CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Busch engaged in some friendly banter with some of his former teammates before the Chicago Cubs kicked off their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Then he really had some fun.
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Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch reacts after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch signals to the dugout after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch celebrates in the dugout after scoring during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch slides past Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith to score on a single from Nick Madrigal during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch hits a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Busch hit his first homer with Chicago and made a terrific defensive play for the final out of the Cubs' 9-7 victory over the Dodgers on Friday. He was acquired in a January trade with Los Angeles.
“I think Michael's going to be just a kind of consistent presence. I think that's what he is right now,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “And then just trying to stack at-bats for him in this league, and as he does that, I think his offense ... as you get comfortable with what the league can do, he's just going to get better and better.”
Busch walked and scored Chicago's second run in its five-run second inning. He batted again in the third and hit a drive into the basket in right for his third career homer.
“For a second, I thought it wasn't going to get out there,” Busch said. “Just happy to get one on the board.”
Los Angeles had runners on second and third with two out in the ninth when Busch snared James Outman’s liner to first with a diving catch.
“He made a good defensive play at the end,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I'm always rooting for him. Maybe hurt us a little bit today, but I'm always wishing the best for him.”
Busch, 26, was selected by Los Angeles in the first round of the 2019 amateur draft out of the University of North Carolina. He was the Pacific Coast League MVP in 2023, batting .323 with 27 homers and 90 RBIs in 98 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
He also made his major league debut with the Dodgers last year, but the infielder hit just .167 in 27 games for the NL West champions.
Unable to find a regular playing spot on the loaded Dodgers, he was shipped off to Chicago along with reliever Yency Almonte for two prospects.
“I think the organization itself, coming up through it, just had great people. Nothing but good things. Worked hard,” said Busch, who is batting .316 with two RBIs in his first seven games with Chicago.
“I was saying a little earlier, you can put in as much work as you can, but you have to have people around you that, behind the scenes, (hit) ground balls, putting in the work on video and stuff like that. Coaches and players that came up with me, they were awesome. Very thankful for it, for sure.”
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Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch reacts after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch signals to the dugout after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch celebrates in the dugout after scoring during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch slides past Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith to score on a single from Nick Madrigal during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch hits a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Chicago Cubs' Michael Busch celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Friday, April 5, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
BANGKOK (AP) — The death toll from Myanmar's powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake keeps climbing amid rescue efforts.
The military government said Saturday that 1,644 people have been killed, with thousands of others injured and dozens missing.
The earthquake struck midday Friday, followed by several aftershocks, including one that measured 6.4.
In Thailand, the quake rocked the greater Bangkok area, leaving 10 people dead.
Several countries, including Malaysia, Russia and China have dispatched rescue and relief teams.
Here is the latest:
Myanmar’s ruling military said on state television that the confirmed death toll from the 7.7 magnitude earthquake increased to 1,644.
The new total is a sharp rise compared to the 1,002 total announced just hours earlier. The number of injured increased to 3,408, while the missing figure rose to 139 from Friday's quake.
Russia has sent a medical team to Myanmar to care for earthquake victims, a Health Ministry official said.
According to Alexey Kuznetsov, the medics include specialists in infectious diseases, resuscitation and traumatology.
Separately, Russia’s Emergencies Ministry said that two planes carrying Russian rescue workers have landed in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.
Earlier, the ministry reported that a mission, including search and rescue teams, canine units, anaesthesiologists and psychologists, was on its way to the disaster-stricken country.
The ministry said that its rescue teams are equipped with “endoscopes and acoustic devices for searching for people in rubble up to 4.5 meters (nearly 15 feet) deep, as well as ground-penetrating radars and thermal imagers.”
Hong Kong sent a group of 51 search-and-rescue personnel to help with earthquake relief efforts in Myanmar. The group includes firefighters and ambulance personnel as well as two search-and-rescue dogs, among others.
The group brings along nine tons (18,000 pounds) of equipment including life detectors and masonry cutting machines, as well as an automatic satellite tracking antenna system that provides network connection, according to a statement on the Hong Kong government’s website.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show the earthquake toppled the air traffic control tower at Naypyitaw International Airport.
The photos taken Saturday show the tower toppled over as if sheered from its base. Debris lay scattered from the top of the tower, which controlled all air traffic in the capital of Myanmar.
It wasn’t immediately clear if there had been any injuries in the collapse, though the tower would have had staff inside of it at the time of the earthquake Friday. It likely also stopped air traffic into the international airport, given all electronics and radar would have been routed into the tower for controllers.
Flights carrying rescue teams from China have landed at the airport in Yangon instead of going directly to the airports in the major stricken cities of Mandalay and Naypyitaw.
A spokesperson for the China International Development Cooperation Agency said that Beijing will provide Myanmar with 100 million yuan ($13.8 million) in emergency humanitarian aid for earthquake relief efforts.
An additional rescue team of 82 people left Bejing, hours after a different team of emergency responders from the Chinese province of Yunnan, bordering Myanmar, arrived in the earthquake-stricken country.
Additionally, 16 members of the Chinese civil relief squad Blue Sky Rescue Team in the city of Ruili, Yunnan, departed to Muse City in northern Myanmar to help with relief efforts, according to state broadcaster CGTN. Chinese authorities also sent a first batch of 80 tents and 290 blankets.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping extended condolences to Myanmar’s leader Min Aung Hlaing.
The earthquake was felt in parts of China's Yunnan province, though casualties were limited. Two people in Ruili suffered minor injuries and 847 homes were damaged, according to authorities. Some high-rise buildings and older houses in urban areas were also partially damaged, but power and water supplies and transportation and communications lines have been restored.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters says that his government will support relief efforts “via the International Red Cross Movement."
“Our thoughts are with all those who have lost loved ones, and to everyone else affected,” Peters posted on X.
South Korea will send the aid through international organizations to support recovery efforts following the recent earthquake.
The Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that Seoul will closely monitor the situation and consider additional support if needed.
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese rescuers arrive at the Yangon International Airport in Yangon, Myanmar on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Haymhan Aung/Xinhua via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 29, 2025, Russian Emergency Ministry employees gather to board one of two planes with rescuers to Myanmar following Friday's earthquake, from a Moscow airfield, Russia. (Russia Emergency Ministry press service via AP)
Rescuers walk past the ruin of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
People stand near a damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after Friday's earthquake. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Rescue workers help an injured women who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, Myanmar's military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, center, inspects damaged road caused by an earthquake Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)
Rescuers search for victims at the site of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Patients are evacuated outdoors at a hospital after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, March 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Tadchakorn Kitchaiphon)
Rescue workers take an injured man who was trapped under a building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
People wait at the damaged construction site of a high-rise building in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025, as rescuers search for victims following its collapse after an earthquake. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Relatives of workers of a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a strong earthquake wait as rescuers search for victims, in Bangkok, Thailand, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Rescuers work at the site a high-rise building under construction that collapsed after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok, Thailand, early Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Wason Wanichakorn)
Volunteers look for survivors near a damaged building Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)
In this image provided by The Myanmar Military True News Information Team, victims caused by an earthquake is seen compound of government hospital Friday, March 28, 2025, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (The Myanmar Military True News Information Team via AP)
