NEW YORK — The Twins placed lefthander Glen Perkins on the 15-day disabled list with left elbow inflammation after Monday’s 7-6 loss to the Yankees.

Perkins will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam on Tuesday in Minneapolis.

“It doesn’t sound real serious or anything, but you never know,” Manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Perkins said the move was precautionary. He said he’s felt some tingling in the fingers in his left arm and thinks it’s probably a nerve issue. He gave up six runs on seven hits in 2/3 of an inning tonight before telling the training staff about his elbow injury.

The Twins will promote lefthanded reliever Sean Henn from Class AAA Rochester to fill Perkins’ roster spot. Gardenhire said the team won’t decide on who will take Perkins’ next turn in the rotation (Saturday against Milwaukee) until later in the week.

Note: The Twins had an open spot on their 40-man roster for Henn. He retired all six batters he faced Sunday with four strikeouts. He’ll join the team in Chicago.

NEW YORK — Joe Crede is back in the lineup for the Twins for the first time since leaving Friday’s game with lower-back spasms.

Crede is batting fifth, as Manager Ron Gardenhire has shuffled his lineup a bit heading into tonight’s match-up against Yankees lefthander Andy Pettitte.

Update: Delmon Young will not return to the Twins until Friday, at the earliest, as he visits his ailing mother in California. The Twins want him to take all the time he needs, so he will miss the upcoming series in Chicago.

Young has better numbers than any Twin against Pettitte — 9-for-14 (.643).

Gardenhire said his lineup adjustments — specifically moving Crede ahead of Kubel — are more related to facing Pettitte, so they don’t sound permanent. But the Twins will face lefthanders Mark Buehrle and John Danks the next two games, so if it works tonight, I wouldn’t be surprised if Gardenhire stuck with it for a while.

TWINS (18-20)

1. Denard Span, LF
2. Brendan Harris, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Joe Crede, 3B
6. Jason Kubel, DH
7. Michael Cuddyer, RF
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Nick Punto, SS

Starting pitcher: LH Glen Perkins (1-2, 4.27 ERA)

YANKEES (20-17)

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, DH
5. Nick Swisher, RF
6. Robinson Cano, 2B
7. Melky Cabrera, CF
8. Ramiro Pena, 3B
9. Francisco Cervelli, C

Starting pitcher: LH Andy Pettitte (3-1, 4.00 ERA)

Yankee Stadium. First pitch: 6:05 p.m. (Central)

NEW YORK — I wrote about the absurdity of it all — three consecutive walk-off defeats and a 3-22 regular season record at old and new Yankee Stadium since 2002 — in this story.

For more on Joe Mauer’s game-saving play and LHP Sean Henn’s potential promotion from Class AAA Rochester, click here. And for more impressions of Yankee Stadium, click here.

But I ran out of space to mention a key point Manager Ron Gardenhire made after Sunday’s game.

In the eighth inning, the Twins had the bases loaded with two outs when journeyman reliever Brett Tomko fell behind in the count to Matt Tolbert 2-0. Tolbert fouled out to the catcher on the next pitch, which was high and would have been Ball 3.

This came after Mark Teixeira robbed a run-scoring hit from Denard Span with his diving stop and throw home from his knees.

Then, in the 10th inning, Carlos Gomez worked into a 2-0 count against Alfredo Aceves, and popped up to first base on the next pitch.

“We’re just going to have to start giving the take sign,” Gardenhire said. “You want them to understand the game and not be robots. That’s what this game’s all about, but it happened two or three times today, where we’re 2-0 counts. We need to get a guy on base, and we swing and pop it up.

“That can’t keep happening. You give them leeway and then you have to start telling them this is what we’re gong to do. Those are the disappointing parts of this, but we’ve gotta learn from it. So we’ll talk to them, like we always do. Continue to make them understand the game of baseball.”

Gardenhire noted that Gomez not only swung at the 2-0 pitch but “almost fell down doing it.”

It reminded me of a quote I saw Friday at the Yankee museum.

“I swing big with everything I’ve got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.” — Babe Ruth

Note: I’m doing a live chat today at noon. Here’s the link. Stop by with your questions, and please, bring some sanity. I know people are worked up about the three gutwrenching games against the Yankees, but you can’t pin the losses on one or two individuals, especially the pitchers who gave up the walk-off hits. Keep in mind, the Twins are 1-for-25 with runners in scoring position in this series.

NEW YORK — Joe Crede is taking batting practice and fielding ground balls. He said his back feels better. Good chance he returns to the lineup for Monday night’s series finale.

No word on when Delmon Young will return from California. The Twins want him to take all the time he needs to be with his mother.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire dropped strong hints on his weekly radio show on KSTP AM-1500 that the team is about to address its bullpen situation. He dropped more hints in his pregame session with the writers.

Terry Ryan has been watching the Twins’ Class AA New Britain affiliate, and the feeling seems to be that Anthony Slama and Rob Delaney aren’t ready to make the jump.

LHP Sean Henn has shown the most promise of the relievers at Class AAA Rochester. He has a 1.23 ERA, and fastball has been clocked at 95 mph. Henn is not on the 40-man roster, but the Twins could add him by moving Boof Bonser to the 60-day disabled list.

I think Gardenhire’s feelings about RHP Luis Ayala were made clear Saturday, when Ayala was warming in the bullpen, while LHP Craig Breslow faced Alex Rodriguez in the 11th inning.

My prediction is the Twins will be adding Henn soon, and Ayala could be on his way out. Stay tuned.

TWINS (18-19)

1. Denard Span, LF
2. Matt Tolbert, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Brian Buscher, 3B
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Nick Punto, SS

Starting pitcher: RH Kevin Slowey (5-1, 4.91 ERA)

YANKEES (19-17)

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, 1B
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Hideki Matsui, DH
6. Nick Swisher, RF
7. Melky Cabrera, CF
8. Ramiro Pena, 2B
9. Kevin Cash, C

Starting pitcher: RH A.J. Burnett (2-1, 5.36 ERA)

Yankee Stadium. First pitch: 12:05 p.m. (Central)

NEW YORK — Joe Crede, who left Friday night’s game with lower-back spasms and hamstring tightness, came to the clubhouse feeling better this morning and said he’d like to play again soon.

Manager Ron Gardenhire said Crede is available only in an emergency today. They’ll give him today and Sunday off, and hope he can return for Monday night’s series finale.

Gardenhire said he wanted to give Matt Tolbert a mental break today. Tolbert went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts Friday, dropping his average to .171.

It rained this morning, and the tarp is still on the field. But everyone’s pretty optimistic they’ll play as scheduled today. There’s rain in the forecast for Sunday.

TWINS (18-18)

1. Denard Span, CF
2. Brendan Harris, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, DH
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, LF
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Brian Buscher, 3B
8. Mike Redmond, C
9. Nick Punto, SS

Starting pitcher: RH Nick Blackburn (2-2, 4.32 ERA)

YANKEES (18-17)

1. Derek Jeter, SS
2. Johnny Damon, LF
3. Mark Teixeira, DH
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Nick Swisher, 1B
6. Robinson Cano, 2B
7. Melky Cabrera, RF
8. Brett Gardner, CF (How could I forget him?)
9. Francisco Cervelli, C

Starting pitcher: RH Joba Chamberlain (2-1, 3.89 ERA)

Yankee Stadium. First pitch: 12:05 p.m. (Central)