Yes, the Bees were loose, Salt Lake manager Bobby Mitchell said before his team unleashed a flurry of hits enroute to a 13-10 win over the Sacramento River Cats at Raley Field.

The best-of-five series remains in Sacramento for Game 2 tonight before heading to Franklin Covey Field on Friday. "We've never been tight," Mitchell said. "I think going into the playoffs you go in more relaxed. The stats don't count as much."

That's not to say Wednesday's stats weren't impressive. Salt Lake tallied a record-breaking 19 hits, of which four were home runs, in the win over the River Cats. The Bees dropped seven straight to Sacramento earlier this season and lost the season series 5-11.

The winner of this series will advance to the PCL championship.

Salt Lake bats were hot early in the first inning as the Bees recorded two home runs in three at bats. Freddy Sandoval sent a 0-1 pitch over right field and Matt Brown followed him over left field for the 2-0 lead.

That marked the second time this season that Sandoval and Brown hit back-to-back home runs after previously recording the feat July 1 in Las Vegas.

Brown led the Bees with two home runs after going 5-for-6 at the plate. The River Cats put their first run on the scoreboard in the second inning with a solo home run from second baseman Brooks Conrad. Sacramento added two more runs in the second inning for their only lead of the night at 3-2.

The third inning welcomed the top of Salt Lake's lineup as the Bees logged three consecutive singles to drive in Brad Coon. Bobby Wilson's double drove in another run before the Bees loaded the bases with one out.

That was all Terry Evans needed, sending a single to left field for two RBIs. After a fifth run scored in the third inning the River Cats yanked starting pitcher Brad Knox, who gave up 11 hits during his 2 1/3 inning outing.

The River Cats logged a home run in the fourth, but the Bees rallied for another five-run inning in the fifth and a solo home run in the sixth for the 13-7 lead. The River Cats added two runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 13-9 Bees lead, which would hold until the eighth inning.

Sacramento loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, but were only able to capitalize with one run to end scoring for the night.