Pettitte Struggles Against Mariners in Return to Yankees The Mariners didn't treat Andy Pettitte's return to the majors with the same romance that Yankees fans did on Sunday. Andy Pettitte's 573-day hiatus from a major league game ended at 1:02 p.m. Sunday, when, pounding his mitt twice and tugging his cap once, he galloped out of the home dugout at Yankee Stadium to commence his 17th summer of work in the big leagues. The crowd cheered. There was an Old-Timers Day feel to this warm afternoon, starting with a rare roll call from the bleachers in right field using the pitcher's name as he peered over his glove in the first inning waiting to deliver. Pettitte's pitching, however, appeared to still be easing into form in the Yankees" 6-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners. The 39-year-old Pettitte, making his first start since Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Oct. 18, 2010, allowed four runs on seven hits in six an a third innings with three walks and two strikeouts. Despite Pettitte's long absence from the mound, the crowd voiced its approval that he had decided to come out of cozy retirement in Houston to rejoin a club that has needed starting pitching help. Pettitte's route to the mound had gone through the minor leagues and a federal courtroom in Washington, where he testified in Roger Clemens's perjury trial. On May 2, Pettitte acknowledged there was a fair chance he could have misunderstood Clemens telling Pettitte he used human growth hormone. The fans Sunday focused instead on Pettitte the pitcher who won five World Series with the Yankees, warmly welcoming Pettitte and his syrupy windup back into pinstripes. Pettitte started off sharp, allowing no hits through the first three innings and throwing first-pitch strikes to 9 of the first 10 batters he faced. The Mariners (16-20) took a 2-0 lead, though, in the fourth on a two-run homer by Justin Smoak. Then Pettitte unraveled a bit in the sixth, allowing five hits, including a two-run homer by Casper Wells. He managed to escape with the bases loaded on a nifty double play turned by first baseman Mark Teixeira. After retiring Michael Saunders on a groundout in the seventh, Pettitte's day was finished. He threw 94 pitches. His velocity stayed around where Manager Joe Girardi had predicted before the game that it would - between 87 and 89 miles per hour - and he mixed in all six of his pitches. But Pettitte's prototypical command was not there. In addition to his three walks, Pettitte threw a wild pitch. He also neglected to cover first base on a ground ball to Teixeira, surrendering a base hit. Meanwhile, the Yankees" offense was perplexed by Seattle's veteran starter, 37-year-old Kevin Millwood, who held them to three hits and a run in seven innings. Derek Jeter twice grounded into double plays with runners in scoring position, and over all the team left six runners on base. Before the game, Girardi seemed to relax the emphasis on Pettitte's importance to the Yankees" rotation, which has pitched well of late. "I think that now that everyone's throwing the ball better, it takes a little pressure off of him," Girardi said. I think people were looking at him coming back and being somewhat of a guy that can stabilize the rotation. Whereas now it looks like it can stabilize on its own with what we've got here, and I think that's important. Yankees starters had a 1.31 earned run average with four wins in their last five games entering Sunday, including an uplifting performance by the beleaguered Phil Hughes on Saturday. Pettitte was among the first Yankees in the clubhouse Sunday, at 9:30 a.m., organizing items in his new locker between C. C. Sabathia and Hughes in one corner. In it, he had three hats, two gloves, two balls and six pairs of cleats, but none of the little trinkets that personalize other lockers. He just moved back in.