Bees hammer Cubs as 3 players homer

Joe Saunders threw eight strong innings and three Bees homered as Salt Lake posted an 8-2 victory Saturday over the Iowa Cubs in Des Moines, Iowa.

With the victory, Salt Lake remains in first place in the PCL's North Division.

Saunders allowed just four hits, struck out seven and walked one in improving his season record to 5-1.

The lefty was never in serious trouble and faced the minimum three batters in five of his eight innings. The Cubs scored both of their runs on solo leadoff homers.

The Bees, on the other hand, pounded out 11 hits. They took a quick lead in the first inning against Iowa starter Raul Valdes (1-3) on a two-run homer by Kendry Morales and never trailed.

Casey Smith had three hits and three RBIs to lead the Salt Lake attack. Erick Aybar pounded a solo shot, his fourth homer of the season, in the third inning, and catcher Jeff Mathis drove his first homer of the season to center in the fourth. Mathis' hit extended his hitting streak to nine games.

Curtis Pride had two hits and scored two runs, as the Bees raised their record to 9-1 in the first game of a series.

The Cubs and Bees play Game 2 of their four-game series today at noon.