Boston starting pitcher Jon Lester fires away on his last pitch of the night to strike out the Royals’ Alberto Callaspo swinging to finish off his first career no-hitter in style.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — The Royals had a feeling right from their very first batter that it wasn’t going to be their night.

They didn’t know they were about to be no-hit for only the second time in their existence, but there was a foreboding feeling as the first out was recorded.

David DeJesus crushed a pitch from Jon Lester and sent it toward the Green Monster in straightaway left. DeJesus thought he had a leadoff double. But the 23-mph wind blowing in knocked it down and Manny Ramirez made the catch in front of the warning track.

“I couldn’t believe it. I swear I hit that ball good. I squared it up,” said DeJesus, who thought Ramirez had his back to the wall because he was trying to fake out DeJesus on a ball off the wall.

The Royals only hit two more balls hard off Lester. Esteban German lined out to first baseman Kevin Youkilis in the third. Jose Guillen was robbed of a base hit when center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury made a diving catch in the fourth.

“It was just his night,” said the Royals’ Mark Grudzielanek, the American League’s leading hitter, who fanned twice and bounced out to Lester.

“It was a special day for him,” Grudzielanek said. “I didn’t think over the first and second innings that he was feeling it, but in the third, fourth and fifth innings he started throwing breaking balls. He just doesn’t throw anything straight, throwing cutters and curves. He and (catcher Jason) Varitek were in sync today, obviously. You have to hand it to him.”

“I’m never one who likes to give the pitcher too much credit,” said Mark Teahen, who went 0 for 3. “But you have to give him credit. You can’t say this is embarrassing. The guy was just on top of his game.”

“He was able to cut the ball and sink the ball,” chimed in DeJesus, who took an 0 for 4, including three groundouts after his first-inning fly ball. “It seemed like it was always two strikes on you. I never felt comfortable up there.”

The matchup was a good one for Lester. The left-hander tends to walk batters and run up his pitch count early, but the Royals are next-to-last in the league in walks, so they aren’t patient at the plate.

“He was good and we didn’t make enough adjustments,” said Kansas City manager Trey Hillman. “He threw a no-hitter. There’s nothing more I can say. From the third through the ninth innings he had command of all his pitches and they had a good game plan.”

Long time coming

The no-hitter was the 18th in Red Sox history and only the fourth by a left-handed pitcher at Fenway Park. The last Red Sox lefty to author a no-no at Fenway was Mel Parnell on July 14, 1956, a 4-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox. … The Royals were no-hit for only the second time in club history. Nolan Ryan, pitching for the Angels, held them without a hit on May 15, 1973. … At 24 years and 133 days, Lester is the youngest left-hander to throw a no-hitter since the Cardinals’ Bud Smith (21 years, 315 days) no-hit the Padres on Sept. 3, 2001.

Back on track

Ellsbury swiped second and third on consecutive pitches in the fourth inning, marking the first time in his career that he has stolen two bases in an inning. He is now 18 for 19 in stolen-base attempts, having been caught for the first time the previous day.

Ellsbury is in seventh place all-time for a Sox rookie. Amby McConnell holds the rookie record with 31 stolen bases in 1908.

Around the horn

Dustin Pedroia isn’t your classic sleek base-stealer, but he swiped number six last night. He has not been caught this season. He is 13 for 15 in his career. … The homer for Varitek was the 153 of his Red Sox career, leaving him one shy of George Scott for 15th on the team’s all-time list. He has 150 homers as a catcher, second behind Carlton Fisk’s 157. … The Sox batted around in their five-run third-inning rally, marking the ninth time this year they have batted around. … Hideki Okajima, who hasn’t thrown since last Wednesday, when he surrendered a game-losing grand slam to the Orioles’ Jay Payton, was given permission to play catch yesterday.

smcadam@projo.com