Dan Wheeler isn't the Rays' relief ace. He's a good relief pitcher who was a former starter earlier in his career and hadn't been used since Game 1 of the ALDS. I am sure his arm is quite sore today.

Last I checked, Andy, Wheeler should feel free to have a sore arm today; there is no game tonight.

Had Francona used Papelbon for the entire ninth and tenth innings, then Masterson could have pitched the eleventh, in lieu of Timlin.

This all assumes Pap had enough in the tank, or wasn't bothered by the being nailed by a batted ball.

Balfour is probably the "relief ace" for Tampa, and, amazingly, they went to him in the 5th (or 6th?), and he didn't get any outs. And they still hung on. Wheeler gets the gold star on his locker for this one.

Timlin had no business shaking off the rust with the game on the line, that's for sure.

Wow, this is fairly blatant Monday morning quarterbacking. Had TB lost, you would have killed Maddon for leaving Wheeler in for 3+ innings, I'd imagine.

I don't get your fifth inning complaint. Lopez is a LOOGY and righties hit .311 off of him.

Delcarmen and Okajima both pitched about as long as they have all season.

Masterson probably could have pitched more, but Tito wanted to bring in Pap to eliminate the threat immediately and rely on an offense that was doing a pretty good job of scoring til then.

Timlin was called on to face 7-8-9, hardly murderer's row, probably the spot you want him in, and there was some questionable umpiring.

Byrd hasn't pitched since Sept. 24 and isn't a reliever by trade.

They lost, but it's hardly because of Francona's bullpen management.

"Wow, this is fairly blatant Monday morning quarterbacking. Had TB lost, you would have killed Maddon for leaving Wheeler in for 3+ innings, I'd imagine."

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Nah, I applauded it real-time. What is the sense in "saving" any one reliever when wins are so precious?

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I don't get your fifth inning complaint. Lopez is a LOOGY and righties hit .311 off of him.

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The "fifth inning complaint" is twofold. Tito stuck with Beckett too long and then managed as though it were the eighth. The game was barely half over and he is playing matchups.

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Delcarmen and Okajima both pitched about as long as they have all season.

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Delcarmen threw 20 pitches. He exceeded that total 25 times this season. I don't have a great beef with Okajima, but one more inning in such a critical game with an off day and Lester going tomorrow would not have been crazy. Basically I think Tito needed to be prepared not to have one of those two available for a game, if not two.

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Masterson probably could have pitched more, but Tito wanted to bring in Pap to eliminate the threat immediately and rely on an offense that was doing a pretty good job of scoring til then.

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Tito has to do a better job of anticipating the situation then. Using Masterson for just two outs in a game like that is horrendous.

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Timlin was called on to face 7-8-9, hardly murderer's row, probably the spot you want him in, and there was some questionable umpiring.

Byrd hasn't pitched since Sept. 24 and isn't a reliever by trade.

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Timlin is awful, and Byrd is not on the roster as a starter any longer. Why bother carrying him?

The telltale sign that Tito blew was when he remarked after the game that (I'm paraphrasing) he "left Beckett out there to complete the fifth so that the bullpen would be set up."

Having the bullpen "set up" means just plugging guys into pre-ordained roles. It requires no "management" at all, just the authority to run guys out for roles to which they are accustomed. Last night's game posed managerial challenges and Tito admitted after the game that he chose to skirt them and hope for the best.