DENVER (AP) - Ten batters was all it took for Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bronson Arroyo to tie a dubious franchise record. He gave up three homers in that span and was knocked out in the second inning of the Reds' 12-7 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.

The three homers pushed Arroyo's total to 40 and tied him with Eric Milton for the most allowed by a Reds pitcher in a season. Milton set the mark in 2005, and Arroyo has a good chance to top in with three starts remaining.

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``They said on TV that 60 percent of the runs I've given up are on homers. That's a lot,' said Arroyo, who is 8-11 with a 5.28 ERA.

He avoided taking the loss despite giving up six runs in one inning.

``You can only pitch your style of game. It's a round baseball and a round bat. You can't dictate if the ball is going to go up or down. I've got three starts left. Any way you cut it, even if I ended it with three no-hitters, it wouldn't be a good season in my mind. You take your licks and you come back and try and have a better season next year.'

Mark Ellis began a four-run barrage in the first with a homer, his fifth since joining the Rockies and fourth at Coors Field. Carlos Gonzalez lined a double off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field. Troy Tulowitzki, back in the lineup after left hip soreness kept him out Friday, singled home Gonzalez.

Jason Giambi hit a two-run homer to straightaway center field for his 13th shot of the season and No. 428 overall. He moved past Mike Piazza and into 42nd place on baseball's career list.

Rockies pitcher Alex White led off the second with his first major league hit, a double that went over the head of right fielder Jay Bruce, who was fighting the sun. Dexter Fowler followed with his fifth home run, a drive that finished Arroyo's day.

``Looked like he was getting balls over the heart of the plate and up,' Reds manager Dusty Baker said. ``That doesn't favor well in this ballpark. He hung a couple breaking balls, a couple of fastballs were centered. Balls missed location. That's all it takes here. Same thing happened to White on their side.'

Arroyo tied his career low with one inning, something he also did in 2008 and 2009. He is 0-2 at Coors Field with an 8.84 ERA in 10 games, including eight starts, but didn't blame his troubles on the altitude.

``Their guys got to (deal with) the same thing,' Arroyo said. ``It's not like it's an unfair fight. I don't think you can get accustomed to that. The air isn't going to change. I've had a difficult time with this lineup over the years, especially at this ballpark. I don't see them a whole lot. It's hard to have a concrete game plan. You're unsure of guys' mental processes at the plate, to be able to pick them apart.'

White (2-1), making his fourth start for the Rockies after being acquired July 31 in the trade that sent pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez to Cleveland, tied a Rockies record by allowing five home runs, including three in succession. He gave up seven runs in five innings.

Staked to a 6-1 lead after two innings, White gave up a solo homer to Chris Heisey in the third and a two-run shot to Juan Francisco after walking Bruce with two out.

The Reds teed off on White with one out in the fifth, when Heisey, Joey Votto and Bruce hit successive home runs in a nine-pitch sequence that tied the game at 7. White, 23, regrouped and got two fly ball outs to finish an outing that included just four outs on ground balls - two in the first inning.

``It's really embarrassing, to be honest,' said White, who has allowed nine homers in 22 innings with the Rockies and has an 8.18 ERA. ``I'm pretty bad right now. It's amazing that I still get the win there, because I certainly don't deserve it. The team picked me up, and I got out of there with it still tied.'

White ended up with the win because Jordan Pacheco broke a 7-all tie in the fifth with his first career homer against Matt Maloney (0-2). The Rockies added four runs in the eighth, the final two scoring on Pacheco's two-out single. Four relievers combined to hold the Reds to one hit over the final four innings.

``This was a Coors Field day,' Baker said. ``I had visions of 15-12. Bronson didn't have it early. We fought back, tied it up but couldn't score any more. Their bullpen shut us down. We gave up some. We had some bouts of wildness. Big base hit by Pacheco really hurt us.

``We put guys out there, everyone wants to see what they can do. We played almost all our guys. We're trying to win and evaluate at the same time.'

Notes: White is the third Rockies pitcher to allow five home runs in a game but the first to do it after the 2002 installation of the humidor at Coors Field. ... Rockies 2B Mark Ellis left the game in the sixth after getting hit in the head by a pitch from Carlos Fisher. Ellis sat up right away after being hit and walked off the field unaided. ... The last time the Reds hit three consecutive homers was Aug. 13, 2006, at Philadelphia when Juan Encarnacion, Adam Dunn and Rich Aurilia did it. ... Heisey has had three two-homer games in his career, all this season. ... Left-hander Drew Pomeranz will make his major league debut and start for the Rockies on Sunday. Edinson Volquez, 5-4 with a 5.93 ERA, will make his first start for the Reds since July 5. He went 3-2 with a 2.47 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A Louisville after being sent down.