1, where you looked at Game 1 and saw the trouble that C.C. had getting behind and were more aggressive?

PAUL BYRD: Yeah, I think so, and this team right here is patient. They don't swing at bad pitches. If they fall behind, you have to come in the strike zone a little bit more. The strike zone shrinks in playoffs sometimes depending on which park you're at. I think our goal after the first game was to be more aggressive, try and get ahead in the count and make them hit our pitches.

Q. Your at-bat, the home run, Wakefield had been unhittable up to that point. Take us through that at-bat, and what changed in that inning with Tim where you guys were able to get to him and then get to the bullpen?

CASEY BLAKE: Man, I don't know. I wanted to be aggressive. I mean, the first pitch to me looked like it was going to be chest high, and that thing just dropped off the table for a strike, and I just said, gosh. With him it's just a matter of maybe just getting one that just doesn't move that much and just trying to square it up. Sometimes against him you're up there just scratching and battling, just trying to just make solid contact and not look like an idiot up there swinging at that pitch when it's coming in there like that. Like I said, I got lucky there, hit one on the barrel, and it seemed like that got us going a little bit. You've got to give credit to the guys coming up later, some of the two-strike base hits, Asdrubal and Vic. Those guys were battling.

Notes and quotes courtesy of MLB

Contributed by Bill Chuck

Each day leading up to the World Series we’ll find something to write about the National League Champs.

• The Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks last night, 6-4.
• The Rockies scored six runs in the fourth, when pinch hitter Seth Smith doubled home two runs and their MVP candidate Matt Holliday hit a three-run home run.
• Reliever Matt Herges pitched two hitless innings for the win.
• Manny Corpus picked up his second save of the series.
• Corpas leads all closers in the playoffs with five saves.
• In the 9th, Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew, representing the tying run, hit a short fly ball to second base on a 3-0 pitch. Not hitting in the clutch runs in the family.
• They swept the NLCS, 4-0.
• The only team to sweep a NLCS since it went to a best-of-seven format in 1985 was the Atlanta Braves, who blanked Cincinnati in 1995.
• The Rockies trailed in just two of the 38 innings in this series.
• Colorado's starters had a 1.66 ERA.
• The Rockies bullpen has a 1.61 ERA for 28 innings in the postseason.
• The D-backs led the NL with 90 victories.
• The game ended at 11:38 p.m. local time, 1:38 a.m. on the East Coast.
• The D-backs went 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position in the series and scored just eight times, the fewest in an NLCS of at least four games since Pittsburgh was held to 12 runs in seven games in 1991.
• The Rockies and Diamondbacks combined to score 26 runs in the series. The fewest combined runs scored in an NLCS of at least four games is 24. It was done twice: by Atlanta (19 runs) and Cincinnati (five) in 1995 and by Philadelphia (16) and Los Angeles (eight) in 1983.
• Before sweeping the Diamondbacks, the Rockies swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0, in the N.L. division series.
• Arizona hadn't lost four straight games since a five-game streak July 4-8.
• The Colorado Rockies began as an expansion team in 1993.
• This is their first World Series.
• The Rockies have made the playoffs once before, for one round in 1995, when they were nicknamed the Blake Street Bombers.
• In 1995, the Rockies had one post-season victory when they were eliminated by Atlanta in the first round.
• They currently have a 10-game winning streak.
• They have won 21 of their last 22.
• The Rockies are the first team since the 1935 Chicago Cubs to win at least 21 of 22 after Sept. 1, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
• The Rockies last lost a game on Sept. 28 in the regular season.
• Colorado has lost only once since Sept. 16.
• Colorado won the wild-card berth in the N.L. by beating San Diego, 9-8, in 13 innings in game 163.
• Colorado had never won more than 83 games before going 90-73 this season
• The Rockies are the second team to win each of its first seven games to open the postseason.
• The 1976 Cincinnati Reds, went 7-0 in sweeping to a World Series title when the maximum number of postseason victories was seven.
• Since the playoffs were expanded to three rounds in 1995, two teams have won eight in a row: The 2004 Red Sox and the 2005 White Sox.
• During the regular season, the Rockies ranked 19th among 30 teams in attendance with an average of 28,978 a game.
• The Rockies have a record eight days off before opening the World Series at either Cleveland or Boston on Oct. 24.
• Four franchises remain that have never reached the World Series: the Mariners, Devil Rays, Senators/Rangers and Expos/Nationals.
• The Rockies went 2-1 against Boston this season, outscoring the Red Sox 20-5 in a June series at Fenway Park.
• Colorado last played Cleveland in 2005, getting swept in a three at Jacobs Field.
• The Rockies have Dave Holliday, Jack Gillis, Mike Paul, Kasey McKeon and Mark Wiley scouting Boston and Cleveland in the American League Championship Series.