OAKLAND — Hunter Jones strolled into the Red Sox’ clubhouse at 3:17 p.m. (PST), about half-an-hour after the team’s 8-2 victory over the Oakland A’s. The relief pitcher had just come straight from the airport after making a cross country JetBlue flight from JFK International Airport in New York City, which had followed another short flight from Rochester.

As Jones walked in — looking a bit weary while wearing an untucked, white dress shirt and jeans — some of the Sox players were walking out, heading to the plane they would soon share with their newest teammate, bound for Boston.

It was a day of airports, waiting, flights, and absolutely no baseball. And it was also one of the best days in the 25-year-old’s life.

It started when Pawtucket Red Sox manager Ron Johnson had to bang on Jones’ hotel room door at 3 a.m. after calls to the pitcher weren’t being answered. Johnson had to deliver the message to his pitcher — who threw six pitches for two outs in the PawSox’ loss to Rochester just hours earlier — that he was being called up to the Red Sox to replace Daisuke Matsuzaka, who was going on the 15-day disabled list with a mild strain of the right shoulder. Jones was to make his debut as a major leaguer.

Needless to say, he didn’t sleep anymore the rest of the night.

“I was up drinking coffee,” he said.

First Jones would have to catch a short flight from Rochester, before heading over to New York City for a 9:15 a.m. departure bound for the West Coast. But when the JetBlue plane Jones was supposed to be taking from JFK got held up in Richmond, Virginia, the lefty’s scheduled time to leave was pushed back to noon.

The problem was that he would need a fairly lengthy game in order to make it to the park before the final pitch. That didn’t happen. Thanks primarily to Tim Wakefield’s performance — carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning — the game lasted just 2 hours and 13 minutes. By the time Jones landed it was already over.

“I was trying to listen to it on XM (radio) on JetBlue, but they didn’t have it on,” Jones explained. “It was really long, but very exciting, though. It was very exciting. I couldn’t sleep on the plane. I was just really excited to be going over here.”

Jones signed with the Red Sox as undrafted free agent out of Florida State in 2005, and split his ’08 season between Double A Portland and Triple A Pawtucket, making a combined 48 appearances.

“What do you call that, the best intentions? It was a heck of an effort,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. “He’s going to have an interesting day. He’s going to have a free steak on the way home.”

Tim Wakefield closed out the A’s for his first complete game victory since Sept. 6, 2005. Wakefield allowed two runs on four hits, gave up two walks and struck out four. He threw 111 pitches, 76 strikes. Final score: Red Sox, 8, A’s 2.

Kurt Suzuki hit an 0-1 knuckleball for a line-drive base hit in between third base and shortstop, breaking up Tim Wakefield’s no-hitter. The 7 1/3 innings was the second furthest Wakefield has taken a no-hitter, falling only behind his 8 1/3 inning stint on June 19, 2001 in Tampa Bay. It ties a June 9, 1995 game which he also went 7 1/3 innings against the A’s.

Here is fun fact for you: Stan Javier broke up that ’95 no-hitter. Six years earlier Javier faced Terry Francona in the Red Sox’ manager’s only pitching performance, striking out. Ironically, Francona was throwing a knuckleball.

J.D. Drew launched a three-run homer into the right field stands, scoring David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis to give the Red Sox a 5-0 lead, at Oakland Coliseum. The runs offer insurance for Tim Wakefield, who will enter the eighth with a no-hitter. It marks the furthest the starter has carried a no-hitter since 1995 against these same A’s. The furthest Wakefield has gone without giving up a hit came on June 19, 2001 in Tampa Bay, when Randy Winn broke it up with a single.

This would be the 19th no-hitter in Red Sox history.

Nick Green singled in Jason Bay for the Red Sox’ sixth run. It marked the first time this season the Red Sox have scored more than five runs. Jacoby Ellsbury plated two more with a two-run single.

Red Sox shortstop Nick Green made an unbelievable diving play on Jack Cust’s liner into shallow left-center field with one out in the seventh inning to preserve Tim Wakefield’s no-hitter. Wakefield now hasn’t allowed a hit through seven innings, throwing 67 pitches, 50 for strikes. The only baserunner he has allowed came when Mike Lowell committed an error on Kurt Suzuki’s sixth-inning grounder.

Wakefield has never thrown a no-hitter.

After talking to our men Dale and Holley, Terry Francona met with the media prior to the series finale withe A’s at Oakland Coliseum (courtesy MLB.com’s Ian Browne):

“We DL’d Dice-K. Obviously we needed to speak to him before we did something like that. Theo and I had talked last night and this morning and contrary to what Dice-K said last night, he understands it. I think sometimes guys say things when they’re in the [heat of battle], trying to compete. We just want him to be able to be Dice-K. Not part of Dice-K. We’ll put him on the DL, we’ll have him looked at Friday and then we’ll put our heads together and see what’s the best way we can get him to make all his starts and be good.”

“Hunter Jones is en route. {wind problems on the flight]. His availability, we’re hoping. We’re doing the best we can.”

On Lowrie, “Nothing yet.”?

Bullpen: “Pap will be OK. Saito. I think Javy, we’re not necessarily dying to do that. Ramon. We need to get some innings out of Wake for sure.”

Dice-K’s spot: “We’re going to wait on that. Obviously we’ve got some things that are a little fluid here. The Beckett situation. With the day off, we can figure some things out as we go.”

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Mike Lowell took a 1-0 Brett Anderson change-up in the second inning over the left field wall, driving in Jason Bay and giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. In case you forgot, Lowell didn’t have a home run last season until May 5. In other news, Gary from Chapel Hill came up with this nugget regarding the Tim Wakefield’s success: