(Sports Network) - Southpaw Manny Parra tries to end a seven-start drought tonight when the Milwaukee Brewers open a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

Parra, who reached the majors and made nine appearances with the Brewers last season, began 2008 with a 5-4 defeat of San Francisco on April 5.

He's 0-2 with five no-decisions since, however, including a 6 2/3-inning stint against the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 14, in which he surrendered seven hits and an earned run.

Los Angeles won the game, 6-4.

Parra, who's 0-2 with an 8.25 earned run average on the road this season, has never faced the Pirates.

Lefty Paul Maholm looks for his first win in May for Pittsburgh.

The former first-round draft pick - eighth overall in 2003 - was 2-3 with a 4.58 ERA in six starts in April, but has since gone 0-2 with a no-decision in the season's second month.

He dropped a 5-1 verdict to St. Louis on May 14, allowing 11 hits and four runs in six innings.

Maholm is 2-2 in five career starts against the Brewers with a 3.98 ERA in 31 2/3 innings.

On Sunday in Chicago, Jason Marquis snapped a personal three-game losing streak, tossing six strong innings to help the Cubs edge the Pirates, 4-3, in the finale of a three-game set at Wrigley Field.

Phil Dumatrait (1-2) was roughed up for four runs on four hits and seven walks in the loss for the Pirates, who dropped two of three over the weekend.

Adam LaRoche was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, knocking in all three Pittsburgh runs, and Freddy Sanchez doubled and scored a run.

In Boston, David Ortiz homered twice, doubled and drove in four runs, leading the Red Sox to an 11-7 victory over the Brewers and a sweep of the three-game series at Fenway Park.

The Brewers clubbed four home runs off Josh Beckett, including two by Ryan Braun. J.J. Hardy and Prince Fielder also connected for homers, but Milwaukee still lost its fifth straight overall and has dropped nine in a row on the road.

Milwaukee starter Carlos Villanueva (2-5), coming off a victory against the Dodgers five days ago, surrendered six runs -- five earned -- on five hits and three walks over four innings to absorb the loss.

Milwaukee won 10 of its 16 matchups with the Pirates a year ago, but was just 2-5 in the Steel City. The Brewers are also just 5-12 in Pittsburgh since the start of the 2006 season.