The Salt Lake Bees and Sacramento River Cats pounded each others' pitching staffs Monday, and when the dust finally cleared at Franklin Covey Field, the Bees escaped with a 16-11 win.

The 16 runs are the highest run total of the year for Salt Lake (42-36), which kept pace with Colorado Springs for first place in the PCL's Pacific Northern division.

Salt Lake did most of its damage in the fifth inning, exploding for six runs on just four hits, but they included three home runs, including a three-run shot by designated hitter Jeff Mathis. The slugfest against Sacramento reliever David Shafer gave Salt Lake a 12-4 lead at the time.

Sacramento, however, answered with a five-run inning of its own in the seventh to cut the Bees' lead to 12-9 and it added another run in the eighth to get within two at 12-10.

The Bees, however, weren't done, adding another four runs in their half of the inning to extend their lead to 16-10.

The River Cats (43-35) added a home run in the ninth to get within five at 16-11 before Bees closer Marcus Gwyn got three straight outs to end the game.

Bees manager Brian Harper heaped praise on the contribution of Greg Porter, playing in his first game in Salt Lake. Porter finished 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and a walk. "Greg added a real spark in batting practice and it just carried over into the game," Harper said.

In the race for first in the division, Salt Lake and Colorado play each other eight times over the next two weeks before the all-star break.

"It's going to be a good race," Harper said. "The Rockies are playing well and so you'll see a lot of their players going up and down to the big club as will our players with the Angels." In the second inning, Sacramento starter Mario Ramos walked the first two batters and Porter drove them home with a high fly ball to deep left that bounced off the fence for a standup double. Adam Pavkovich doubled Porter home to give the Bees a 3-0 lead.

In the third, Mike Eylward hit a solo home run over the berm in left field to make it 4-0.

The River Cats roared back in the fourth scoring four runs on four straight hits and two sacrifice flies.

The Bees retook the lead 6-4 in the bottom of the inning, cashing in on Casey Smith's triple and RBI singles by Brandon Wood and Ryan Budde.

Sacramento threatened in the fifth with runners on second and third and two out, Budde, the Bees catcher, picked off River Cat Jorge Piedra at second base to end the threat and setting the stage for the Bees' slugfest.

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E-mail: jringwood@desnews.com