COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

BRAVES 2 - METS 1  It was a lost opportunity.   After sweeping away the Cleveland Indians during the week, the New York Mets had a chance to make a major statement in both the NL East and the NL Wild Card race with a series victory against their arch rivals the Atlanta Braves. Instead, the Braves proved they are better in almost all facets of the game then the Mets are right now, sweeping the Amazin’s, while sending them to 12 games out of the East, and two games out of the wild card. Fortnuately for the Mets they didn’t lose too much ground in the Wild Card thanks to the Chicago Cubs getting swept by the Washington Nationals over the weekend. Oh, by the way, the Cubs come to Citi Field on Tuesday. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, the Mets couldn’t get their bats going against Braves’ starter Dallas Keuchel, who completely befuddled the Mets hitters over seven shutout innings, holding New York to four hits, and not allowing a single runner to third base. ...

In one of the most important series of the season, the New York Yankees made their biggest impression. Coming off a sweep at the hands of the Oakland A’s, the Yankees faced an even stiffer test in the National League leading Los Angeles Dodgers, and by weekends end, the Yankees passed with flying colors. New York’s 5-1 win over the Dodgers captured the series two games to one, solidifying New York’s position as potentially the best team in Major League Baseball as we head toward September. Whether this is a preview of coming attractions come October is anyone’s guess at this point, but, boy, did the Yankees look good. The Bombers blasted three homers Sunday night off Clayton Kershaw, sending the Dogers ace to his third loss of the season. Getting the party started with D.J. LeMahieu, who has been at the center of attention for the Yankees so many times this year when he launched a solo homer to center to open the scoring in the top of the first inning. And the barrage...

SAINTS 28, JETS 13 If this was what we can expect from the New York Jets in 2019, this is going to be a nightmare of a season. The third preseason game is considered the dress rehearsal for the regular season; where the starters play the longest in their last real final prep before the regular season beings. To say the least the Jets got a lot of issues. Forget the score, because in the first half of this contest the Jets were exposed on the offensive line; exposed at middle linebacker, and exposed in the secondary. The Jets were playing without Kelechi Osemele and Brian Winters for the second straight game. Center Ryan Khalil was a late scratch, so Sam Darnold had to work behind an offensive line that was basically in taters. The results showed as Darnold had a extremely difficult time setting his feet in the pocket as he was constantly under duress. At one point he was blasted by Trey Hendrickson who came in unblocked on the Jets quarterback. On a night where Andrew Luck ...

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck c ouldn't take the pain anymore. The Colts quarterback retired Saturday sending shockwaves throughout the NFL. As he described in a press conference Saturday night, the process of pain and rehab over the past few years has become too much of a grind on him and his life, so he decided the best thing to do was retire from the sport. "I've been stuck in this process. I haven't been able to live the life I want to live. It has taken the joy out of the game...the only way forward is to remove myself from football." Of course this decision is stunning for a multitude of reasons, 1) the timing. The 2019 regular season is set to begin in less than two weeks, and it has taken this long for Luck to make this choice at a critical juncture for his team. 2)  Luck was still in his prime. He was the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year last season after missing 26 games due to shoulder, kidney and rib injuries. This year he was...

YANKEES 10 - DODGERS 2  After a lost series in Oakland where the Yankees starting rotation put the Bombers behind the eight ball early and often, it was James Paxton who came out and delivered easily the most important, if not most impressive outing of the season. Over 6.2 innings, Paxton shut down the vaunted LA Dodgers lineup, holding them to just a run when he was out on the mound, while racking up 11 strikeouts. It was an impressive showing as he mixed and matched his off-speed stuff, relying heavily on a wicked curveball that kept fooling a Dodger lineup that feeds off the fastball. If the Yankees get performances like this from Paxton from here on out, and in the playoffs, they will be in a great position to accomplish their mission. Offensively, the Yankees did plenty of damage to Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu's Cy Young chances, tagging the righty for seven runs and three homers over 4.1 innings, and increasing his ERA from 1.64 to 2.00. In fact the five homers the...

BRAVES 2 - METS 1 14 Innings  The New York Mets tied a major league record for strikeouts in a game by a pitching staff, and still managed to lose to the Atlanta Braves in 14-bizarre innings at Citi Field. It was a game where Jacob deGrom dominated Atlanta, holding the Braves to just a run on four hits, while striking out 13 over seven superb innings of work. deGrom even provided the Mets only run of the game with a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth. But as has become commonplace for the Mets when deGrom toes the rubber, he didn't get a win, nor factor into the decision. Instead, the game became a battle of attritions as both bullpens traded zeros. After Seth Lugo gave the Mets two shutout innings of relief, Edwin Diaz had his best moment as a Met, striking out both Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies swinging with the go-ahead run 90-feet away at third base. Even the rare lift by Diaz wasn't enough to keep the Mets momentum moving. The Mets loaded the bases in ...

This weekend the New York Yankees will play the Los Angeles Dodgers out in LA. For days, if not weeks, we have heard about this match-up being a potential World Series preview. Even the New York Post had the phrase "World Series Preview?" on its masthead. Here's the problem. The series that has preceded this weekend's battle of baseball's titans, exposed a horrible truth about the Yankees: their pitching is down right awful. I'm sorry to say it.  Calm down. Don't remind me how many championships the Yankees have won in the past. I know, 27 World titles, and 40 American League pennants. I know. Trust me, I know. But if the Yankees are going to change those numbers to 28 and 41 their pitching better improve, or it could be curtains for the Bombers early in the postseason. Against the Oakland A's, the Yankees consistently found themselves behind the eight ball, down multiple runs before anyone could settle into their seats. In every game of this ser...

METS 4 - INDIANS 3  There is something special brewing at   Citi Field . For the second time in three weeks, the   Mets walked it off in dramatic fashion, this time beating the   Cleveland Indians   4-3 on a game-winning single by   JD Davis . The victory hands New York its fourth straight win, and 26th 'W' in their last 36 games. The victory also comes off the heels of Tuesdays 9-2 thumping of the Indians, making last week's losses to Atlanta and Kansas City a distant memory. The Mets now trail the Cubs by only 1.5 games for the second wild card in the NL.  Like we said, there is something special about watching a team that plays with a 'never say die' attitude.  And once again Citi Field was the place to be on a hot summer night. Since the Mets turned their season around after the All-Star Break, fans have been coming out in droves, and the cheers and chants get louder with each victory.  Even when Indians first baseman ...

ROYALS 4 - METS 1 It's not 2015, but like that season, the Kansas City Royals are doing some serious damage to the Mets hopes and dreams. No the World Series isn't at stake this time, but the Mets playoff fate is. After losing two of three to the Braves during the week, the Mets dropped the opener of a three-games series in Kansas City in a listless and frustrating 4-1 loss that drops the Mets to 62-60, two games out of a wild card. New York now trails the Brewers, Phillies, Cubs, and Nationals in the wild card race. While a run to the postseason can still happen for the Mets, performances like Friday are not going to help. For whatever reason the Mets couldn't touch Mike Montgomery who completely shut down a Mets offense that scored 10 runs the night before in Atlanta. Montgomery held New York to just an unearned run on five hits over six innings. It was his second best start for Kansas City since joining them earlier this season via trade from Chicago. On the fl...

GIANTS 32  BEARS 13  And so the beat goes on under the microscope for Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones.  A longer leash produced mixed results from the former Duke quarterback, as head coach Pat Schurmur continues to show signs that he would like to eventually move on from Eli Manning. While the stats sheet looks great on paper, 11 completions in 14 attempts for 161 yards, it wasn't that pretty for the rookie. His first three drives produced two costly fumbles and a three-and-out. The only time things really clicked for Jones, he engineered a five-play, 65-yard scoring drive that gave the Giants a 19-3 lead with 1:14 to go before the half. On that drive, Jones was a perfect 4-for-4. He hit Paul Perkins out of the backfield for 26 yards to the Bears 39, then connected with TJ Jones for nine more to the Bears 30. After a seven yard run by Perkins, Daniel Jones hit TJ Jones again on a short eight yard slant, before finding the speedster once more up top in t...