It's a battle for first in the Ameircan League East. And if you're looking for a Red Sox-Yankees rivalry ... you need to check out a different league.

Tonight, the Tampa Bay Rays (16-12) and Boston Red Sox (17-13) begin a 3-game series. They are tied in the division.

Yes, I know it's only May 2. But when could we ever hype a Rays-Sox series?

You want Sox-Yankees? Look to the Eastern League.

The first-place Portland Sea Dogs (17-9), affiliate of Boston, visits the second-place Trenton Thunder (16-12), the Yankees affiliate. In the previous three seasons these teams have finished 1-2 in the EL Northern Division and then faced each other in the playoffs.

In Boston, the pitching will again be the story (like it was for the Toronto series). Here are the matchups - Tonight: Edwin Jackson vs. Clay Buchholz. Saturday: James Shields vs. Josh Beckett. Sunday: Scott Kazmir vs. Jon Lester.

In one Red Sox transaction, reliever Bryan Corey accepted an assignment to Pawtucket (to make room, Lee Gronkiewicz went on the the DL for unspecified reasons).

Pawtucket beat Syracuse 9-3 last night. Jeff Bailey, who seems to get off to a slow start every year, is now hitting .400 in his last 10 games. He went 3-for-5 Thursday with a home run (off of Camden's Mike MacDonald). He's up to .307 with four homers.

Sandy Madero went 2-for-5 and is at .368 ... Joe Thurston went 4-for-5.

Portland ran into some good pitching in Bowie, being swept by the Baysox. Conversely, the Sea Dogs did not get good outings from their starters, Justin Masterson, Dustin Richardson and Matt Goodson. None of them went 5 innings.

In Lancaster, third baseman Jorge Jimenez went 2-for-3 and is up to .344. Jimenez, 23, was a 15th round pick in 2004

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