(Sports Network) - The Tampa Bay Rays have occupied first place in the American League East for nearly two months, but a change at the top could take place when the Boston Red Sox vie for a second straight victory over the division leaders tonight at Fenway Park.

Boston closed within a mere half-game of the Rays in the East standings with a 3-0 triumph in Monday's opener of this crucial three-game series. Jon Lester and Jonathan Papelbon combined on a seven-hit shutout as the defending champion Red Sox recorded their sixth win in their last seven games.

Lester (14-5) yielded six hits and racked up nine strikeouts over the first 7 2/3 innings before turning things over to Papelbon. The All-Star closer got the final four outs -- three via strikeout -- to notch his 36th save of the year.

Jason Bay went 2-for-3 with a solo home run for Boston, which scored all of its runs in the bottom of the first inning. David Ortiz doubled in the first run and scored on Kevin Youkilis' single for a 2-0 lead.

Edwin Jackson (11-10) settled down after that rough beginning, as the Rays starter held the Sox scoreless over the remainder of his seven-inning stint.

Tampa Bay entered September with a 5 1/2-game advantage over Boston in the division race, but the young club has lost four in a row and gone just 1-6 so far during the month. The Rays have been in first place in the East since July 18.

Both teams will send out one of their top pitchers in tonight's clash, with 16-game winner Daisuke Matsuzaka slated to take the mound for the Sox and Tampa Bay countering with ace Scott Kazmir.

Matsuzaka has won five consecutive decisions to run his season record to a remarkable 16-2, and he's allowed two runs or less in each of those victories. The Japanese sensation is coming off a no-decision, though, against Baltimore last Wednesday in which he was reached for four runs (3 earned) in six innings.

Prior to that outing, Matsuzaka gave up only two hits over eight shutout innings to lead the Red Sox to an 8-0 home win over Chicago on August 29.

The second-year major leaguer is just 1-3 in six career matchups with Tampa Bay while posting a 3.79 earned run average over that span. In his lone encounter with the Rays this season, Matsuzaka received a no-decision on July 2 despite tossing five innings of one-run ball.

Kazmir has put together dominant performances in each of his last two starts and is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA over his last four mound trips. The hard-throwing lefty backed up a 5 1/3 shutout inning effort against Baltimore on August 29 by limiting the Yankees to one hit through six scoreless frames this past Thursday at Tropicana Field.

The 24-year-old has been less effective on the road than at home this year, however. Kazmir is 4-5 with a 3.96 ERA in 11 away starts, compared to a 7-1 mark with a 2.10 ERA at the Trop.

Kazmir owns a 6-6 record with a 3.02 ERA in 19 career starts against Boston, but suffered a loss at Fenway Park in his belated 2008 debut on May 4. The former first-round pick allowed four runs (3 earned) on six hits in four innings that day.

He'll be attempting to end Tampa's nine-game losing streak in Boston, where the Rays have gone a woeful 5-30 since 2005.

The home team has dominated this year's season series between these AL East foes, with the Red Sox winning all seven games against the Rays in Fenway and Tampa Bay having gone 6-0 against Boston at Tropicana Field.