(Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Rays will attempt to maintain their hold on first place in the American League East when the up-and-coming club begins a four-game series with the Kansas City Royals tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

Tampa Bay starts up a seven-game road trip with a slim one-game edge on the defending world champion Boston Red Sox in the division standings. The Rays kept themselves in the top spot by winning two of three matchups at home against Oakland earlier this week, including Wednesday's 4-3 decision at Tropicana Field.

Jonny Gomes and Ben Zobrist smacked back-to-back homers during a three-run fifth inning which enabled Tampa to overcome an early 2-0 deficit. Zobrist added a key RBI single later in the game.

James Shields (9-6) preserved that lead with 8 1/3 strong innings on the mound, with the Rays right-hander giving up three runs on just six hits and fanning seven without a walk. Troy Percival got the final two outs to earn his 20th save of the season.

Wednesday's win improved Tampa Bay to an excellent 40-16 at home on the year, but the young squad is just 19-25 as the visitor in 2008. The Rays will also visit Toronto for three games on this current trek.

The road has also been a challenge for Matt Garza, who opens up this series for the Rays tonight. The talented right-hander is an impressive 6-1 with a 2.10 earned run average on the Tropicana Field mound this season, but has struggled to a 2-4 record and 5.91 ERA in eight starts away from St. Petersburg.

Garza's most recent start came at home and was a typically dominant effort. Against Toronto this past Saturday, he yielded only two hits and walked none over 7 2/3 shutout innings to defeat the Blue Jays. In his last away outing, Garza was rocked for seven runs and 11 hits over five frames to suffer a loss at Cleveland on July 12.

The 24-year-old is 0-3 in four career starts against Kansas City, despite recording a solid 3.42 ERA in those games. Garza faced the Royals at home on July 7 and posted a no-decision while allowing three runs over 6 2/3 innings.

Kansas City will be trying to rebound from this week's three-game sweep at the hands of division-rival Detroit at Kauffman Stadium. The Tigers cruised to a 7-1 victory in Wednesday's finale, with starting pitcher Armando Galarraga setting down the first 18 Royals hitters to lead the way.

David DeJesus broke up Galarraga's potential perfect game with a single to begin the bottom of the seventh inning and finished 2-for-4 for the Royals. DeJesus wound up scoring Kansas City's lone run on a Jose Guillen base hit later in the frame.

Zack Greinke (7-7) struck out eight Tigers in six innings of work, but the Royals righty gave up five runs on seven hits to get saddled with the loss.

Kansas City hopes from a better performance out of Gil Meche tonight. The right-hander came through nicely his last time out, as he limited the White Sox to one run and just two hits over 6 1/3 innings to fuel the Royals to a 9-1 win last Saturday in the Windy City.

Since June 10, Meche is 4-1 with a 3.04 ERA in eight starts and has surrendered two runs or less five times during that span.

The 29-year-old opposed Garza in St. Petersburg on July 7 and also came away with a no-decision in that game. Meche worked 5 1/3 innings and permitted two runs while walking four batters before exiting.

For his career, Meche is just 1-4 with a 5.40 ERA in nine starts against the Royals.

Tampa Bay won three times during its four-game series with the Royals at Tropicana Field earlier this month and is 6-3 in its last nine matchups against Kansas City. Since the start of the 2006 season, the Rays have taken 11 of the 17 meetings between these teams.