BOSTON — Bartolo Colon got the 150th victory of his career with six strong innings. And he didn't make any fielding mistakes.

Colon allowed one run and five hits and the Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-3 today. Five days earlier, Colon made two errors in his only loss of the season, an 8-0 setback to Seattle which he left trailing 5-0.

Against the Orioles, Colon (4-1) was staked to a 5-0 lead. Jason Varitek's three-run homer capped the Red Sox's five-run first inning against Garrett Olson (5-2). Mike Lowell's solo shot made it 6-1 in the sixth, an inning after Luke Scott homered for Baltimore.

Boston was forced to use Jonathan Papelbon with two outs in the ninth after Mike Timlin allowed two runs on Kevin Millar's RBI double and a run-scoring error by second baseman Dustin Pedroia.

The closer retired Brian Roberts on a grounder to first baseman Kevin Youkilis and picked up his 19th save in 21 chances. He remained unscored on in 17 2-3 innings in his career against Baltimore.

Colon has been a huge bargain since signing a minor league contract as a free agent during spring training worth $1.2 million plus performance and roster bonuses. He struck out seven and walked one.

The 35-year-old right-hander already has more than half as many wins as he totaled over the last two injury-plagued seasons with the Los Angeles Angels when he was 7-13 with a 5.72 ERA in 29 games. This season, he's looked more like the pitcher who won the Cy Young in 2005 with a 21-8 record and a 3.48 ERA.

Today, he improved to 150-96 in 311 starts. The victory came in the same stadium where he earned his first — a 9-5 win with Cleveland on June 7, 1997 at Fenway Park.

And that's where Boston is 27-7 this season, the best home record in the majors,

Facing a team that scored 29 runs in its previous four games, Colon retired the side in order in the first inning, then could relax after his teammates gave him the 5-0 lead.

Jacoby Ellsbury led off the first with a single. He took off for second for a stolen base and kept going to third as Olson's throw to Millar went wild.

Pedroia popped out, but J.D. Drew doubled, extending his hitting streak to 10 games with his 16th hit and 13th RBI in 30 at-bats. Drew took third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

Olson's wildness continued with walks to Lowell and Youkilis. Then he fell behind 3-1 on Varitek, who hit the next pitch for his seventh homer.

Olson settled down with four scoreless innings before Lowell hit his ninth homer on a high fly that just cleared the 37-foot wall in left.

Scott's 10th homer came in the fourth. Colon finished the sixth inning — and his outing — by striking out Aubrey Huff and Millar.