Eh, the bullpen has been the team's strength all year and they would not have been in a position to challenge without it. I think Francona did a pretty damn good job managing a pen that had to make up for an abhorrent starting rotation for much of the year. If they blew it, well, that happens unfortunately. The starting pitching the last two days didn't exactly prop the bullpen up either by going deep into the game.
It was a good run at the end for the team and good for their development considering how young the rotation is. Sucks to be out of it but they were out of it much earlier than folks wanted to admit when the veteran anchors of the team were so subpar. You can only overcome so much with the young guys- especially when dealing with solid but certainly not star prospects. Just sayin'. Hopefully we see more run now down the stretch for guys like Aguilar and what they can do. Both contending and being out of it where helping development but I also think that having more opps for guys like Adams, Lee, Aguilar, and to sort out who can be useful and who can't be benefit the team just as much as getting stretch run atmosphere games for the starters. Of course, I also will take what I can get so....