The Rays are preparing for a weekend series against the Marlins, who are supposed to be their "natural" rivals.

But if there was any doubt about who their true rivals are - at least this season - check out what Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon said Wednesday night on his weekly Comcast Sportsnet segment (Mohegan Sun Sports Tonight) when asked about last week's brawl, and the upcoming June 30-July 2 series:

"In my opinion, it is a bunch of bull what they did. All I got to say is what comes around goes around, man. Payback's a b----, I'll tell you what. In my opinion, and the way I feel right now, this thing isn’t all settled and done. We still got to play them a few more times. And I know when we go into Tropicana things will be a little different than when went in there last time."

Papelbon also praised the Rays when asked about them staying in the AL East race:

"Those guys have a lot of talent over there. Obviously, as you can see, it’s a war when we go play those guys. It’s the big leagues and you got guys that can pitch over there and you got some guy that can hit so we’ve got to do everything we can to stay atop of those guys and keep fending them off because they can play."