COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

YANKEES 8 - RED SOX 1  It's June 29. Temperatures are in the upper 90s. And yet, around New York it feels like September. Serious September baseball that is. The Yankees and Red Sox entered Friday's opener of a three-game series in a dead-heat for the the AL East lead and the best record in all of baseball. All things considered, both teams are on pace to win 108 games this year. So to say a lot is at stake this weekend is an understatement. And the Yankees got off to a good start in the win department. The Yankees dominated the Red Sox, Friday, 8-1 behind two blasts from Greg Bird, and homers by Miguel Andjuar and Aaron Judge to boot. The Yankees, who lead all of Major League Baseball in home runs with 127, lived up to the moniker as Bronx Bombers on Friday night. And to think the fireworks really didn't get underway until the Bombers held a 2-0 lead on a RBI single by Andjuar and a sac fly by Gleyber Torres. Then the bombs came. Andujar crushed the second ...

New York Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson is taking an immediate leave of absence to address his personal health, according to several reports on Tuesday. According to the New York Daily News, Alderson admitted that he is stepping aside in order to fight a form of cancer that returned in April, and he will undergo chemotherapy. As a result Alderson's top lieutenant John Ricco will serve as the interim General Manager, splitting time with one-time Mets GM Omar Minaya, who is in the front office leading the clubs scouting department. When asked by reporters on Tuesday whether Alderson will return to his normal duties when and if the cancer is under control, Mets COO Jeff Wilpon didn't want to speculate, only stating that Alderson's health comes first. This is not the first time that Alderson has been hit by cancer. In December of 2015 he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent chemo to treat the disease in early 2016. He wound up having surgery later ...