Slightly more than a week ago, lest anyone forget, people were mentioning them in the same breath as the New York Mets. Now the Boston Red Sox are about to make their fourth postseason appearance in the last five years and certain truths are self-evident.

They have just as good a chance as anyone else.

"I think we all expected to do this,’’ Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell said on Sunday at Fenway Park, where Boston on Friday clinched its first American League East Division title since 1995. "It would have felt like we underachieved, and I think we would have been disappointed, if this was the last day of the season.’’

It wasn’t.

They weren’t.

So now it’s onto the playoffs for the Red Sox, who finished the regular season tied with the Cleveland Indians for the best record in baseball. Boston will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs — for whatever it is worth — and the Red Sox also have the AL’s only 20-game winner (Josh Beckett), an indomitable closer (Jonathan Papelbon) and an offense that finished third in the AL in runs scored, behind only the mighty New York Yankees and the Detroit Tigers.

Oh, and the Red Sox had the second-best fielding percentage in the AL while allowing the fewest unearned runs in the league.

So why all the skepticism about the Red Sox?

Admittedly, the Red Sox this season have had their issues. Game 2 starter Daisuke Matsuzaka struggled at the end of the season and the bullpen, which has been the biggest factor in the team’s success, has deteriorated some in the final two months. The offense can be erratic. Yet the Red Sox certainly seem no more or less flawed than any of the four playoff clubs in the AL, all of whom won between 94-96 games and had the necessary time to rest their regulars while setting up their pitching.

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In the AL this season, the four playoff clubs simply have no excuses.

In Boston’s case, the Red Sox had a miserable week in the next-to-last week of the season, though some of it was by design. With the Mets in the midst of their historic collapse, Boston was swept in a three-game series at Toronto that saw the Red Sox’ lead in the AL East dwindle to a twiggy 1-1/2 games. (The Yankees ultimately got no closer.) Still, overlooked was the fact that Boston had shuffled its pitching rotation to give extra rest to playoff starters Beckett, Matsuzaka and Curt Schilling, none of whom pitched in the Toronto series. Manny Ramirez was out with an injury. So was Kevin Youkilis. Set-up man Hideki Okajima had been "shut down’’ for the purposes of giving him rest and designated hitter David Ortiz (who needs knee surgery after the season) effectively was playing on one leg.

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Naturally, no one bothered to notice such details and the Red Sox were simply putting their house in order for the stretch run.

"I think we are definitely going in the right direction,’’ said manager Terry Francona. "That doesn’t ensure you’re going to win (in the playoffs), but I think we have made a huge effort during some trying times to not panic and not do something that would put us in a bad position down the road, and (Boston) isn’t the easiest place to do that. We tried to keep our thoughts in order and goals in mind, and it ended up really working out well.’’

As for the series with the Angels, it will offer an interesting contrast in offensive styles. The Red Sox are built in the new-age "Moneyball’’ mode, which is to say they like to eschew the sacrifice bunt and the hit-and-run while taking pitches, working the count, playing for the big inning. The Angels like to put players in motion, force the issue, manufacture runs. At their worst, the Red Sox can look impotent and the Angels can look careless, though the two clubs ultimately ended up precisely where they wanted to be.

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In October.

In the playoffs.

Vying for a trip to the World Series.

At this stage, for any club, does September even really matter anymore?

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