ANAHEIM – Adrian Beltre was such a tough guy he once tried playing after a botched operation to remove his appendix, and he has played with a bad thumb, damaged shoulder, strained hamstring and bad back.

Last month, however, he suffered an injury that tested even his will – and continues to do so.

On Aug. 13, the Seattle Mariners third baseman took a bad-hop ground ball off his right testicle and not only stayed in the game for another three innings but also scored the winning run from second base.

What was the worst part of being hit in the groin – while not wearing a protective cup – in front of 20,000 fans and a television audience?

“The baseball was lying right beside me, so I had to finish the play,” he said. “I picked it up and threw it away. I stood there with my head down and people thought it was because of the error. It was because of the pain.

“We didn’t have an extra infielder that night – Jack (Wilson) had just pulled his hamstring. So I had to finish the game.

“I came in the dugout and they asked how I was. I said, ‘Fine,’ and went behind the dugout and checked. There was ... a lot of swelling.”

Beltre couldn’t bend down for a week, didn’t play for more than three. Now that he’s back, he’s wearing a cup.

“If it was up to me, I wouldn’t wear a cup,” he said. “I’m uncomfortable with it, and when I have to move, it hurts – there’s still swelling. I’d rather take the chance of not wearing a cup. I didn’t get hit there for nine years.”

Beltre said the injury no longer hurts – unless he moves.

“You have to have a mind-set to play through it, you need the adrenaline of a game and you have to say to yourself, ‘I will play.’

“If I move quickly, it hurts. If I run, it hurts when I stop running.”

And what if, he is asked, he were to get hit again, even wearing the protective cup?

“After I was hit the first time, I couldn’t do a thing for seven days, that’s how bad it hurt. If I got hit again?” Beltre ponders it a moment. “I can’t even imagine what that would be like, but I’d try to play.”

On the current trip, Beltre has started 2-for-15 at the plate

Short hops

Reliever Sean White will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on his ailing right shoulder today, after which doctors hope to know the severity of his injury. ... The Mariners have decided to leave Brandon Morrow in Tacoma for the Rainiers postseason, saying they considered what was best for the player. ... Starter Doug Fister’s blister, which forced him out of his last start, won’t keep him out of the rotation. ... Russell Branyan will begin working out with the Mariners when they return to Seattle next week, in hopes that he may still be able to play before the season ends.

On tap

Seattle continues its series with the Angels at 7:05 p.m. on FSN. Probable starting pitchers: Ian Snell (4-1, 4.89 ERA) vs. Jered Weaver (13-5, 3.89).

larry.larue@thenewstribune.com