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DENVER -- CC Sabathia was rolling along until rain ruined his day. The New York Yankees lefty had his good stuff going on this dreary afternoon. But the weather did what the Rockies couldnt -- knock him out of the game. No matter, his bullpen filled in just fine. Sabathia and five relievers held Colorado to four hits, Robinson Cano cracked a solo homer and the Yankees beat the Rockies 3-1 on Thursday in a game that was delayed more than two hours by rain. "I was just disappointed," Sabathia said. That he didnt pitch more than four innings because of the weather? "That I didnt get any more at-bats," said Sabathia, who was 0 for 2 at the plate with two strikeouts. "Horrible. Im sure my son will be all over me. Im scared to go home." Sabathia tried everything to stay loose during a delay that lasted 1:59, just in case the storm clouds quickly moved out of the area. He even made some tosses in the batting cage. Eventually, the storm did pass, but it was too long a layoff to send him back out to the mound. The first pitch also was delayed by wet weather, for 8 minutes. Sabathia was just finding his stride when the skies opened up, too. Mixing in a 91 mph four-seam fastball with a stealthy slider, he retired 11 straight after giving up a single to Troy Tulowitzki in the first inning. A stream of relievers picked up where Sabathia left off. Adam Warren (1-0) earned his first big league win by getting five big outs after the rain delay. Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth to remain perfect in 13 save chances. Now, if only Warren could locate that final baseball. It would make a nice memento. "Working on that," he said. "Its pretty neat." This was a series dominated by pitching, a departure from the reputation Coors Field has earned over the years. The Yankees outscored the Rockies 6-5 -- pretty much a typical one-game score in this park -- as they took two of three. "Its crazy," Sabathia said. "Its just good pitching. Just one of those things." Cano had a memorable afternoon that included an infield single in the third for his 1,500th hit. He also hit the 186th homer of his career, moving past Paul ONeill for sole possession of 17th place on the franchise list. "The biggest thing today was the win," Cano said. "You want to win games and be able to help the team, get on base, and it was just a good win." Jeff Francis (1-3) threw four innings and gave up two runs before rain forced the umpires to signal for the tarp. The lefty didnt return when play resumed. "Its hard to get frustrated with the weather. You just have no control over that," Francis said. "Its the same for both teams. Something happens and you try to make the best of it. "Theyre a good team, but we expected more out of ourselves this series." Vernon Wells had an RBI single in the first for New York and Chris Stewart drove in another run on a sacrifice fly. Tulowitzki was back in the lineup after missing the previous two days with soreness in his legs. He wasnt in his customary cleanup spot but hit No. 3 in the order as manager Walt Weiss elected to flip-flop the All-Star shortstop and Carlos Gonzalez against the left-handed Sabathia. Tulowitzki was 1 for 3 with a walk, while Gonzalez wound up 0 for 3 and struck out twice. Gonzalez drove in the Rockies lone run with a sacrifice fly in the first. "Our pitching was outstanding. Offense was definitely subpar," Weiss said. "Not acceptable." New York took the lead for good in the fourth when Stewarts sac fly brought home Chris Nelson, the former Rockies infielder who led off the inning with a double. Cano added his team-high ninth homer an inning later. Colorado tied it in the second when Dexter Fowler beat the throw home on Gonzalezs sacrifice fly to left. Fowler eluded Stewarts tag just long enough to reach his hand around the catchers shin guards and touch home plate. Stewart was a little upset over the call, thinking he applied the tag in time. Yankees manager Joe Girardi came out of the dugout to briefly argue with plate umpire Phil Cuzzi. Cuzzi also was involved in a close play at first base in the ninth inning Wednesday, when he ruled Brennan Boesch safe on an infield single that brought in the go-ahead run during the Yankees 3-2 win. New York jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the series finale when Wells laced an RBI single to right. Wells also had a productive game the night before when he hit a two-run homer, scored the go-ahead run in the ninth and then filled in at third base for the first time in his big league career. Rest assured, Wells isnt planning a position change after playing flawless third base. But if the occasion should arise again, he would gladly take over at the hot corner. "I take ground balls everywhere, so Im ready for anything," Wells said. NOTES: New York SS Eduardo Nunez (left ribcage tightness) said he hopes to play on Friday. ... Yankees OF Curtis Granderson (broken right wrist) was to begin a rehab assignment Thursday at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. ... Sabathia threw 51 pitches, breaking a string of 13 straight starts in which he reached the 100-pitch mark. ... Weiss was asked if he thought Riveras strike zone seemed to expand in the ninth Wednesday. "Im not allowed to comment on those things, am I?" he said. "Im a little green in this position, but Im smart enough to know that one."Atlanta Hawks Store . Any real chance at payback wont come until the playoff. Still, Pittsburgh knows its taut 3-2 win over the Bruins on Wednesday night is a pretty good place to start laying the groundwork. "They are a very good defensive team," Penguins forward Brandon Sutter said. Hawks Jerseys China . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. https://www.cheaphawks.com/ . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Fake Hawks Jerseys .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. Atlanta Hawks Gear . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed.SOLDIER FIELD, Chicago -- Ireland coach Joe Schmidt put their historic victory over the All Blacks down to the strength of character in their heroic side.Ireland hadnt beaten the All Blacks in 111 years until they met under the Chicago sun on Saturday afternoon in Soldier Field and though they had limited time together in the week building up to the Test, Schmidt said they stuck to the tried and tested to secure their history-making triumph.I hoped that was coming -- the players determined that it did arrive, Schmidt said. The All Blacks were missing a number of second-rows and that allowed us access to the game and gave us the position we needed to put pressure on.They got a few injuries during the game and when you have a loose-forward on the wing that gave us a bit of confidence. Over the half the lads were playing PRO12 rugby last weekend and to click everything together as quickly as we could was great and we tried to have some consistency with previous combinations to be as cohesive as possible. Sometimes its character more than cohesion and that was evident today.The victory wasnt without its nervous spells. The All Blacks came storming back in the second half in a manner reminiscent to their fightback in 2013 when they turned Irelands 19-0 lead on its head to win in the last play of the game in Dublin.Those memories wouldve been in the back of the Ireland players minds but they stuck together with the bench giving them a fresh impetus in front of thousands of Irish fans at Soldier Field.Schmidt said Chicago will always be a special place for us and the game had added significance as it was Irelands first Test since thee death of Munster coach Anthony Foley.dddddddddddd.The team paid tribute to the late, great Foley by forming a No.8 to face the haka. A lot has been done to pay tribute to Axel, said captain Rory Best.It is the national teams first time together since his passing and we felt it was the right thing to do and we put the Munster boys at the front to lead it. It was our way as a national team to show a mark of respect to Axel.Best added that the win was in part down to the amount of off-field work the team did this week due to their lack of training sessions.Thereve been a lot of great teams and players and we havent been clinical enough to finish it. We lost it in the last quarter in 2013 but the subs came on with Joey and the front-row gave us a platform. All of that contributed and we are a tight group, we did a lot of homework.Ireland will celebrate the triumph in Chicago on Saturday night and on the plane back home on Sunday with Schmidt saying they will lift their self-imposed alcohol ban. But Best knows it will soon be back to business as usual with Canada lying in wait next weekend.You have to take a moment when you create history -- knowing Joe itll be a brief moment, Best said. Its quite hard to sit here and its a massive mark of respect for the All Blacks that it means so much to us.Theyre such a quality side and theyve shown it this season. To break our duck against that quality of side is massive for us and we want to celebrate that. But we have to be humble to have that respect for them. ' ' '