So much for that.
On paper, the Red Sox' crop, led by Jonathan Papelbon, looked to undoubtedly be the better of the two teams' pens, especially considering Brian Fuentes inspired more questions than he did confidence in anyone who's watched the Angels this season.
Yet in the end, it was the Angels' bullpen that had the last laugh.
As a team, the Red Sox' pen posted an 8.59 ERA in 7 1/3 innings pitched. The Angels, meanwhile, pitched 5 1/3 innings of relief, posting a 1.69 ERA. Boston's bullpen WHIP was 1.773. Los Angeles' was 1.124.
Papelbon, who owned a career postseason ERA of 0.00, gave up three runs in his two innings of work, striking out just one batter while giving up four hits and two walks (one intentional). Fuentes was nearly perfect for the Angels, surrendering but one walk in his 1 2/3 innings.
The other story heading into the series was that no team in baseball could match up with Jon Lester and Josh Beckett. Once again, everyone was wrong.
Beckett and Lester combined for a 4.97 ERA over 12 2/3 innings, while the combination of John Lackey and Jered Weaver gave up just one run in 14 2/3 innings for a 0.61 ERA and 0.614 WHIP.
The results of the series don't necessarily mean that the predictions were horrible. After all, the Boston bullpen was better this season, and so too were Beckett and Lester. It did, however, serve as just the latest reminder that you can throw all the regular-season numbers out when it gets to October, as the hungriest team will nearly always win.
