Drillers' Busch belts fifth homer in five games

When Michael Busch takes the next step up the Dodgers’ ladder from Double-A Tulsa to Triple-A Oklahoma City, it’ll only be about a 105-mile trip. His bat looks ready for the journey.

Baseball’s No. 66 overall prospect Busch homered for the fifth time in as many games and added a walk, driving in two runs as Tulsa fell in its Sunday finale at Springfield, 12-8.

Busch had to wait until his penultimate plate appearance to continue his homer surge but did so in the top of the seventh when he cranked a two-run blast to right field to cut his team’s deficit to 7-6.

Having been hit by a pitch in the fifth, the third-ranked Dodgers prospect reached for a third time in his final trip to the plate with a walk in the eighth.

Since an up-and-down start to the season that featured five hitless games but four two-hit games in his first nine, Busch has been on fire over his last six. In that span, the second baseman has gone 9-for-23 with a double to go along with his five homers, driving in nine runs, scoring 10 and compiling a .391/.533/1.087 slash line.

Last year, Busch spent 107 games with Tulsa and batted .267/.386/.484 with 20 homers and 67 RBIs. for the Drillers.

The Dodgers selected Busch out of North Carolina with the 31st overall pick in the 2019 Draft.