Tim Lincecum, Roy Halladay to start All-Star game

ST. LOUIS — Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay were selected Monday as the starting pitchers for the All-Star game.

Last year's NL Cy Young Award winner, Lincecum is 10-2 with a 2.33 ERA for the San Francisco Giants. He will get the ball Tuesday night at Busch Stadium, NL manager Charlie Manuel announced.

Lincecum made the All-Star team for last season's game at Yankee Stadium but was unable to pitch because he was ill.

"This is a great accomplishment for me," Lincecum said, his long, shaggy hair protruding from under a black knit cap. "I think tomorrow the big thing is going to be just getting to the field. And after that, just getting on the field."

Halladay, 10-3 with a 2.85 ERA for the Toronto Blue Jays, was chosen by AL manager Joe Maddon.

This is Halladay's sixth All-Star appearance, but his first chance to start — and it could be his final trip in a Toronto uniform.

Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi said last week he'll listen to trade offers for the 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner, who is signed through 2010 and would have to agree to a deal.

At a news conference Monday, broadcaster Bob Costas called Halladay a member of the Blue Jays "at least for the moment," which drew a round of uneasy chuckles.

"It's tough. Obviously, I'm somewhere that I enjoy being and have spent my entire career. There's a lot, I think, that goes into it," Halladay said. "I think as a player, there's that will to win, that will to do it in October and basically that's what all of this has been about. I would like that chance. I'm not saying it won't be Toronto. You'd like to be three games up in first place and not have to deal with it."

Lincecum and Halladay each pitched Thursday, so both will be on their regular four days of rest.

In his most recent outing against San Diego, Lincecum carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and won his fourth straight outing.

Halladay, who has won more games than any other major league pitcher since 2002, has made three starts since returning from a stint on the disabled list with a groin strain. Maddon's Tampa Bay Rays are 5-3 against the two-time 20-game winner over the last two-plus seasons.

"I see him way too often," Maddon said.

Manuel chose one of his own Phillies players, Gold Glove winner Shane Victorino, to start in center field in place of injured Carlos Beltran, who was elected by fans.