Fans arriving at the Trop Monday night. Hey, you back there in the red shirt, hit the road. [Times photo | Brian Cassella]

The Rays are hoping - especially with first place on the line - to enjoy a significant homefield advantage at Tropicana Field the next three nights.

But the Red Sox, it seems, consider the Trop to be their homefield advantage, based on this quote from Boston pitcher Jon Lester.

"It'll be a fun series," Lester told reporters after Sunday's game in Boston. "We always get a lot of fans down there, so it will be kind of be like a home playoff atmosphere.''

A home playoff atmosphere - for the Red Sox, at Tropicana Field, with the teams battling for the division lead in mid-September?

Holy cowbell.

Otherwise, the Sox seem to be saying all nice things about the Rays.

Even Coco Crisp, the villain from the June 5 brawl.

"Every time we play (Tampa Bay) it's a well-fought, well-played game,'' Crisp told the Boston Globe. "They play fundamentally sound baseball. So now, we have to go down there and do the same thing. It's going to be an exciting battle. I think we're all looking forward to it.''