There was something in the air Saturday night at Fenway. The Red Sox were facing one of baseball's best offenses, and mowing down the fifth-best hitting team in the majors was John Lackey. The righty hurled seven innings, the first six of which were as impressive as any he'd thrown all year, and Fenway was a jungle as he took the hill on the beautiful September night. 

That's looking at it as positively as one could.

Lackey was very sharp, yes, but any peep the crowd made Saturday was either a reaction to Manny Ramirez or amazement at a reverse wave. Lackey, who did allow just one earned run (two unearned), took the loss in the game, the team's second 3-1 defeat of the day. The defense was the difference on the scoreboard on a night in which the offense provided the horror statistically. Perhaps worst of all was the fact that it was a beautiful September night, and outside of the team's last three games with the Yankees this season, September will almost definitely be all Lackey and these Red Sox get to see before next season.  

Losing isn't something that's widely accepted around these parts, and that goes for Lackey, too. He's as competitive as any professional athlete, but the fact of the matter is that Lackey, unlike some of the team's big-name acquisitions over the years, doesn't miss out on the playoffs.

Prior to his arrival, he had played for just two Angels teams that didn't make the postseason in his eight-year career. To his credit, Lackey will keep his head down and, like his teammates, try to keep moving toward a playoff berth.

"We're in a tough spot, for sure," Lackey said. "It's a tough division with two really quality teams in front of us, but we've got a lot of pros in that room that are going to keep battling and keep doing it the rest of the way."

To give the Yankees and Rays their due respect is not only fair, but an obvious action in the AL East. That being said, it would be hard to imagine a pitcher of Lackey's status signing to play in such a tough division so he could give other squads props while sitting in third place. And it's too bad, because for how infuriating he has been for some fans this season based fairly or unfairly on his contract, a night like Saturday provided proof of what the Red Sox had in mind when they brought him in on a five-year deal: dominance of a great lineup. 

In other seasons, Terry Francona could have spent the minutes following the game deflecting questions about the postseason rotation setup and other premature playoff banter. Instead he had the following to say: 

"We're not in the best situation so the best way I know to remedy that is to win. We'll try to do a better job of that than we did today."

Lackey has received much of the criticism for the way things have gone this season, but the sheer number of variables that have come into play for this team has been astonishing. From injuries to inconsistencies -- some of which have come from Lackey -- this is not what the Red Sox were counting on. And had things played out just right, this space could very well occupy some one-thousand-word ode to Lackey's 3.12 career playoff earned run average, and who would be testing it a month from now. Saturday night could have been used as proof of why the Sox would be carried by pitching through the postseason.  

"They did great today," shortstop Marco Scutaro, who had the team's only RBI, said of Lackey and the bullpen. "Unfortunately we didn't score runs for them. Like I say, that's the way it is. That's when you play as a team, and put offense and defense together, that's when you get good results. Sometimes you just pitch and don't hit and stuff like that. It's tough to win games like that."

Want to know how tough? Saturday night was the seventh game this season in which Lackey hurled at least seven innings, gave up three earned runs or less, and did not receive a win. He's come away with no-decisions in five of those starts, with the team going 2-5 on such nights. 

"You never, ever want to make excuses," Francona said of his pitcher after the game. "That's not a good idea. He just seems like he's kind of been the hard-luck guy. I don't think he'd ever say that. I don't want him to."

Indeed, Lackey would not agree with the assessment when asked. Though his record, currently 12-9, could certainly look better, the veteran righty looked to his increased repertoire (he's more comfortable using his changeup against right-handed hitters) as an indication that he's "moving forward."

The stuff was there for Lackey on Saturday, to be sure, but if reapplied to the team, "moving forward" can't be taken too literally. If Lackey executes like he did Saturday and the defense provides a sturdy backdrop to balls put in play, there's no reason to believe he can't string together a season that one year helps the Sox to the AL East title. For now, though, moving forward is something the 2010 Red Sox can only do in very limited fashion. 

October baseball is a different animal, and one that Lackey and the Red Sox are used to playing, though often against one another. For now, and until the next race, September may be the closest they get.