Last night's action at Friendly Fenway was obscured by the San Francisco Giants Jonathan Sanchez throwing a no-hitter at AT&T Park, but Kansas City's Brian Bannister and Boston's Jon Lester were nearly as impressive dueling in the Sox's 1-0 win under a star lit Boston sky.

Is it really all that difficult to no-hit the San Diego Padres or pitch lights out against an offensively impotent Royals lineup? Sanchez would have had a perfect game if it wasn't for an error committed by shortstop Juan Uribe in the eighth inning. At the the post-game ice cream party celebrating Sanchez's no-no in The City by the Bay, Uribe did not receive any sprinkles on his sundae.

Back to the ballyard in Boston, where Bannister and Lester were weaving their own magic on the mound. The Sox lefty, Lester, gave up four measly hits to the Royals, but three of those were earned by Royals third baseman Mark Teahen.

The Royals are a horrible offensive team. Every year, baseball pundits write the Royals are the team that can surprise. Yes, they are once again - surprisingly bad.

Going one step better than Lester, Brian Bannister surrendered three hits to the BoSox. Giving up three hits and one run to a crew that can put up some offensive numbers is a real feat, but Bannister is still saddled with the loss. Baseball is a cruel game.

The Old School feel at Friendly Fenway was culminated with Jacoby Ellsbury getting nailed at the dish in the the fifth inning. Trying to break a scoreless affair, Ellsbury made a mad dash for the dish, where he was tagged out by Kansas City's .218 hitting backstop Jason Buck. After sliding across home plate in a blur, Ellsbury gunned his helmet to the ground in frustration at home plate umpire Derryl Cousins' out call, which earned him an early visit to Mannywood. The way Bannister was dealing - Boston needed to try and scratch out a run.

Otis "So You Think You Can Dance" Nixon

Before Ellsbury was nailed a the plate, he stole second base. Speed lives at Friendly Fenway and is Ellsbury the fastest Sox since Otis "My Man" Nixon?

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia provided the difference with an rbi double in the eighth inning off of Bannister.

The Red Sox and Royals played the Friday night affair in a quick 2 hours and 29 minutes, which gave the miscreants at Friendly Fenway more than enough time to visit their favorite alcohol-filled haunt in Kenmore Square. Old School baseball leads to Old School Shamboozling.

For more on the Friday Night Affair at Friendly Fenway, check out: http://notexactlysomethingnormal.blogspot.com/

(Photo Courtesy of John "Three Rows Deep" McMahon)