TIME TO GET WILD!
With the regular season over, the Yankees get set to play the Twins on Tuesday
Crisis averted. Yankees fans who are Optimum customers on Long Island and in New Jersey and Connecticut will be able to watch the AL wild-card game against the Twins on Tuesday as Altice USA, which owns the cable provider, and Disney have reached a new deal. “We have reached an agreement in principle and have extended the deadline accordingly to try and finalize the terms,” the companies told the Daily News in a joint statement. The two companies were renegotiating their contract and deadlocked over how much Altice USA would Optimum pay to retransmit Walt Disney Company channels. An agreement was made by the initial deadline of 5 p.m. Sunday.
Disney owns ESPN, which will air the Yankees vs. Twins one-game playoff on Tuesday evening, as well as multiple ABC channels.
— Nicholas Parco
FULL MONTY
Jordan Montgomery will be available to pitch in the playoffs if the Yankees advance past Tuesday’s AL wild-card game, Joe Girardi said.
The 24-year-old lefty completed an outstanding rookie season on Sunday, tossing 5.1 innings of one-run ball. He produced a 9-7 record with a 3.88 ERA and 144 strikeouts in 155.1 innings.
His 29 starts were the fifth-most by a rookie in franchise history. The Yankees had shuffled Montgomery in and out of the rotation for a period as a way to limit his innings.
“You could always do better, but it’s a fine start,” Montgomery said after the Yankees’ 2-1 loss to the Blue Jays. “You definitely think of the big leagues and ‘Oh wow, it’s going to be hard,’ and it lived up to that. I’ve just go to settle in and trust my stuff.” Montgomery’s story is special because he came out of nowhere in spring training to earn a rotation spot. He then stepped up on the mound, using his four-pitch mix and downhill angle to deceive hitters. Joe Girardi praised the improvement of the southpaw’s slider. “We’re really encouraged by what he’s done and the progress that he’s made,” Girardi said. “His schedule was somewhat interrupted in the middle because we were trying to cut down on his innings. I thought he handled that really well, so I thought he had an impressive year.”... Girardi said he’ll have to make a couple of decisions on the AL wild-card roster: “We’ll probably carry 9-10 pitchers, probably 15 position players, so there are a couple spots we want to look at,” Girardi said. … Adam Warren, in his first appearance since coming off the disabled list due to a back injury, retired all three batters he faced. … Aaron Judge was presented with a crystal gavel by GM Brian Cashman and VP of amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer before the game for breaking the all-time, single-season rookie home run record with 52. … The Yankees blasted 241 homers — fourth-most in franchise history, and went 51-30 at home.