Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester no hit the Royals yesterday as Kansas City lost 7-0. Lester is the 18 th in Boston history to throw a no hitter. Billy Butler and Esteban German would be the only two baserunners, reaching on walks.
Sometimes you just need to tip your cap. It was one of those performances where Lester was in complete command. This was the second time the Royals have been no-hit in their history, the other coming against Nolan Ryan. So many times you hear of guys who throw no hitters who say they just didn’t feel good warming up in the bullpen.
Lester told boston.redsox.com , “If you all saw my bullpen [session] today, it wasn’t pretty,” said Lester. “You would have thought I wouldn’t have gotten out of the first inning. It was terrible. I got out in the game and I’ve always been a slow starter. If I can get through the first, second, third, sometimes the fourth inning and be doing all right, then usually I can do all right into the game and get stronger. That was the case. I just felt more comfortable with my delivery, more comfortable with the stuff I was throwing.”
He walked Billy Butler in the third and then no Royals got on base until Esteban German walked again in the ninth. In all, Lester struck out nine including Alberto Callapso on a high fastball, Lester’s 130 th pitch of the night.
“He didn’t miss a spot,” Royals’ Billy Butler told kcroyals.com . “You don’t see it every day — hitting his spots like that. He didn’t make any mistakes.”
