One night after a rain delay knocked out Detroit ace Justin Verlander, Robinson Cano did the same to the Tigers, belting a grand slam with two doubles and six RBIs to power the New York Yankees to a 9-3 home romp in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Saturday night.

Rookie Ivan Nova (1-0) was superb in winning his 13th consecutive decision, limiting the Tigers to four singles in 6 1/3 innings before tiring in the ninth as the Yankees grabbed a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Pitching in relief of starter CC Sabathia after Friday's game was suspended in the second inning, Nova remained unbeaten since June 3 and improved to 17-0 this season when staked him to a lead.

Cano capped a six-run sixth inning - all the runs scoring with two outs - with a towering homer off reliever Al Alburquerque for his eighth career grand slam.

Brett Gardner added a two-run single in the sixth off Doug Fister (0-1), snapping a string of 59 1/3 innings in which Fister had not allowed multiple runs in an inning.

Delmon Young hit a solo homer off Sabathia in the top of the first Friday night, but the Tigers were shut down until pushing across two runs and loading the bases in the ninth, forcing the Yankees to bring in closer Mariano Rivera to get the final out.

The game had resumed at the point when play was suspended Friday - in the bottom of the second inning with the Yankees coming to bat and the scored tied at 1-1.

Game 2 will be played Sunday at 3:07 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium before the series shifts to Detroit for two games Monday and Tuesday.

New York’s Freddy Garcia is expected to oppose Tigers righthander Max Scherzer in Game 2, with aces Sabathia and Verlander scheduled to start Game 3.