Kansas City's Joey Gathright, right, eludes the tag from Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis. Regardless, the Red Sox won, 6-3, Wednesday in Boston.

Boston ? After 306 starts, 146 wins and one Cy Young award, Bartolo Colon felt like a rookie before his 2008 debut.

The beefy right-hander will turn 35 Saturday, but when he took the mound Wednesday night, he had the nerves of a neophyte.

“I was very nervous in the first inning,” Colon said after showing that his elbow problems from last year were gone. “I felt like my first professional outing, actually. But after the first inning I was able to settle down and really enjoy the moment.”

In his 307th start he picked up his 147th win – giving up two runs and six hits in five innings – as the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-3. It reminded him of his first victory, when he was a rookie, and Cleveland beat the Red Sox 9-5 on June 7, 1997, in the same stadium where he pitched Wednesday.

“I thought about that tonight after the game and reminisced about that great moment and kind of compared this to that moment,” Colon, who signed a minor league contract Feb. 25, said through a translator.

Jacoby Ellsbury had three hits, including a leadoff homer in the first, and scored three runs for Boston, while Dustin Pedroia had three hits and Jason Varitek added a solo homer.

Joey Gathright scored all three runs for Kansas City and reached base in all four at-bats with two singles and two walks. But he was impressed with Colon, who no longer throws close to 100 mph.

“He throws hard. It’s Colon,” Gathright said. “He’s still got good stuff.”

The Red Sox won their sixth straight game overall and ninth in a row at Fenway Park to increase their lead in the AL East to two games over Tampa Bay, which lost to Oakland.

Trailing 2-1, Boston scored four runs in the fifth off Brett Tomko (2-5).

“I felt pretty good all night,” he said. “The big innings have been kind of getting me the last couple of games. It seems like when they get me it’s three, four runs.”

Colon (1-0) threw 74 pitches, 46 for strikes after being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket, where he made three rehab starts.

It was a milestone in his comeback from two injury-plagued seasons.

Colon was 7-13 with a 5.72 ERA in 29 games the past two seasons and lost his last six decisions last year after his last victory on June 14. In 2005, he went 21-8 with a 3.48 ERA.