No Seattle Mariners fan would ever doubt Adrian Beltre’s toughness.  He’s played hard through many very painful injuries without complaining, and just about every admires him for it, even when his performance occasionally suffers because of it.  But the bone spurs in his shoulder, the torn ligaments in his thumb, and all the other tweaks and pulls are nothing compared to his latest stunt.

If you watched last night’s epic, you may have noticed Beltre take a shorthop right to the tenders.  He was visibly in pain, but the game continued.  He went on to get a Scott Posednik helmet to the same area as part of the game changing snap throw to third, and had trouble getting up at one point after belly flopping back to first base on a pickoff attempt.

Through it all, Beltre went on to play a good ballgame, getting a couple base hits, playing his usual great defense, and scoring the game winning run.

He was even upbeat on the post game interview, which is shocking considering the news coming out today.

Beltre has landed back on the disabled list with a severely injured right testical, according to multiple reports.  Worlds like “ruptured,” “contusion” and “internal bleeding,” are being used, and he may require surgery.

Most knew that Beltre doesn’t wear a protective cup—it’s popped up in reports here and there the last couple years—and now the gamble has finally caught up to him.

I’m in pain just writing this up.

The crazy thing is that Beltre will probably be back.  If he doesn’t need surgery, he could be back after the 15 days are up.  Some are speculating that this could mark the end of Beltre’s career in Seattle, but this is Adrian Beltre we’re talking about.

Beltre isn’t the only one on the left side of the Mariner infield that is hurting.  Jack Wilson left the game early with a strained hamstring.  They haven’t yet made the call whether or not he’ll join Beltre on the DL.  I bet Jack feels like a pansy coming out of the game after what Beltre went through.

Josh Wilson has been called up to fill Beltre’s roster spot, and will be filling in for Jack Wilson until the team makes a decision on him.

The Mariners left side of the infield is currently comprised of Jack Hannahan and Josh Wilson, which isn’t exactly the ideal duo for a team that is still trying to make a run at the Wild Card.

If Jack Wilson hits the DL, look for Hannahan to become the starting shortstop and a third baseman to be brought in.  Matt Tuiasosopo is tearing the cover off the ball in Tacoma and is on the 40-man roster.  GM Jack Zduriencik could bring in another former Brewer by getting the recently DFA’d Bill Hall on the cheap.

Hall plays better defense than Tuiasosopo, but I’d rather go with the Tuiasosopo’s bat.  It would be nice to get Tui some extra audition time this year anyway.