Optometrist 2 for 2 at Fenway

His only games - last two no-hitters

Brian Rowley is an optometrist who lives in Santaquin, Utah, about 20 miles south of Provo. He has been to two Red Sox games in his life.

The first was Clay Buchholz's no-hitter last Sept. 1 with his wife, Emily, and friends.

The second was Jon Lester's no-hitter Monday night. Rowley was there with his son Nathan, along with his brother Greg, who brought his sons, Jeffrey and Jared.

"People are saying to me, 'Dang, when are you coming out again?' " Rowley said by phone yesterday from his office.

What are the odds? Infinitesimal. Charles Scoggins of the Lowell Sun has been one of the official scorers at Fenway Park since 1978. He has scored 1,465 regular-season games. Lester's was his first no-hitter.

Rowley doesn't profess to be a lifelong Sox fan. He'd only been to one big league game in his life, a Kansas City Royals game in 1990 with a high school group. He went last September as part of a trip to New York and Boston. He went to see the Yankees, too. They lost.

He had such a good time, he repeated the trip, this time a guys' trip with his brother and the kids. They went to see the Yankees Saturday; they lost. Then they took Amtrak to Boston, with tickets for Monday night's game in Section 32, Row 11. They arrived during batting practice, and tracked down a foul ball.

As Lester went deeper into the game, Rowley mentioned to fans around him that he'd been at the Buchholz no-no. "I said, 'There's going to be another no-hitter,' " he said. "They were saying, 'Shut up. Don't talk.' "

It should surprise no one that Rowley now pledges allegiance to the Sox. "The fan support, the stadium, is so much better than in New York," he said.

And just when does he plan to be back?

"I have another son who is 8," he said. "It might be a couple of years down the road."

No-no on extra perks

No, John Henry wrote in response to an e-mailed inquiry, he didn't reward Lester for his no-hitter the way late owner Tom Yawkey rewarded Mel Parnell for his in 1956, when Yawkey tore up Parnell's contract and presented him with a new one. Things were a bit different back then.

"They probably had total control over players in those days," Henry wrote. "Did they have free agency then?

"Like everyone else, I gave [Lester] a hug. A great night for all of us. A great job by [Jason Varitek]."

Not even a free ride on the yacht?

Money call

The value of a call-up: When Justin Masterson started for the Red Sox Tuesday night, he was paid $2,131.14. When he next starts for Pawtucket, Masterson will be paid $341.53. For the day Masterson was on the 25-man big league roster, he was paid a prorated portion of the major league minimum salary, which this year is $390,000. Big leaguers are paid on a 183-day schedule, so Masterson received 1/183d of $390,000, or $2,131.14. That's what he was paid for his start in April, too, for a two-day total of $4,262.28. His minor league salary is $62,500, prorated over 183 days at $341.53 per day. Players who are on the 25-man roster on Opening Day are guaranteed big league salaries . . . Bartolo Colon is scheduled to start Monday night in Seattle. Buchholz, who has been on the disabled list with a torn fingernail on the middle finger of his pitching hand and is eligible to be activated for the Baltimore series May 30, has been slated for a rehab start Sunday in Pawtucket. He's scheduled to throw four innings or around 65 pitches, manager Terry Francona said. "After Sunday, we'll get back together with him," Francona said. "He's done some good stuff with John [Farrell] on the side. Working on his arm slot, consistency. We want to make sure we use this to our advantage, not rush." . . . The best thing about Yasuhiko Yabuta appearing in yesterday's game? An excuse to write that his teammates have given him a nickname: "Shake." . . . Varitek is getting a rare break - back-to-back days off. He was given yesterday off, and with knuckleballer Tim Wakefield starting tonight in Oakland, Kevin Cash will catch again. "[Varitek] is not real crazy about the two days in a row, but sometimes you have to step in," Francona said. Varitek had two-hit games in five of his last six starts and over his last 11 games is batting .417 (15 for 36) with 3 homers, 4 doubles, 7 RBIs, and 6 runs. Varitek sat despite a .429 average (15 for 35) in day games this season . . . Varitek on the runnin' Sox, who rank second in the American League with 41 steals, exceeded only by Tampa Bay's 46 (Jacoby Ellsbury's 19 steals rank second in the league to Ichiro Suzuki's 21). "Obviously, this is all new to us," Varitek said. "With he and Coco [Crisp] and [Julio ] Lugo in the lineup and occasionally Dustin [Pedroia] that can get some bags, and now David [Ortiz] is trying to do it, too." Varitek was referring to Ortiz's attempted steal in the seventh inning, which was wiped out when Mike Lowell struck out. "Looked like he had a pretty good jump," Varitek said.