ARIZONA (Reuters) - The Arizona Diamondbacks scorched struggling pitcher A.J. Burnett to slug their way to a 10-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Monday.
The Diamondbacks smashed three home runs in the first inning alone, where they scored five times to drop Burnett to his fourth straight loss.
Justin Upton hit two homers on the night and finished 3-for-3 with four RBIs, while Adam LaRoche had a three-run blast in the first.
"We talked about getting to him early and putting pressure on him, and we did," D-Backs manager A.J. Hinch told the Arizona Republic.
Burnett (6-6) lasted just four innings and surrendered seven runs while working with catcher Jorge Posada.
The two players had trouble finding chemistry a year ago leading Burnett to pitch exclusively to Jose Molina who is no longer with the team.
Burnett has now coughed up 12 home runs in his last nine starts.
Opposing pitcher Rodrigo Lopez threw eight innings and got the win to snap his own four-game losing streak.
He got plenty of help from the Arizona (28-43) offense including three hits and two RBIs from Miguel Montero.
"Getting those runs early helped me out a lot," Lopez said. "It got me motivated, and I was really hitting the strike zone."
Brett Gardner went 4-for-4 for New York which scored twice in the sixth to cut their deficit to 7-3 before Upton drilled his three-run shot in the eighth.
The Yankees (43-27) maintained their Major League best record and have a half-game lead over the idle Tampa Bay Rays.
(Reporting by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Alastair Himmer)
