Football
Associated Press 19y

Clement replaces Halladay for AL All-Stars

BALTIMORE -- Boston Red Sox right-hander Matt Clement will
replace injured Toronto pitcher Roy Halladay on the American League
squad in the All-Star game, Boston manager Terry Francona announced
Saturday.

Halladay, who would have started for the AL, was struck in the
left shin Friday night by a line drive off the bat of Texas' Kevin
Mench.

X-rays revealed a fracture, and Halladay is expected to be
sidelined for at least a month. The 2003 Cy Young winner is 12-4
with a 2.41 ERA.

Clement (10-2, 3.85 ERA) was delighted to take a his place in
Tuesday's game.

"To get a chance to be with the best players in the world is
truly an honor, and I'm excited," he said. "I wish Roy all the
luck in the world; that's not the way I wanted it to happen. He's a
great pitcher and he deserved to be there. But I'm glad I'm
going."

Clement's All-Star selection means he will get an automatic
$250,000 raise next year, making his 2006 salary $9.75 million.

Francona, who will manage the AL stars, told reporters Saturday
that he would have started Halladay.

"That's how much we think of Halladay," Francona said. "We've
seen too much of him."

But Francona took pleasure in delivering the news to Clement,
who leads the first-place Red Sox in wins, innings and strikeouts.

"I was thrilled, probably more than people know, to be able to
tell Matt Clement he was on the All-Star team," Francona said.
"In my opinion he had already made it, but his name was added to
it, and I was honored to be able to tell him. I'm very proud of
him. It's a pretty good sign. He's done a great job and I'm happy
he's going to be there."

Clement, 30, signed with Boston as a free agent in December. It
will be his first All-Star game.

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