Coyotes praise crowd ‘energy’ at new ASU home
TEMPE, Ariz. — The Arizona Coyotes lost their home opener at Mullett Arena on Friday night, the NHL team’s first game in its temporary home at Arizona State University.
Blake Wheeler’s goal at 32 seconds of overtime gave the Winnipeg Jets a 3-2 victory over the Coyotes in front of a small but enthusiastic crowd of 4,600 fans — considered a sellout in the NCAA-sized rink.
“Tough way to end it, right? I felt we deserved better,” Coyotes forward Christian Fischer, who had two goals in the loss, said. “But I thought energy of the crowd was great. Something that we’ve missed as players, especially guys that have been here for a while. It’s loud, and the fans are cheering for us. That’s all we really care about. It’s a cool little rink.”
The Coyotes needed a new home after Glendale ended the team’s 18-year run in the city, opting not to renew their lease at what’s now known as Desert Diamond Arena. The Coyotes have a contract to play the next three seasons and potentially a fourth at ASU while they hope a new arena in Tempe is approved and constructed. A vote from the city council will come Nov. 29.
They’ll share Mullett Arena with the Sun Devils men’s hockey team, with both of their logos painted at center ice. Retired Arizona star Shane Doan and his son Josh Doan, a Coyotes draft pick who plays for ASU, dropped the ceremonial first puck together.
“There was an energy out there,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “Good to be in front of our fans, and the crowd was into it. We were looking to see what kind of atmosphere it would be, and it was really cool out there. You could feed from that energy of the fans.”
The attendance was capped at 4,600, with some seats reserved for visiting media and the television broadcasts. That crowd included a packed ASU student section, where fans dressed as bananas and characters from the Netflix series “Squid Game” helped generate the majority of the game’s chants. A drumline added collegiate flavor. Every fan in the building was given a Coyotes T-shirt and a commemorative mullet, with blonde hair cascading down from a headband that read “Go Coyotes Go!”
Arizona played its entire preseason and the first six games of the regular season on the road as construction on Mullett Arena, which is named for a family whose financially backing helped the Sun Devils reach NCAA Division I status in 2014, was completed.
A 15,000 gross-square-foot annex is still being built next to the arena, which will house NHL-quality locker rooms and training facilities for both the Coyotes and away teams. But that annex won’t be ready until December, so Arizona’s first four visiting opponents must use a temporary locker room built atop a community rink housed next to Mullett Arena.
“It’s different. The ground is cold from being on top of the ice. When you take your shoes off, it’s a little chilly on the feet,” Winnipeg rookie Cole Perfetti said. “But we knew it was temporary. We knew what we were coming into. It’s unique. It’s pretty cool to be the first team to ever be a part of this. It’s weird. But it’s cool.”
The Coyotes play three more home games and then hit the road for 14 straight road games as the annex is completed.
Fischer scored the first two goals at Mullett Arena. Fischer’s second goal came at 15:28 of the first period but was answered by Perfetti’s third goal of the season just 26 seconds later.
The Coyotes led until 8:34 of the third period, when Winnipeg’s red-hot Mark Scheifele scored his sixth goal on the season to tie the score.
Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka was outstanding in the loss, making 32 saves that included 12 in the third period to the delight of the mullet-wearing crowd.
“It’s going to be our home for three years here, maybe even four,” Fischer said. “I think the more we embrace it, [it’ll be] a tough place to play. We can use this to our advantage. You hear all the stuff that teams probably don’t want to come here [because] of the small environment. Well, that’d be great for us. Let’s use that as motivation to make it damn hard to play here.”
SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.
Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.
“That’s a very big accomplishment,” Rodríguez told reporters, according to MLB.com. “I know my family’s very happy, and I’m sure they’re thinking of all the things I had to do to be able to get here. To be able to do it with this team and this organization is awesome. I’m just excited to see where things are going to go from here.”
Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.
The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
MIAMI — Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer and the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 on Sunday, completing their first-ever sweep of the Yankees in a series of three or more games.
The Marlins (55-55) reached .500 for the first time since April 15, when the team was 8-8. Since June 13, the Marlins are 30-14; that’s tied with the 2003 team for the most wins in a 44-game span in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.
The 2003 Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series in six games.
Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk. His only blemish came against the first batter he faced. Trent Grisham drove Cabrera’s 98.1 mph four-seam fastball to right-center.
Miami rookie Jakob Marsee, who made his major league debut on Friday, was 2-for-4 and finished a single short of the cycle.
Stowers made it 6-1 when he connected on an 0-2 fastball from Brent Headrick, who entered in the fourth with two on after starter Luis Gil (0-1) was lifted 3⅓ innings into his season debut.
Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, struck out three and surrendered five runs and five hits while issuing four walks in his return from a high-grade lat strain. He threw 77 pitches.
Gil’s shaky debut comes at a rough point in the season for the Yankees, whose inconsistency has prompted a rash of criticism, the latest coming from former Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on Fox’s pregame show Saturday night.
“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “Way too many mistakes, and you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams.”
Added Rodriguez: “Where’s the accountability?”
Boone addressed those criticisms before Sunday’s game, saying it comes with the territory of being the Yankees, but he added after the loss that it’s “gut-check” time for his club.
New York’s weekend series at Miami included the Yankees blowing a six-run lead in a wild 13-12 loss on Friday, before a 2-0 loss on Saturday.
The Yankees had a seven-game lead in the AL East in late May. By July 2, the lead was gone and the Yankees have been looking up at Toronto in the division ever since. The red-hot Boston Red Sox, who were more than 10 games behind the Yankees about two months ago, have overtaken their rival for the second spot in the AL East and AL wild-card lead.
“It’s getting late,” Boone said. “And it’s certainly not too late for us. I am confident that we’re going to get it together. But that’s all it is right now is, you know, it’s empty until we start doing it.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.
Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.
Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.
The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.
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