NEW YORK— The Yankees snapped their six-game losing streak in grand fashion on Monday, cruising to a 14-1 victory over the Royals in the series opener at Yankee Stadium.

Losers of six straight and 10 of their past 11, the Yankees wasted no time in jumping all over Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie, knocking the veteran right-hander out of the game before he could record an out in the second inning. In the second-shortest start of his career, Guthrie allowed a career-worst 11 earned runs. He gave up four homers and allowed 13 of the 16 batters he faced to reach base.

Eight of those 11 runs -- and three of the homers -- came in the first inning as the Yankees staked right-hander Nathan Eovaldi to an 8-0 lead. New York continued to pour it on in the second inning, as the first two batters reached before Stephen Drew ended Guthrie’s day with another home run, a three-run shot that pushed the lead to 11-0.

That was more than enough for Eovaldi, who limited the Royals to just one run over seven-plus much-needed innings for a taxed pitching staff. New York had received just 6 2/3 combined innings from its starters over the past two games, and it hadn’t seen a starter complete seven since CC Sabathia did so in a 5-1 victory over Kansas City on May 16.

The 14-run outburst matched the Yankees’ season high -- set in a 14-4 victory over the Red Sox on April 12 -- as did the five home runs, first done in an 11-5 win over the Rays on May 11. The 14 hits were two shy of the season-high 16 they collected in the aforementioned win over Boston.

With the victory, the Yankees moved a game above .500 at 23-22.

“We’ve been needing that for a week and a half,” said Brett Gardner, one of four Yankees -- along with Chase Headley, Brian McCann and Drew -- to drive in three runs. “We came out swinging the bats well, and Nathan pitched a really, really good game, which was great to see. Overall, just definitely a good feeling.”

Said Royals manager Ned Yost of Guthrie, “He just didn’t have it. It was one of those days.”