It’s the Jerrod Washburn-less, Adrian Beltre-less and Raul Ibanez-less Twins against the Seattle Mariners.

If I’m reading the Mariners game notes correctly, Kenji Johjima has thrown out just 9 of 46 basestealers. That’s just under 20 percent. Carlos Silva will have to work hard to control the Twins’ running game.

Baseball America is reporting that the Twins signed sixth-round pick B.J. Hermsen for $650,000.

6:17 update: Alexi Casilla hit off of a tee and took grounders today. Hitting righthanded, he said he feels 100 percent. Lefthanded, 85 percent. Soft toss tomorrow. Hopefully full batting practice on Sunday. The Twins hope he can play in a couple minor league rehab games then join the club in time for THE road trip.

Matt Tolbert is taking live b.p. and fielding grounders in Florida.

Lineups 

Seattle (46-74): 1. Ichiro Suzuki, RF. 2. Miguel Cairo, 1B. 3. Raul Ibanez, LF. 4. Adrian Beltre, 3B. 5. Jose Lopez, 2B. 6. Wladimir Balentien, CF. 7. Kenji Johjima, C. 8. Jeff Clement, DH. 9. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS. Pitching: Carlos Silva.

Twins (67-53): 1. Denard Span, RF. 2. Nick Punto, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Jason Kubel, DH. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brian Buscher, 3B. 8. Adam Everett, SS. 9. Carlos Gomez, CF. Pitching: Francisco Liriano.Â

The Twins tonight have signed righthander B.J. Hermsen, their sixth round pick in the June draft. There are indications that Hermsen signed for around $600,000, but all a Twins official would tell me was that it was above the league-suggested slot figure.

Hermsen had a scholarship to Oregon State, a very good program, but chose to turn pro. He will head to Fort Myers, Fla. to begin the transition into the pro ranks. He’s not expected to pitch in any games, part of the reason is that Iowa’s baseball season includes the summer. So he just finished his year.   

The Twins also signed 14th-round pick Blayne Weller, a righthander from Key West (Fla.) High School.

Was told that the Twins are not trying to sign Joe Loftus before the 11 p.m. deadline Friday night.

Class A Fort Myers Lefthander Tyler Robertson has been shut down for the season because of a tight shoulder. Robertston, who flew to the Twin Cities this week for an examination, will undergo a rehabilitation program that hopefully will loosen the shoulder up.

Fort Myers outfielder Danny Santiesteban is an outfielder no more. He’s being converted to a pitcher. He’s already 88-92 on the gun with a good slider.

The Twins have extended their player development agreement with Class AA New Britain through 2010.

Alejandro Machado is batting .360 at Class AAA Rochester but his arm is not strong at all coming off of two shoulder surgeries.

Reported this week that Luke Hughes will play third base at the Arizona Fall League. Was told today that while they do want him to play third, he may wind up in winter ball.

Twins catcher Joe Mauer took a few swings before the game and declared himself fit to play. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire waited until Mauer gave him the O.K. to fill out the lineup - which didn’t happen until less than an hour ago. That’s why this is so late.

Brendan Harris is starting at short and batting second. Nick Punto had two hits last night but hasn’t been very good since coming off the disabled list. Maybe this will shake things up.

Randy Ruiz in at DH - hope he runs through the first base bag :). It’s bad enough when players dive into first, but the feet-first slide yesterday was something I’ve never seen.

Derek Jeter is out for the Yanks with a sore left instep. He had X-Rays taken after last night’s game, during which he fouled a ball off the foot.

The bullpen is close to being gassed. Matt Guerrier needs a break, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.  Kevin Slowey needs a long outing today. And the rest of the rotation needs to step up. It’s been obvious for weeks that the Twins need bullpen help, but if they aren’t going to get it they have to solve this problem in-house. And the best way to solve it in-house is to keep the bullpen in the bullpen.

UPDATE: The Twins did put in a waiver claim on lefthander Alan Embree - and it wasn’t to block him from another team. The A’s pulled him back, but it’s unknown as of right now if the A’s and Twins talked. Sometimes a team will pull a player off waivers without a phone conversation. Oakland might have been trying to run him through waivers so they could trade him to anyone.

And it’s not known who Embree would have replaced in the bullpen if the Twins dealt for him - it would be hard to imagine the Twins with three lefties in the bully.  Embree, 38, is making $3 million this year with a 2009 club option for $3 million.

Lineups

Yankees (64-56): 1. Johnny Damon, LF. 2. Bobby Abreu, DH. 3. Alex Rodriguez, 3B. 4. Jason Giambi, 1B. 5. Xavier Nady, RF. 6. Robinson Cano, 2B. 7. Ivan Rodriguez, C. 8. Wilson Betemit, SS. 9. Melky Cabrera, CF. Pitching: Darrell Rasner.

Twins (66-53): 1. Denard Span, CF. 2. Brendan Harris, SS. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Jason Kubel, RF. 6. Delmon Young, LF. 7. Brian Buscher, 3B. 8. Randy Ruiz, DH. 9. Nick Punto. Pitching: Kevin Slowey.

I swapped e-mails with Pat Neshek over the weekend when the Twins threw out the possibility that Neshek could return to the team before the year was over.

To me, it’s a super long shot that he will return this year. While he could shock all of us, have no setbacks and return to action, he could also need a couple more months before he’s ready to face hitters - or could have a setback that requires surgery.

I only had room for one comment from Neshek for the ink-on-paper edition on Sunday. So the following is Neshek’s entire e-mail (printed with his permission) from Saturday:

”Well I’ve been down here for 6 days and have been playing catch every other

day right now. I’ll be moving back to 75 feet for a couple days and then 90

feet for another week. After that I will be throwing everyday from 60 feet,

I think it’s just going to be progression from there and see where I’m at.

I’m not sure about a mound visit yet…might happen later in the month I’m

sure and I guess it really depends if we are still in the race and I’m sure

we will be right up there.

It’s been going great so far, kind of what I

expected, no problems at all but I haven’t really been tossing hard at all.

My only concern is when I start letting it go and when I throw my slider and

also when the adrenaline starts flowing. I think that’s something you can’t

really prepare for it’s either going to be fine or hurt so we’ll see when I

start throwing it a little harder. The docs seem pretty upbeat that I can

come back from this, I’m still not sure, I’m taking it slow and will test it

when they tell me to…I still have no clue with a time frame…

I still

could get surgery or I could be back in the middle of September, if things

are fine I’m going to prepare to be ready to go if needed…if I have

setbacks I will slow things down and reevaluate. Check back in a week and

I’m sure I will know more.”

It’s a long shot, but he’s giving it a shot. I’m sure Nehsek won’t put himself in a spot where his career is at risk and back off is something doesn’t feel right.

On an unrelated note, heard over the weekend that Luke Hughes will play third base at the Arizona Fall League this year. I’ve been told a few times that Hughes is a man without a standout position, but a path to the majors is open for him if he can settle in at third and show some of that power he had at New Britain. He’s .277-2-8 since being promoted to Rochester.

Brian Buscher really hasn’t been bad at third, but I don’t blame the Twins for creating options - especially if Hughes proves he can hit for power.

The Twins on Sunday packed up in a quiet clubhouse and left for the Twin Cities upset about how they gave away Sunday’s game.

“It doesn’t seem like we make these kinds of mistakes at home,” Twins first baseman Justin Morneau said. “This is a tough one to take. We had chances to score runs…throwing to the wrong base…..just stupid stuff.”

They should have put away the Royals in all three games but stranded many baserunners. I mean, the Royals walked 22 batters in the three games. 22! Gil Meche walked seven on Sunday. The Twins, who were 6 for 33 (.182) with runners in scoring position in the series, won’t get many gifts from the Yankees this week.

KFAN’s Chad Hartman asked me during Twins Weekly on Sunday night to rank the three losses on the trip. That was easy.

1. Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Royals. The Twins led 2-0 and 4-2. (good catch!) . The first two runs KC scored came because Mike Lamb failed to cover first base on a comebacker to the mound, leading to a wild flip throw by Scott Baker to a scrambling Nick Punto. Adam Everett’s throw in the eighth inning was awful for someone with his defensive acumen, and all Denard Span had to do in the 12th was to set his feet and he has a chance to throw Mark Teahen out. Then again. Gil Meche walked seven batters! I can’t get over that…

2. Monday’s loss at Seattle: The Twins were up six runs and it was set up for Perkins to cruise. But he struggled in the sixth and was knocked out in the seventh thanks to the first homer by a left-handed batter off of him all season.

3. Tuesday’s loss at Seattle. Great back and forth action, but because of Monday’s events, the Twins bullpen was thin. I thought Mike Lamb’s two-run double in the eighth won the game for them, especially when Ron Gardenhire brought in Joe Nathan in the eighth. Who saw the Jose Lopez double coming?

A tough road trip. They went 3-3 and rarely clicked on all cylinders.

Morneau was 2 for 10 with 2 RBI in the Royals series and is kicking himself for runners he left on base.

Carlos Gomez really looks like he’s out of answers at the plate. And he’s got to straighten out his throws.

Nick Punto had a rough day Sunday, trying a career high with four strikeouts. He’s batting .169 since he came off the disabled list - which is why many people with the club are crossing their fingers about Alexi Casilla’s thumb.

The Yankees come the Dome after being swept in three games by the Angels. They have issues with their rotation and bullpen. The Twins need to win two out of three this week. Not only would it be a setback for a Yankees team that may not make the playoffs,  but the Twins need a confidence boost.