Varitek gets his mitts on history, too

There would be a slice of history for the catcher, too.

Jason Varitek, who caught Jon Lester's 130 pitches last night, became the first catcher behind the plate for four no-hitters.

Varitek caught Clay Buchholz's no-hitter last Sept. 1 against the Orioles in Fenway Park. He also caught Derek Lowe's no-hitter on April 27, 2002, in Fenway Park against Tampa Bay, and Hideo Nomo's no-hitter on April 4, 2001, in Baltimore against the Orioles.

A dozen other catchers have caught three.

"I'm very fortunate," Varitek said. "It's so exciting to be part of one as a catcher. Each one's so different. The work that Jonny Lester's had to do, to be able to be part of something like that with him is totally different."

Pitching coach John Farrell paid tribute to the 36-year-old catcher, who also contributed a hit-and-run single in Boston's five-run third and a two-run home run in the sixth, his fifth of the season.

"We're fortunate to have him," Farrell said. "That's a team effort, and Jason had a huge impact. Jon threw every pitch, but Jason's guidance got him to that point."

The Royals are last in the American League in runs (165) and in home runs (23), but the .264 batting average they brought into last night's game was fifth-best in the league. And historically, they've been a tough team to no-hit. Until last night, Nolan Ryan had the only no-no against the Royals, on May 15, 1973, in Royals Stadium, one of his record seven no-hitters.

"It was kind of freaky," said Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, who struck out twice, tapped out to the pitcher, and dropped a popup for a two-run error. "It was a weird day - cloudy, dark, windy - and just like anything, you don't want to be no-hitted.

"You go out there, you try to square a ball up, and as it gets going, as it gets later, it's tougher and tougher.

"There's a lot of pressure on his shoulders, too. One bad pitch, or he hangs one. He got a little bit out of control in the ninth when he walked the first guy [Esteban German]. I'm sure he was feeling it, but he settled down. It was his day today. His night. Congratulations."

Added Billy Butler, who drew one of the two walks issued by Lester: "You don't see it every day, a guy hitting his spots like that. He didn't make any mistakes, and that's what happens when you don't make any mistakes."

Long-distance call

When Trey Hillman, who was Hideki Okajima's last manager in Japan, first heard that Okajima was going to the Red Sox, he didn't believe it.

"I had people calling me from the United States, 'Hey, you know your lefthanded setup man is coming to the US,' " Hillman, now the first-year manager of the Royals, said yesterday at Fenway Park. "I said, 'No, he's not, he's going back to the [Yomiuri] Giants. Wait a minute. I'll ask him. Okajima said, 'Yes, I go to America.' "

Yesterday, Okajima said, was the first time he has seen or spoken to Hillman since he made the decision to sign with the Sox. While they were together with the Nippon Ham Fighters, they won a Japan Series in 2006. Okajima signed with the Sox, and after Hillman took the Fighters back to the Japan Series the following season, Royals general manager Dayton Moore made Hillman what he called the most important hire he'll ever make.

Okajima was effusive in his praise of Hillman, who played in the Cleveland system with Farrell, managed in the Yankees' system when Sox bullpen coach Gary Tuck was a coach there, managed against Sox third base coach DeMarlo Hale in the Eastern League, and was a minor league field coordinator with the Rangers when Terry Francona was bench coach there.

"Hillman talked to every player every single day, asked, 'How's it going?' Okajima said yesterday through translator Jeff Yamaguchi. "That was totally different from when I was with the Giants. The Giants were like the Yankees. Many rules. The manager never asked me, 'How's it going?' This was totally different, more enjoyable. I thought, 'This is baseball.' "

Hillman said Okajima later let him know he was appreciative. "For the five years I managed in Japan, he was the only dependable consistent lefthanded setup man I had," Hillman said.

"He did a great job for us. He was fun to manage. He's quiet, goes about his business. He has a great sense of humor, but he's shy about it."

Hillman acknowledged he wasn't immediately enamored with Okajima's look-at-his-shoetops delivery.

"I thought it was a little out of control," Hillman said. "I would have liked to have seen a quieter head movement. But like that American saying, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' "

Okajima, who missed the past three games because of a sore wrist, said he was fine yesterday and played catch before the game.

Lugo keeps rhythm

Julio Lugo, on coming out for a defensive replacement, Alex Cora, in late innings: "I'm an employee. Alex hadn't played for a while, and I think they wanted him back in the regular rhythm of games." . . . Francona said he saw TV replays of the disputed home run hit Sunday night by Carlos Delgado of the Mets, which hit the foul pole but was called foul by the umpiring crew, after third base umpire Mike Reilly correctly called it fair initially. Francona's solution is to add an umpire to each crew, one who would sit in a TV booth and monitor replays to assist on-field crews in getting the call right . . . Francona caught part of the graduation ceremonies for his son, Nick, at the University of Pennsylvania. "I took him out to dinner," Francona said, "with half his dorm." . . . Justin Masterson could not be in the clubhouse yesterday because of baseball rules that stipulate a team can't have a taxi squad, but Francona expected the pitcher to arrive in town last night to prepare for his start tonight.

Globe correspondent Brian Mullen contributed to this report