Final: Red Sox 1, Royals 0 Papelbon strikes out Guillen and gets Teahen to fly out. An 11-pitch ninth nets his 23rd save.

9:37, 1-0: Here are the final lines for the starters. A pitching duel looks like this:
Bannister: 7 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 7 K, 4 BB. 115 pitches, 68 strikes.
Lester: 8 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 8 K, 2 BB. 115 pitches, 78 strikes.

End of 8, 9:34. 1-0: David Ortiz grounds directly into the shift. Papelbon will enter and try to close it out.

9:30. 1-0: Bannister walks Youkilis intentionally and leaves for John Bale. This was his best start since his one-hitter the second game into the season, but he's in line for the loss. Papelbon is warming.

9:26. 1-0: Dustin Pedroia clangs one off the Monster and scores Aaron Bates from third. He slides into second with the double and a 1-0 Sox lead. This man will eat your adversity.

9:24. 0-0: Terry Francona just ordered and received a successful Nick Green sacrifice bunt. Swine is seen hovering above the press box.

Bottom 8, 9:22. 0-0: Mark Kotsay squibs a base hit over the mound and through to centerfield. Aaron Bates will pinch run for him. Yep, Julio Lugo is still on the team. Why do you ask?

Top 8, 9:17. 0-0. Lester works around a leadoff walk to Alberto Callaspo to get out of the inning. That was Jon Lester's 25th consecutive shutout inning against the Royals in Fenway Park. His strikeout of Ryan Freel was his eighth of the night.

The Sox will try to get their second hit of the game in the bottom of the eighth.

Top 7, 8:55. 0-0: The Royals threaten a rally with an error and a base hit, but Rocco Baldelli's one-hop throw on a fly ball "gets Mark Teahan at second." (Teahan was very safe until he came off the bag, but the umpire made the call beforehand. Anyone with a twenty-minute memory would call this home cooking.) Baldelli, who replaced the ejected Ellsbury, wasn't even looking at second base when he made the throw. He is magic. One ground ball to Youkilis later -- this time un-flubbed -- and the Sox are out of the inning still tied.

Bottom 6, 8:50. 0-0: David Ortiz strikes out for the third time tonight on Brian Bannister's slow-motion fastball from the future. Bannister has David Ortiz's number, and that number is apparently "88 mph." He strands Kevin Youkilis who reached on an error. He and DeJesus are the only two players to reach base twice so far.

8:35 This is how you artificially kill a rally: Jacoby Ellsbury was called out trying to steal home plate when Kotsay was caught in a rundown. Except Ellsbury wasn't close to out, pre-replay, even by the naked eye. Some fully-clothed eyes saw that he was safe too. Ellsbury was immediately ejected for throwing his helmet. Francona got his money's worth and even got some angry hand-gestures in there, but was not tossed. The play is scored 2-4-3-2, but the game remains scoreless.

8:30 Ellsbury steals second then takes third on a fielder's choice. Varitek, who walked, is out at second. Kotsay is safe at first.

Bottom 5, 8:25. 0-0: Jacoby Ellsbury breaks up the no hitter with a clean single up the gut two pitches into the half-inning. The Sox will contemplate a rally.

Top 5, 8:22, 0-0: Another perfect inning for Lester.The Royals aren't going anywhere offensively. Neither is Clay Buchholz. The wheels of his car were stolen in Providence this afternoon. They left some bricks, though. Thanks, robbers!

Bottom 4, 8:15, 0-0: Another hitless inning for the Sox. Maybe Bannister will start heaving the ball over the plate when the sun completely disappears and he (presumably) develops werewolf like tendencies like he did last year.

At least he's not Ambiorix Burgos. The Royals will look to hit their second ball out of the infield in the bottom of the inning.

Bottom 3, 8:00, 0-0: JD Drew walks -- that OBP business is why he's leading off, anyway -- but nothing comes out of it. Bannister has been really good locating his changeup early on. He still hasn't given up a hit.

Fun fact: Brian Bannister was once traded for a guy who allegedly threatened to murder someone after he lost a game of dominoes. Really! Puts the fun in fun fact.

Top 3, 7:55. 0-0: "DeJesus singles" doesn't quite have the same ring to it as its predecessor. His hit -- the first one out of the infield by either team -- is redacted when he left early trying to steal second and was picked off by Lester.

Speaking of, Lester is flatly blowing by the Royals with his fastball when it's up in the zone tonight. Bannister has been fooling the Sox with lots of breaking pitches and well-placed, low-velocity fastballs.

Top 2, 7:38. 0-0: Lester didn't start out strong -- his first five pitches missed the plate -- but has rebounded nicely. Despite the leadoff walk in the first and a Mark Teahan infield single in the second, he has three strikeouts early.

Side note: does anybody else get something stuck in their head when they see "DeJesus walks" in the box score?

Bottom 1, 7:30. 0-0: Brian Bannister starts out with a pair of strikeouts to evade a Youkilis walk. He's going to need all of the early outs he can get -- he's 2-5 dating back to May 29, and he gave up at least six hits in five of those eight starts.