Toronto Blue Jays reliever Daniel Hudson sat alone on the bench after the final out, needing a minute to decompress.
He certainly deserved it.
With a tribute to his former teammate Tyler Skaggs written on his cap, Hudson got Luke Voit to look at strike three with runners at the corners to secure the Blue Jays’ 2-1 victory against the host Yankees on Saturday.
“It’s a grind of a lineup over there,” Hudson said. “One mistake, and that game’s over. I was just down there trying to cool off and mentally just relax for a second.”
The Yankees, who have not been shut out in more than a year, scored with two outs in the ninth inning on Aaron Judge’s fourth hit of the game, a single off third baseman Brandon Drury’s glove.
The Yankees, who lead the American League East, have now scored in 172 straight games, the fifth-longest streak in the majors since 1900. They were last shut out on June 30, 2018, in a game in which Boston’s Chris Sale pitched one-hit ball for seven innings.
The modern record is 308 in 1931-33 by the Yankees of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.
“It’s always surprising when you get held down like that,” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said.
Hudson posted his second save, and Voit went 0 for 3 with two walks after being activated from the injured list. Hudson was needed to finish the game because the Blue Jays’ closer, Ken Giles, was unavailable because of nerve inflammation in his elbow that potentially stemmed from a massage he had over the All-Star break.
Randal Grichuk provided the offense for Toronto with a two-run single and made a diving catch with the bases loaded.
Joe Biagini (3-1) got one out, allowing a hit and walk, and picked up the win. Blue Jays starter Clayton Richard left after two innings with left lat tightness, and five relievers followed.
“They used their whole bullpen today and kind of kept us off-balance,” Judge said.
Grichuk’s bloop single came in the sixth after the Blue Jays put two on against starter J. A. Happ (7-5). Adam Ottavino relieved and struck out Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and a double steal set up Grichuk’s hit.
Biagini relieved with two outs in the fifth, and a single by Judge and a walk to Voit loaded the bases. Gary Sanchez hit a liner up the middle, and Grichuk rushed in and dived to catch it.
The Blue Jays got eight hits, and Grichuk was the only Toronto player with two.
“Any one of the nine guys that they put out there can drive the ball out of the ballpark,” Grichuk said. “So anytime you can hold them down to zero runs obviously is a huge accomplishment,” and giving up just one run, “is right there with that.”