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BOSTON -- Stunned by an eight-run rally Sunday night that cost them the series finale against the Kansas City Royals, the Boston Red Sox look to Rick Porcello to reverse their fortunes.Porcello brings a 12-0 home record to the mound in the opener of a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night at Fenway Park.Porcello will face fellow right-hander Matt Andriese in a rematch of a game last Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Neither pitcher earned a decision in that game, won 4-3 by the Rays in 11 innings, and Porcello takes his second shot at a major-league-leading 18th win in the rematch.He will bid to become the first Red Sox pitcher in 70 years to start a season 13-0 at home.In the first year of a five-year contract extension worth $82.5 million, Porcello (17-3, 3.23 ERA) is a legitimate Cy Young Award candidate.I think the one thing was that we werent sure as time went on if he would take the jump to be a top-of-the-rotation guy once we had him, Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in a recent WEEI interview. We looked at him maybe as a middle-of-the-rotation type.As David Price has lived through his ups and downs in his first year in Boston, and as Steven Wright has emerged as a pleasant surprise, Porcello has flown under the radar and run up his strongest major league season.Dombrowski traded Porcello away from the Tigers to the Red Sox and then inherited the pitcher during Porcellos 9-15 first season in Boston. The Red Sox signed him to the big contract four months after acquiring him from Detroit but before he threw a regular-season pitch with his new team.Since May 22, he is 11-1 with a 3.12 ERA, and he is 3-1 with a 2.39 ERA in August. At Tampa Bay last week, Porcello pitched 7 2/3 innings of three-run ball, striking out eight without issuing a walk.The current Rays roster has a collective .272 batting average against Porcello, with Brad Miller hitting three home runs among his four hits in 15 at-bats against the right-hander. Evan Longoria (10-for-40) and Corey Dickerson (3-for-13) have also homered against Porcello.Longoria has 15 homers in 72 games at Fenway Park.Andriese (6-5, 3.71 ERA) has pitched twice against Boston this year -- an impressive two-inning relief outing at Fenway Park on July 10, during which he struck out five, and last weeks quality start, when he gave up three runs in six innings. Andriese fanned eight and walked one Wednesday.He is 0-3 with a 5.63 ERA in eight appearances since the All-Star break, but Andriese, who turned 27 on Sunday, said he was eager to face the potent Red Sox again.The last-place Rays (55-74) won the final two games to earn a split of the four-game series with the Red Sox last week. Tampa Bay lost the first two in Houston before beating the Astros 10-4 on Sunday.Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash is not pleased with his clubs fundamentals.As a staff, were losing sleep over it, Cash said Sunday, according to the Tampa Bay Tribune. Look, weve got a group of some young players here. Were always going to have young players. But at some point those young players, even though they are young, weve got find a way to impact them to where theyre making positive decisions and adjustments in their game.Weve spent a lot of time talking about it, what can we do better this last month, what we can address more of. Its going to take all of us, myself, getting a little more hands-on and coaching these guys, trying to play it out how its going to happen before it actually does. I think thered be some benefit to that.The Red Sox, who still have to go back to St. Petersburg from Sept. 23-25, lead the season series with the Rays 7-6, going 4-2 at Fenway Park.Boston lost two of three to the Royals over the weekend, including a 10-4 setback Sunday night. Kansas City trailed 4-2 entering the sixth inning before erupting for its biggest inning in three years.The Red Sox (72-58) are two games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East, and they are a game ahead of the Baltimore Orioles for the first AL wild card. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Sale . The Cincinnati Reds remain perfect with their speedy rookie outfielder in the starting lineup. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys China . Blackwood, 28, has played the last three seasons in the San Diego Padres system, including the past two summers with Class AA San Antonio of the Texas League. https://www.customnikebaseballjerseys.com/ . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Custom Nike Washington Nationals Jerseys . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Online . "Thank you for the warm welcome," Beckham said on an 80-degree February morning. In this case, it was soccer weather. The sport moved a step closer to returning to South Florida on Wednesday, when Beckham confirmed he has exercised his option to purchase a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami. Rafael Nadal will return from a wrist injury to play an exhibition in late December in United Arab Emirates.The 14-time Grand Slam champion said Monday on his Facebook page he will compete in the six-player, $250,000 Mubadala World Tennis Championship. The event is not connected to the ATP Tour and will be held in Abu Dhabi from Dec. 29-31.Top-ranked Andy Murray is also scheduled to play, as is fourth-ranked Milos Raonic. Nadal beat Raonic in the previous final.Last month, Nadal said he was cutting short his 2016 season to fully recover from an injured left wrist that sidelined him for more than two months this season.The 30-year-old Spaniard recently missed a tournament in Basel, Switzerland, and last weeks Paris Masters.ddddddddddddHe also will miss the season-ending ATP Finals that begin Sunday in London.Nadal said he intensified his recovery to play in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August, causing wrist pain in every tournament after that. He won the doubles gold medal in Rio. He lost in the singles semifinals and the third-place match.Earlier in the year, the injury forced Nadal to withdraw from the French Open before the third round and skip Wimbledon altogether. ' ' '