WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Bregman wasn’t worried even as he grinded through an unremarkable first half in his opening months with the Chicago Cubs. He validated that attitude Wednesday night.
Bregman hit three homers in a game or the first time in Chicago’s 12-6 rout of the Washington Nationals, continuing a torrid stretch in recent weeks.
The 32-year-old, who signed a five-year, $175 million deal in January, is hitting .388 (26 for 67) with six homers and 17 RBIs in 16 games since July 27, and he has the most hits in the majors in that span. He’s homered four times in the first two games of the series at Washington, and six of his 16 homers this season have come against the Nationals.
“Feel like the last month or so has been a step in the right direction, but really the last two days have been a real step in the right direction,” said Bregman, whose seven RBIs were also a career high.
The Cubs scored in only three innings, but Bregman was a significant part of each rally.
After walking in his first two plate appearances Wednesday, Bregman lofted a sweeper from Jake Bird into the visitors' bullpen in left for a three-run blast to cap a four-run fifth.
In his next trip, he pulled a two-run shot to left off Yovanny Cruz as the final blow in a five-run sixth that made it 9-4.
In the eighth, Bregman homered in his third consecutive at-bat, sending a fastball from Trevor Williams into the Cubs bullpen to drive in Seiya Suzuki.
“We watched it in spring, with what he’s capable of doing, and you’ve seen it his whole career,” said shortstop Dansby Swanson, who also homered in the eighth. “He’s a special player when he’s going right.”
It was Bregman’s ninth career multi-homer game and his second against Washington this season. He also is the second Cub to hit three homers in a game, joining Swanson’s effort against San Diego on July 1.
Bregman has nine homers in 26 games since July 11 after hitting seven in his first 92 games as a Cub.
“I think that’s why this is a good team,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We have a different guy who can do that any day, maybe. Dansby’s done it. Pete (Crow-Armstrong)’s certainly done it. Ian (Happ)’s done it. Seiya’s done it. It’s pretty cool and that’s a great game. He definitely drove the bus today.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Chicago Cubs' Alex Bregman is greeted by Cubs third base coach Quintin Berry (0) after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Chicago Cubs' Alex Bregman (3) is greeted by teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Chicago Cubs' Seiya Suzuki, left, greets Cubs' Alex Bregman at home plate after Bergman drove him in on a two-run home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
PEREIRA, Colombia (AP) — Tons of aid from regional partners began to roll into Colombia on Wednesday, as the search for survivors in the rubble of a powerful earthquake grew more desperate after the temblor razed buildings, buckled roads and crushed cars.
The devastation has tested Colombia’s new president, Abelardo de la Espriella, and his government as it scrambles to respond to the disaster and civil society as it pushes to provide aid to the most affected communities.
De la Espriella said Wednesday evening that at least 265 people died in the 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the country's west on Monday. The president said nearly 500 people were reported missing, though civilian-run databases put that number at more than 4,100. In total, more than 25,800 families were impacted, de la Espriella said.
“Our efforts are focused on the disappeared,” he told journalists in Colombia's capital.
Teams continued to pick through the rubble in the hardest-hit cities of Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdo, as time ticked away for victims to be found — and rescued — alive. Aid agencies consider the first 48 to 72 hours crucial for retrieving survivors, though that threshold can be extended if those trapped have access to food and water.
On Wednesday afternoon, Alejandro Eder, the mayor of Cali, told reporters that rescue teams continue to find signs of people alive under the rubble and are racing to save them.
“The next 20 hours are the most critical to find and rescue people alive,” he said. “Every minute is vital.”
In Pereira, rescuers pulled Daniela Largo alive from the rubble late Tuesday, capping a complex 12-hour rescue in which crews carved a small opening in the debris to free her pinned arm and a doctor administered IV fluids to stabilize her. Wrapped in a blue blanket, the young woman was carried to an ambulance as firefighters embraced and onlookers cheered.
Another moment was marked by mourning, as a man was pulled from a building in the same city, lifeless and covered in a white blanket.
Across the coffee-growing region, among the areas worst affected by the quake, authorities have converted sports arenas, schools and other public buildings into shelters for thousands of displaced Colombians.
Ebert Jonathan Morales, a Cali resident, said his family lost everything in the earthquake.
“My house was completely destroyed. We can’t live there," Morales said. “It collapsed. The floor collapsed, the walls cracked. The roof came down.”
In Pereira and Cali, families have been sleeping in parks — some fearing aftershocks or the collapse of their damaged homes, others without homes to return to.
Colombia’s geological service has documented 130 aftershocks since the quake.
“We have the most important things: a roof over our heads, food, water and, in my case, medical care,” said Edith Penagos, 48, who was staying with her teenage son in one of the white tents set up in a Pereira park.
Rodrigo León Loya, a seismologist and geosciences professor at the University of the Andes, said the probability of an earthquake of a similar magnitude occurring in the same area is low but he would not rule out more seismic activity.
“Let’s remember that Colombia is full of active fault lines,” he said. “The question isn’t whether it can happen again. The question is rather when an earthquake of similar magnitude will occur at another of Colombia’s seismic sources.”
In many areas, including the epicenter of the quake, Choco, the official response to the disaster has been complicated by the ongoing crises of deep poverty and civil warfare that has created waves of forced displacement for decades. The true impact of the earthquake in the jungled northwest remained largely unknown because cell service has been lost and many of the likely affected communities are remote, accessible only by river.
“This earthquake compounds an already severe humanitarian situation, and there is a need for increased support for the humanitarian response,” said Giovanni Rizzo, Colombia director for the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Many aid organizations were already on the ground in Choco supporting a 2016 peace accord between the government and leftist rebels, and responding to violence in the region involving other armed groups that has persisted since then.
Those humanitarian workers were able to quickly pivot to disaster relief, said María José Torres, the U.N. resident coordinator in Colombia.
“We have a presence on the ground. Therefore, our ability to be there, present with the people, I think, has increased exponentially,” Torres said in a statement Tuesday.
At the same time, aid from other countries and nonprofits abroad continued to roll in.
The State Department posted on its website that disaster response teams started to arrive in Colombia on Monday. The U.S. has also offered over $15 million in aid.
Mexico, meanwhile, said it had sent two military aircraft carrying 19.5 tons of nonperishable food and 19 members of Mexican security forces to Pereira, and it plans to send another 39 tons of aid in the coming days. A further 255 military specialists and 20 dogs are on standby to be sent to Colombia if needed.
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele offered to send two planes loaded with 100 tons of aid.
On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV thanked those contributing to recovery efforts and said he is praying for those killed, injured or otherwise affected by the earthquake.
“I want to express my solidarity with my Colombian sisters and brothers who have suffered the effects of the recent earthquake,” he said.
Suarez reported from Bogota, Colombia, and Janetsky reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Isabel DeBre in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Gabriela Aoun in San Diego and Fabiola Sánchez in Mexico City contributed.
A Mexican rescue worker searches through the rubble two days after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Firefighters search through rubble two days after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
People affected by the earthquake receive food packages in Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
A man removes a sofa from a damaged house two days after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Volunteers sort aid for people affected by the earthquake in Cali, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
A woman checks her mobile phone at a temporary shelter for people whose homes were damaged after an earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Rescue workers cut through debris as they attempt to rescue survivor Daniela Largo, who was trapped in the rubble the day after an earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
People camp out in a park two days after an earthquake damaged their homes in Pereira, Colombia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Residentes embrace as rescue workers search through the rubble of their damaged home the day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Rescue workers carry a survivor Daniela Largo after pulling her from the rubble the day after an earthquake struck Pereira, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
Neighbors embrace as rescue workers search through the rubble of a collapsed apartment building the day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
Volunteers and rescue workers use buckets to remove debris of a collapsed building a day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Patients from a clinic evacuated due to earthquake damage lie in beds at a temporary facility set up in a gymnasium at a nearby school in Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Santiago Saldarriaga)
Rescue workers carry Diana Troncoso after pulling her from the rubble the day after an earthquake struck Cali, Colombia, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia) CORRECTION: Changes city to Cali, not Pereira.
