TORONTO (CP) - The Toronto Blue Jays were weary and worn out, but happy to be winners.
Orlando Hudson drove in Alex Rios with a single in the 18th inning as Toronto completed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 2-1 victory Thursday in the most innings played in Blue Jays history.
''I want to go home, I want to go to sleep, I want to eat,'' said Toronto centre-fielder Vernon Wells. ''It was fun to be a part of. Hopefully we'll never do it again.''
It was the longest game in the major leagues this season, eclipsing a 15-inning contest between Arizona and San Diego on April 29.
''It's not very often you pitch into the ninth inning and only pitch half the game,'' said Blue Jays starter Dave Bush.
Toronto's bullpen picked up Bush with 9 2-3 innings of shutout relief, allowing only four hits.
Less than half the announced crowd of 19,706 was there when the final pitch was thrown at 11:59 p.m. EDT. Toronto is three games back in the American League wild-card race and four games out of first in the AL East.
''That was a doubleheader tonight but well worth the price of admission,'' said Blue Jays manager John Gibbons.
The marathon came just one night after Toronto edged the Angels 3-2 in 10 innings on Wednesday.
The Blue Jays had played three 17-inning games in their history. The last was a 6-5 loss to the Yankees on April 19, 2001, which was the longest game in team history at five hours 57 minutes.
With one out in the 18th, Rios singled, stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. For the second time in the game, the Angels brought Chone Figgins in from the outfield to play as the fifth infielder. But Hudson stroked a sharp single past second baseman Adam Kennedy, scoring Rios to end the marathon that lasted 4:50 - the longest game in the majors this season.
Walker (4-3) got the win by working three scoreless innings. Scott Shields (6-6) took the loss. The Blue Jays used seven pitchers, while the Angels used six.
Walker joked that he felt the burden of history once the game reached the 18th inning.
''They announced that while I was out there,'' he said ''I figured I didn't want to be the one to mess it up.''
Los Angeles got the go-ahead run to second base four times in extra innings. The Angels have scored just four runs in their past 50 innings.
Corey Koskie of Anola, Man., led off the 15th with a single and went to second on Aaron Hill's sacrifice but Gregg Zaun lined out to centre and Orlando Hudson grounded into a fielder's choice.
The Angels opened the scoring with a run in the top of the ninth. With one out, Juan Rivera tripled to right-centre, the first extra-base hit of the game. Bush walked Garret Anderson and pinch-hitter Vladimir Guerrero was intentionally walked to load the bases before lefty Scott Schoeneweis came on to face Steve Finley.
Finley hit a potential double-play ball to Koskie, but he bobbled the ball and could only get the force at second, allowing pinch-runner Jeff DaVanon to score.
The Blue Jays tied the game in the bottom of the ninth against closer Francisco Rodriguez. Russ Adams led off with a walk and went to third on a broken-bat single by Vernon Wells. Shea Hillenbrand followed with a broken-bat single just past the reach of Orlando Cabrera, scoring Adams and sending Wells to third.
Koskie was walked intentionally, loading the bases for Hill and forcing the Angels to bring Figgins into the infield. But Rodriguez struck out Hill on three pitches, then got Zaun swinging to send the game into extra innings.
The Blue Jays entered the game with a major league-leading 142 runs in July, but couldn't get anything going against Angels starter John Lackey, who allowed just four hits - all singles.
Two of those singles came in the fourth, when base hits by Adams and Wells put runners at the corners with one out. Undaunted, Lackey fanned both Hillenbrand and Koskie to escape the jam.
Reed Johnson bunted for a hit with two out in the eighth, but over-ran second base on Hudson's infield chopper and was tagged out to end the inning.
Lackey struck out eight and walked just one over eight innings.
Bush kept Los Angeles in check through the first eight innings. Figgins, who led off the game with a single and stole second, was the only Angel to get beyond first base through the first seven frames.
Cabrera changed that in the eighth, leading off with a single and advancing on a sacrifice by Maicer Izturis. But Bush struck out Adam Kennedy and got Figgins to line out to left.
Bush allowed one runs on five hits over 8 1-3 innings. He struck out four and both his walks were intentional.
''He pitched a great game, he really did,'' Gibbons said. ''That's two good ones since he's been back.''
Notes: Guerrero (sore left calf) was kept out of the starting lineup. ... Blue Jays pitcher Ted Lilly (biceps tendinitis) is still hurting and is expected to wind up on the 15-day disabled list. ... Dustin McGowan, Toronto's first-round pick in the 2000 draft, will start in Lilly's place against Texas on Saturday. McGowan, currently with Toronto's double-A affiliate in New Hampshire, will be making his major league debut. ... Roy Halladay (fractured left tibia) will throw 55-60 pitches in a simulated game on Friday. If all goes well, Halladay could be activated off the disabled list as early as next Tuesday when the Blue Jays visit the Chicago White Sox.