Baseball in August: Oh the agony

This is the time in a six-month season when the aches and pains of baseball hit nearly every player, especially in a season like the Mariners are enduring. When some of the “gamers” aren’t able to go, you know they must be hurting.

Tonight, that’s the status of third baseman Adrian Beltre and catcher Jeff Clement. Beltre, who’d rather have his teeth drilled without painkiller than take a day off, has a tender left shoulder and will DH. Clement will sit tonight’s game because of a sore knee.

Manager Jim Riggleman said he knows of only two players who aren’ t hurting to some degree. He wouldn’t identify them, although the best guesses would be Raul Ibanez and Ichiro Suzuki..

“I don’t know for sure at this time if anybody would be totally healthy,” Riggleman said. “I see it all through the league. I see guys sitting and I see some guys going on the DL. I don’t even want to say who’s feeling good because I don’t want to jinx them.”