The Cubs crushed the Boston Doves today with a 10-2 pounding. Also, a dog with lion babies.

This current visit from the Boston Doves is looking to be exactly what the Cubs needed to get back on track. Today, they absolutely pummeled the peace-loving birds by a score of 10-2, banging out 15 hits against two hapless Doves pitchers.

Cecil Ferguson was the first pitcher to face the wrath of the home team. (BTW ... I freakin' LOVE the name Cecil!). Sadly for poor Cecil, the Cubs showed him no mercy, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first thanks to a Solly Hofman single, a Frank Chance triple, and a Johnny Evers single. After giving up five hits and four runs in just an inning and a third, Cecil was sent to the clubhouse for an early shower.

Awww ... poor Cecil

Next up was the newly acquired pitcher Bill Chappelle, who was rudely welcomed in his major league debut by giving up 10 more hits and six runs. Solly Hofman led the way with a perfect 4-4 effort, throwing in a walk and three runs for good measure.

Joe Tinker was right behind him with a day that you would absolutely yearn for in a DraftKings tournament lineup ... three hits, three runs scored, and FOUR stolen bases. Tinker was a maniac on the base paths too, stealing both second and third two times each. (That's a total of 37 DraftKings points BTW.)

You can't stop me from stealing!

Jack Pfiester was solid on the mound for the Cubs, giving up five hits and striking out 10 in the blowout win. And in even better news ... Pittsburgh lost again, so now the Cubs only trail by three and a half games!

In other news ... Anybody ever heard of a dog raising lion babies? Yeah ... me neither. Despite that, the Lincoln Park Zoo was on the hunt for a dog to help raise four newborn lion cubs. Apparently, the mama lion decided to reject her pups, forcing zookeeper Cy De Vry (great name!) to put a cry for help out to the public.

I'm not sure his logic, but Cy said the "only thing" that will save the baby lions ... Great Dane dog to become their foster mother. I guess he figures a gigantic dog would make a suitable mother for lions since they get big when they grow up? Maybe.

It also begs the question ... this guy is an animal expert? Lions are CATS ... so exactly why would a DOG be the best way to raise them? HMMMM???? Furthermore, we all know what happens when mothers try to raise cross-species children ...

You're grounded!

Yeah ... we don't need THAT kind of mess on our hands, do we?

Anyway, in summary the Cubs win puts them at 61-46 on the season. Like I mentioned earlier, Pittsburgh lost so their lead over the Cubs is now just three and a half games. And to make matters worse for Pittsburgh, they are now also tied with the New York Giants for first place after the loss.

As far as Chicago goes, game three of the four game series with the Doves takes place tomorrow in a game that's actually the makeup from an 11 inning tie earlier in the season. Totally wild logic by the way that a game that's tied after 11 innings basically gets tossed out and they play the whole thing again. But that's the way they rolled back in 1908 ... Lucky players!