But that's the thing about baseball sometimes. You can basically do everything right and still feel like it all went wrong.

Despite allowing only three hits in seven innings, Wakefield took the loss as the Red Sox fell, 3-1, to Esteban Loaiza and the White Sox. Wakefield struck out eight to match a season high and did not allow a hit until the fifth, but he also received just one run of support from a Red Sox offense that has averaged better than six runs a game this season.

Does that mean Wakefield had a bad outing? Heck no.

``That was as good as he's thrown all year,'' said catcher Doug Mirabelli, who has been paired with Wakefield exclusively this season. ``His ball always moves, but it doesn't always move like it did (last night).

``The first five innings, it was incredible. It was dancing all over the place and he was throwing it for strikes. That's the knuckleball I'm used to and I hope it's here to stay.''

While Wakefield also walked five batters, the outing was his longest since a seven-inning stint against Roger Clemens and the Yankees on May 21. Wakefield said he felt strong enough to return to the mound for the eighth inning, but manager Grady Little lifted the right-hander because Wakefield had thrown 106 pitches.

Though the score was only 2-1 at the time, Little curiously chose right-hander Rudy Seanez to start the eighth. The manager said he wanted additional rest for left-hander Alan Embree, who pitched three innings against the Houston Astros on Sunday, but he needed Embree nonetheless when Seanez immediately got into trouble.

As a result, a 2-1 game became a 3-1 affair entering the ninth, when the Sox ended the contest by stranding runners at second and third.

``I felt like I could pitch another inning, but I don't make those decisions,'' Wakefield said. ``Grady made the decision for me. I felt fine but he made that decision.''

Sox starters had been 6-0 with a 3.05 ERA in June. Wakefield gave a performance consistent with the others during that 14-game streak; Sox starters now have an ERA of 3.12 for the month.

Though the Sox scored seven runs in a victory over the White Sox on Tuesday, they have been held to three runs or fewer in three of their last four contests. Little attributed that fact to opposing pitchers, including Loaiza, who improved his record to 10-2.

``I think everybody knows the kind of pitching we've been running into,'' said Little. ``Some pitchers have had some awfully good games against us.''

In turn, Red Sox pitchers have had some good ones, too. Even in defeat.