Luke Scott homered and drove in two runs to back the solid pitching of Brian Matusz as the Baltimore Orioles notched a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series.

Scott started the Orioles' scoring with an RBI single in the first inning and added an insurance run with a solo blast in the eighth as Baltimore further dampened Boston's fading playoff hopes.

Matusz (7-12) went six-plus innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out six and walking one.

The left-hander's only mistake was surrendering a two-run homer to Jed Lowrie in the fifth inning that cut Baltimore's lead to 3-2.

Felix Pie added a solo homer in the eighth as the Orioles improved to 17-10 under manager Buck Showalter.

The Red Sox fell eight games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East and remained seven back of Tampa Bay for the wild card.

Josh Beckett (4-4) absorbed the loss for Boston, giving up three runs - two earned - on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Shortstop Marco Scutaro's costly error on Adam Jones' two-out infield single in the third allowed two runs to come home for a 3-0 Baltimore lead.