ARLINGTON, Texas -- Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay will miss
at least a month because of a broken bone in his left leg, spoiling
his shot to start next week's All-Star Game.
Halladay sustained a non-displaced fracture in his lower left
leg when he was struck by Kevin Mench's line drive in the third
inning of the Blue Jays' 7-6 loss at Texas on Friday night.
The Blue Jays put their ace on the 15-day disabled list Saturday
and expect him to be out 4-6 weeks. Halladay, the 2003 AL Cy Young
winner, was on the disabled list twice last season because of right
shoulder problems.
"Missing the time ... that's the most disappointing for me,"
Halladay said Saturday. "I just wanted to have a full season and
be here with us for the full season."
Leaning on crutches with a boot cast extended to just below his
left knee, Halladay said Saturday that he doesn't want to sit out
long. He'll return to Toronto during the All-Star break to begin
rehabilitation instead of going to Detroit.
"Hopefully after a week, I can start putting pressure on it,
walking on it," he said. "After that, from what I hear, it's
whatever I can tolerate. Hopefully, I can start playing catch and
things in a week. If I can keep that there, it shouldn't be a huge
problem. I don't want to miss that much time in throwing and have
to have a mini spring training."
Halladay is 12-4 with an AL-leading 2.41 ERA this season.
Boston's Terry Francona, who will manage the AL All-Star team, said
Saturday that Halladay would have been the starter Tuesday night.
Francona replaced Halladay on the roster with Red Sox
right-hander Matt Clement (10-2, 3.85), though the manager didn't
say who would start.
The Blue Jays recalled right-hander Brandon League from Syracuse
and purchased the contract of right-hander Justin Miller from the
Triple-A team. Outfielder Gabe Gross was optioned to Syracuse.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said League and Miller would
pitch out of the bullpen, and he hadn't decided how to fill
Halladay's spot in the rotation after the All-Star break.
"The one guy you'd hate to lose, it'd be him, even though he's
only going out there once every five days," Gibbons said. "You
feel every time he goes out there, we have a chance to win. ... You
just have to regroup, and somebody else just has to step up and you
have to try to hold it together. No question, it's a big loss."
After getting hit, Halladay picked up the ball and threw out
Mench at first base from a seated position. He then rolled to his
side grimacing in pain. Toronto led 6-3 when Halladay left the game
and went to the hospital.
Despite the loss Friday night and being in fourth place, the
Blue Jays went into Saturday night's game just five games behind
the AL East-leading Red Sox.
"We'll just keep our fingers crossed and hope that the other
guys pick up the slack, and we keep ourselves in this thing,"
general manager J.P Ricciardi said.
"If it wasn't for [Halladay] and the guys out of the bullpen,
we'd be out of it already. You can't hide and quit," catcher Gregg
Zaun said. "We owe it to him. You can't push the panic button and
say we're done. This is a golden opportunity to show we can do
more."
Halladay's 141 2/3 innings are the most in the majors, his 12
wins are second in the AL to Jon Garland of the Chicago White Sox,
and his 108 strikeouts rank third in the league.