(My Sportsbook) - Coming off a weekend series in which they were shut out twice, the Pittsburgh Pirates can't be too happy that the Milwaukee Brewers are coming to town. Pittsburgh will attempt to halt a 15-game losing streak to Milwaukee this evening in the opener of a two-game set at PNC Park.

The Pirates haven't bested the Brewers since a home victory on May 22 of last year. Pittsburgh's current slide to Milwaukee includes a three-game sweep at Miller Park from April 27-29. The two clubs have met in Pittsburgh just once over this current streak, with the Brewers winning all three meetings in late August of last season.

Overall, Milwaukee has won 21 of the last 24 meetings in the series and five of the last six held at PNC Park.

Pittsburgh's offense doesn't come in on a roll either. The club has been blanked in three of its last four games, beginning with a 1-0 loss to the Brewers on Wednesday. The Pirates then failed to score in two of their three meetings with Cincinnati over the weekend, including a 5-0 loss on Sunday in the rubber match.

Andy LaRoche had two of Pittsburgh's four hits in the club's fifth loss in six games. Jeff Karstens (1-1) was saddled with the loss, allowing five runs -- four earned -- on six hits and four walks.

The Pirates faced 23-year-old Yovani Gallardo in that 1-0 loss on Wednesday and do so again tonight. Gallardo lasted eight innings versus the Pirates, allowing just two hits and a walk while fanning 11 batters to win his second straight start. He also provided all the offense for Milwaukee, hitting a solo homer in the seventh inning to become the first pitcher to win a 1-0 game with his own long ball since Odalis Perez in 2002.

Gallardo, who had tossed a complete game in Houston in his previous start, is 3-1 with a 2.86 earned run average on the year. The righty is also now 3-1 with a 1.95 ERA in five lifetime games (4 starts) versus Pittsburgh.

Paul Maholm will get a chance to improve his career numbers versus Milwaukee tonight. The left-hander is just 2-5 with a 4.59 ERA in 11 starts against the Brewers and did not factor in the decision of last Tuesday's loss to them. Maholm pitched just 5 1/3 innings and allowed five runs on seven hits and five walks.

Maholm has now allowed nine runs over his last two starts, pushing his ERA from 0.87 to 3.09. Milwaukee's Bill Hall homered off Maholm last week, while Ryan Braun had a pair of hits and two RBI off him.

Maholm might not have to face Braun this evening, though, as the outfielder has missed the last two games due to a back issue that has him day-to-day. Milwaukee survived without him on Sunday, winning 4-3 versus Arizona on Sunday on Chris Duffy's run-scoring groundout in the eighth inning.

Prince Fielder and Mike Cameron each homered for the Brewers, who finished up a 5-2 homestand that began with the sweep of Pittsburgh. Mitch Stetter (1-0) hurled a perfect top of the eighth to get the win and Trevor Hoffman closed the door in the ninth for his third save of the season.