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(Sports Network) - The New York Yankees are focused on catching the Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox in the American League East race. They might want to turn their attention to the Toronto Blue Jays as well.

Toronto takes aim at a third straight victory over a divisional foe when the Blue Jays begin a key three-game series with the Bronx Bombers tonight at Rogers Centre.

The Blue Jays enter this set just two games back of the struggling Yankees for third place in the AL East after winning five times during last weeks six- game road trip. Toronto capped the successful trek by taking both matchups of a rain-shortened series with the defending world champion Red Sox in Fenway Park, including an impressive 15-4 rout in Sundays finale.

Alex Rios led a 22-hit Toronto onslaught by going 5-for-6 and tying a club record with four doubles. The athletic outfielder knocked in a pair of runs as well and is batting .433 (13-for-30) with eight extra-base hits during a seven-game hitting streak.

Adam Lind, John McDonald, Lyle Overbay and Marco Scutaro each collected three hits for the Blue Jays, who set a team record with 10 doubles in the win. Lind homered and finished with four RBI, while McDonald drove in three runs on the afternoon.

Shaun Marcum (8-5) did his part on the mound as well, with the Toronto starter limiting the Red Sox to one run on five hits before exiting after five innings.

The Blue Jays will be embarking on a crucial six-game homestand against the Yankees and Boston beginning tonight. Toronto is a solid 34-26 as the host this season but has dropped its last three at Rogers Centre.

A.J. Burnett has played a key role in the Jays' second-half surge and will shoot for his sixth straight winning start when he takes the mound in this evening's opener. The enigmatic right-hander is 6-1 with a 3.20 earned run average over his last seven outings and ranks third among AL hurlers with 15 wins on the season.

Burnett's outstanding seven-start run began with a dominant showing against the Yankees up north on July 13. He worked 8 1/3 innings in that game and yielded just one run on six hits while striking out eight.

The oft-injured pitcher wasn't as sharp in his most recent mound trip, but still managed to defeat Detroit on August 12. He served up three solo homers and allowed four runs over six innings in Toronto's 6-4 triumph.

Burnett is an impressive 5-2 with a 2.85 ERA in eight career starts against New York and has won both his matchups with the Yankees this year. Hes pitched a total of 14 1/3 innings in those two contests and surrendered just three runs.

New York starts today's play 5 1/2 games in back of the rival Red Sox for the lead in the AL wild-card race and has lost six of its last nine games. The Yankees did win the final two tests of a three-game weekend series at home against Kansas City and had their offense clicking as well in Sundays rubber match.

The Yankees banged out four home runs and 17 hits to roll to a 15-6 victory over the Royals on Sunday, with Alex Rodriguez leading the way with a 3-for-3, five-RBI performance that included his 28th homer of the year.

Jason Giambi belted a grand slam for New York, while Xavier Nady finished 2- for-4 with a solo home run. Cody Ransom, called up from the minor leagues on Friday, had a pinch-hit two-run homer in his first at-bat as a Yankee.

Nady has now homered seven times in 77 at-bats since being acquired from the Yankees from Pittsburgh on July 26 and is hitting .312 with 18 RBI in 21 games with his new team.

Mike Mussina (16-7) rebounded from a shaky first inning on Sunday to became the AL's second 16-game winner this season. The veteran righty gave up three runs in the opening frame, then proceeded to hold the Royals scoreless over the remainder of his six-inning stint.

New York will pin its hopes tonight on Darrell Rasner, who seeks to end a lengthy winless streak. The right-hander is 0-2 over his last five appearances and 1-5 with an ugly 6.80 ERA in nine games since beating San Diego on June 18. He has pitched six innings only one time during that troubling stretch.

Rasner wasn't bad in Wednesday's start at Minnesota, where he allowed three runs -- two earned -- on just four hits in five innings. He still found himself on the losing end of a 4-2 decision to the Twins.

The 27-year-olds most recent win came against the Blue Jays in Toronto back on July 12. He gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits and struck out six over five innings of work. Rasner is 2-0 with a 4.91 ERA in a pair of starts versus Toronto, both of which have taken place at Rogers Centre.

The Yankees hold a 5-4 edge in this year's season series with the Blue Jays, but lost two of three games in their lone visit to Toronto so far in 2008.