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TORONTO -- Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay will not pitch again this season after breaking his leg last month.
It's frustrating. We tried to do everything we could to come back," Halladay said Friday. "This is something that needs to run its own course."
Halladay was struck in the left shin by a line drive off the bat of Texas' Kevin Mench on July 8. It was initially thought that he would miss four to six weeks.

The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner pushed himself to come back in less than a month, twice trying to make starts but canceling them when he was unable to run or take fielding practice.

"Early on, we thought it was going to go faster than it did," said Halladay, who underwent a CT scan Thursday. "It still shows up in X-rays."

He said he had no regrets about trying to return early.

"Any time we did any of those running exercises, it was obviously the toughest part for me," Halladay said. "Simulated games later on got a little tough."

Halladay is 12-4 with a 2.41 ERA and was expected to be the American League's starter in the All-Star Game before he was injured.

"It's a big blow," catcher Gregg Zaun said. "It makes it a little tougher to make a serious run at things."

The Blue Jays (64-63) entered the day 6½ games back in the AL wild-card race.

Halladay was limited to 21 starts in 2004 because of a troublesome right shoulder. He went 22-7 with a 3.25 ERA when he won the Cy Young in 2003.

"We were optimistic in how quick I could have come back," Halladay said. "I don't think it's gotten any worse. It has just taken longer than we thought."

He said he'll stay with the team and continue to throw to keep his arm in shape for next season.

"I have no questions that it's going to heal and be 100 percent," he said.

[Illusion]

We all pretty much knew this was coming.