First pitch: Monday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
Line: Boston -175, Cleveland +165, Total: 10

The Cleveland Indians made a statement over the weekend by adding some key additions including Rockies’ ace, Ubaldo Jimenez. The Indians, who are 2½ games out in the AL Central, acted like contenders at the trade deadline but now need to prove they are contenders down the stretch. The Red Sox were relatively quiet over the weekend before landing left-hander Erik Bedard in a three-team deal on Sunday.

Cleveland has not been very strong on the road this year going 24-28, but has enjoyed playing night games where it is a solid 40-32 (+10.2 Units). The Indians have been struggling over their past 10 games (2-8), but Josh Tomlin (11-5, 4.01 ERA) has been good all year and even better of late, going 4-1 in his past eight starts with a 3.81 ERA and 0.92 WHIP. Boston has been terrific against teams with winning records this year (31-11), but has actually been a losing bet at home (-1.2 Units) despite a fantastic record at Fenway (33-19). The Sox are just 9-10 this year when they are home favorites of -150 to -175. Monday’s money line of -175 is a big price to pay with John Lackey on the mound, a pitcher with a 6.20 ERA, and that’s after posting a 2.52 ERA his past four starts. The pick here is CLEVELAND at +165.

Some more FoxSheets trends leaning towards the Indians include this pair:

CLEVELAND is 37-25 (59.7%, +13.4 Units) against the money line when the total is 8.5 to 10 this season. The average score was CLEVELAND 5.0, OPPONENT 4.3 - (Rating = 2*).

CLEVELAND is 18-11 (62.1%, +9.3 Units) against the money line on the road when the total is 8.5 to 10 this season. The average score was CLEVELAND 5.4, OPPONENT 4.3 - (Rating = 1*).

Josh Tomlin beat Boston April 5, by throwing a seven-inning, one-run gem. The Red Sox have batted a lowly .149 (7-for-47) the two times they faced Tomlin in his career. Tomlin also pitched very well his last start, going eight innings and allowing two earned runs on only four hits but suffered an unfortunate loss. His control has been unbelievable this year, as Tomlin has just 10 total walks in his past 121 innings, refusing to give up more than one free pass in any of these 19 starts. The Indians need their slugger, Travis Hafner (.294 BA, 9 HR, 42 RBI) to pick up his bat in the middle of the lineup. Hafner has gone 3-for-27 over his past eight games in which the Tribe are 2-6.

John Lackey has been terrific his past four starts (4-0, 2.52 ERA, 21 K, 3 BB) but it his hard to forget about the struggles he withstood before this recent string. A month ago, Lackey’s ERA was at a sky-high 7.47. He has also struggled against Cleveland in recent years. In his past five starts against the Indians, he has a 6.91 ERA and 1.74 WHIP. Lackey has recently benefited from the red-hot Boston lineup, receiving 26 runs of support in 25 innings pitched. Dustin Pedroia (.301 BA, 15 HR, 57 RBI) has been tearing the cover off the ball, hitting safely in 45 of his past 48 games.