PORTLAND — While most of the Portland Sea Dogs were focused on tonight’s home-opener against the Trenton Thunder, Josh Stevens was looking a little bit ahead.

Stevens, a right-hander who the Red Sox signed as a free agent back in November, will get the start Saturday afternoon against the Thunder.

The catch?

Stevens played with most of the players on Trenton’s roster last season in Class A Tampa and Norwich, when he was property of the Yankees. With the Yankees having taken the Red Sox place in Trenton, it makes for an interesting match-up for the 23-year-old.

“It’s going to be fun,” said Stevens. “I got a call from (Trenton pitcher) Mike Knowles (Tuesday) night. They were on a bus and I could here all the guys in the background ragging on me.”

It’s also a chance for Stevens to taste the Red Sox/Yankee rivalry from a different perspective. “I always heard all the talk about how we had to beat the Red Sox,’ said Stevens. “It’s interesting being on the other side now. It’s like night and day.”

Stevens went 1-1 with a 3.83 ERA in 24 appearances last season for Norwich, the eventual Eastern League champions.

“The playoffs were awesome,” said Stevens. “I got a ring. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

Wall ball

Tonayne (Tee) Brown will get the start in left field for the Sea Dogs, meaning he will be the first player to try to figure out the caroms of the new wall.

“I told him to go out there and introduce himself to him,” joked Sea Dogs manager Ron Johnson. “It’s exciting,” said Brown, who led the Eastern League with nine triples for Trenton last season. “It’s like a little piece of Fenway.”

This and that

Red Sox great Johnny Pesky will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.An unprecedented number of media credentials have been requested for tonight’s home-opener, including from both print and broadcast media in Boston and from the Hartford Courant.A record crowd turned out for the annual meet-and-greet with the team at the Portland Expo Wednesday night. “We usually get 400-450 people,” said Michael Tarpinian of Youth Alternatives, which is the beneficiary of the event. “We’ve got about 550 tonight.”.The pitching matchups for the rest of the series are Portland’s Tim Kester against Trenton’s Chien Ming-Wang on Friday, Stevens opposite Charlie Manning on Saturday and Greg Montalbano versus Javier Ortiz in the series finale on Sunday.Saturday’s game has been dubbed “Pay by the Temperature Day.” Fans who purchase general admission seats to the game will pay 10 cents (five cents for children and seniors) per each degree it is at the time. The ticket office will open at 9 a.m.

[email protected]