(Best E Casino) - Manny Ramirez and the National League West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers will resume their four-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight from PNC Park.

Ramirez seems to be enjoying his time on the West Coast, as evidenced by his .395 batting average, 14 home runs and 43 RBI in 42 games with the Dodgers since being acquired from the Boston Red Sox on July 31. Ramirez, who has three homers and nine runs batted in during a six-game hitting streak, finished with three hits and two RBI in Monday's 8-2 victory over the Pirates.

Juan Pierre hit his first home run of the season in a three-hit effort and finished with three runs scored for the Dodgers, who remained 4 1/2 games over Arizona for the division lead. James Loney added three RBI in the win.

The Diamondbacks defeated San Francisco last night to keep pace.

Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda threw seven scoreless innings and gave up three hits while walking one batter in the win, LA's 13th in its last 15 contests.

The Dodgers will hand the ball to Derek Lowe on Tuesday, and he is 5-0 with a 3.03 ERA in five career starts against the Pirates. He has held Pittsburgh to a .198 batting average.

Lowe, who is 13-11 in 31 starts this season, has won three straight outings and five of his last six decisions. He recently defeated San Diego on Wednesday in a 7-2 victory at Petco Park, allowing just one run and three hits in 5 1/3 frames.

Pittsburgh has lost seven of its last 10 games. In Monday's loss to the Dodgers, Adam LaRoche hit a two-run homer for the Pirates, who were coming off a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Bucs starter Ross Ohlendorf lasted three innings in his third start of the season, yielding three runs -- two earned -- on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts to absorb the loss.

Jeff Karstens will handle pitching duties for the Buccos on Tuesday and has lost five straight starts, allowing three or more runs in each of those outings. Karstens had a start scheduled for last Saturday scratched because of an abscessed tooth.

Karstens lasted only three innings his previous time out on September 7 at San Francisco, as he surrendered eight runs -- five earned -- and six hits in an 11-6 setback to the Giants. Karstens fell to 2-5 with a 4.46 ERA in seven starts with Pittsburgh.

The right-handed Texas Tech product, who is 0-4 with a 6.04 earned run average in four PNC Park starts this season, has never faced the Dodgers.

LA won two of three games versus the Pirates at Chavez Ravine from April 14-16. The Dodgers have won five of the last six meetings in this series.