The Seattle Mariners routed New York 6-2, spoiling the return of pitcher Andy Pettitte to the Yankees' lineup.
New York Yankees' Andy Pettitte pitches during the game against the Seattle Mariners on May 13. The Mariners routed New York 6-2, spoiling the return of pitcher Andy Pettitte to the Yankees' lineup.
Pettitte gave up two-run homers to Casper Wells and Justin Smoak in his first start in the big leagues since 2010.
The 39-year-old lefthander was charged with four runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out two.
"I felt good. I did," said Pettitte. "I didn't really know what to expect. I envisioned what I wanted to feel like out there and I'll tell you, it came back really quick."
Pettitte retired after the 2010 season, but returned to the team in spring training on a minor league contract after sitting out last year.
"He was pretty good," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "You look through the first five innings and he only really gave up one hard-hit ball and got a ton of ground ball outs. He used all his pitches. To get us into the seventh inning, that's pretty good."
Pettitte retired after 16 major league seasons, admitting that he received human growth hormone (HGH) from Brian McNamee, the trainer who worked with Roger Clemens.
Pettitte says he used HGH in 2002 while trying to recover from an injury and that he used it again in 2004.