Evening Shade: After early sweep, Indians and Red Sox meet again

Some weekday evenings,�the�Stew�looks at a few approaching games that will be worth monitoring Feel free to discuss the night's happenings in the comments below.

Red Sox at Indians, 7:05 ET It wasn't that long ago ? April 5-7, to be exact ? when �a Cleveland sweep of Boston was considered an early season novelty. The Tribe, after all, couldn't really be�that good and the Red Sox couldn't really be�that bad.

About 40 games later, only one of those presuppositions are true. The 25-21 Red Sox have crawled their way back into the AL East race and a better showing against the league's best team �? yes, still those same Indians, who used that sweep as a springboard to early momentum ? would go a long way into helping them forget their early season stumbles.

It's also an interesting pitching matchup tonight as Clay Buchholz and Justin Masterson once spent their lives in Boston's minor league system, shaking off rumors they'd be a prized piece in a trade somewhere else. Masterson eventually lost that battle, heading to Cleveland in the Victor Martinez trade. He (and John Lackey and Daisuke Matsuzaka) has done his best to make the Red Sox regret that trade this season, posting a 5-2 record with a 2.42 ERA so far.

Rays at Tigers, 7:05 Two of Boston and Cleveland's closest competitors are squaring off just down the road and it's a fairly pivotal series for both squads. The Rays are trying to shake off the funk of a recent 2-6 skid while the 23-23 Tigers are looking to make a solid move past .500 with a 10-game homestand that starts tonight.

Reds at Phillies, 7:05 Chase Utley is back in Philly and so is Cincinnati for the first time since last fall's NLDS sweep. The Reds are looking to stop a five-game losing streak, but the signs are far from encouraging. Cole Hamels is a career 6-0 with a 1.07 ERA against the Reds, who have lost eight straight games at Citizens Bank Park.

White Sox at Rangers, 8:05 Chicago may be succeeding with a six-man pitching rotation, but John Danks points out that it's taking him�that much longer to record his first win of the season. The 0-6, 4.32 pitcher will get another chance against a Rangers lineup that is welcoming back�its two most powerful hitters.

Mariners at Twins, 8:10 Seattle trails first-place Texas by 1.5 games in the AL West standings. Minnesota, meanwhile, trails Seattle by 6.5 games in the overall AL standings. Can't decide which I would have considered more unlikely at the start of the season.

Lori Heuring Nicole Scherzinger Jill Arrington Tami Donaldson Padma Lakshmi