Seattle jumped on rookie southpaw Ted Lilly for seven runs in just 1 1/3 innings, putting the Yankees in a 7-1 hole before they even took the plate in the second inning.

"It's tough to have to go get your starter in the second inning," said Yankees Manager Joe Torre. "It looked like he had trouble locating the ball. All of this experience has to make him better. This is something that he needs to use to make himself better. He's got to take something from today to know that what he did didn't work."

Derek Jeter put the Yankees on the scoreboard in what has become a familiar sight for the Yankees, as the shortstop hit his second leadoff homer in as many days -- his fourth in six games.

But Lilly made it an uphill battle for his teammates, forking up four more runs to the M's in the second inning. Dan Wilson walked to lead off the inning, followed by a Carlos Guillen single. Ichiro Suzuki attempted to bunt the runners over, but the throw by third baseman Clay Bellinger sailed by Tino Martinez at first, allowing Wilson to score and the runners to advance to second and third. Stan Javier wouldn't allow the runners to get comfortable, lacing a ball into center field, plating Guillen and Ichiro to give Seattle a 6-1 lead. Lilly was relieved by Jay Witasick, who allowed Javier to score on Bret Boone's groundout, putting the Mariners ahead by six runs.

Along with the seven runs (five earned) over 1 1/3 innings, Lilly allowed six hits and two walks while striking out two. His record dropped to 3-6.

"I wasn't throwing strikes, and when you do that, you don't give yourself much of a chance," Lilly said. "Obviously, I'm pretty disappointed. I didn't give us a chance. If I had found a way to shave off two runs, given up five, we could have won the game. One thing I've learned is that every little thing counts, since we came back and scored six runs."

Though Lilly had seemingly put the game out of reach, the Yankees' bullpen kept the team alive, shutting Seattle out over the final seven innings. The combination of Witasick (1 2/3 innings), Randy Choate (2 2/3), Mark Wohlers (1 1/3) and Mike Stanton (2) held the Mariners run total at seven, allowing the Yankees to climb back in the game.

"Down the stretch, you need your bullpen to be able to come in and get people out," said Choate. "As long as you can fight out of any situation, keep the goose eggs coming up the board and give your team a chance to come back, that's all you can ask for."

"The bullpen was terrific, they started in the second inning and worked it all the way through the ninth," Torre said of his bullpen, which allowed just four hits over 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball. "We had a wonderful parade of people coming out of the bullpen who did the job."

The defending champs were down, but certainly not out. However, the Yankees failed to capitalize on a huge opportunity in the third inning. With the bases loaded and no outs, Bernie Williams hit a sac fly to center, bringing Bellinger home to cut the lead to 7-2. But Martinez struck out and Jorge Posada flew out to center, ending the scoring threat before it ever had a chance to blossom.

The fifth inning would be quite the opposite, as the Bombers put together a two-out rally to cut further into Seattle's lead. With two outs and Jeter on first, Williams doubled to put runners at the corners. Martinez drove both runners home with a double of his own, scoring minutes later on Posada's double. The Yankees had added three runs to their total, making it a 7-5 game.

New York also managed to chase Seattle starter Joel Pineiro from the game in the fifth, forcing the Mariners to go to their bullpen early in the game as well. Pineiro went 4 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks, striking out two.

"There were two good, young pitchers with good stuff," Torre said. "Neither of them made it through the fifth inning."

The Yankees would have tremendous opportunities to tie the game in both the eighth and ninth innings. Shane Spencer doubled to right field against Jeff Nelson in the eighth to put runners on second and third with one out. After Soriano struck out, Nelson walked pinch-hitter Chuck Knoblauch to load the bases for Jeter. The All-Star shortstop lined a ball up the middle, but it hit Nelson, bouncing to third baseman David Bell, who gunned Jeter out at first, ending the inning.

New York would load the bases again in the ninth, this time against closer Kazuhiro Sasaki. With one out, Sasaki gave up three straight singles to Bernie Williams, Martinez and Posada. With the bases juiced, Sasaki hit Gerald Williams on the arm to bring home the Yankees' sixth run. Sasaki struck out Spencer and got Soriano to fly out to left to end the game.

"We were getting guys on in every inning," Spencer said. "We battled, our relievers came in and did a great job. We had a chance at the end, especially me. Sasaki just made some great pitches and got me out."

Arthur Rhodes threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless ball to improve his record to 8-0. Sasaki earned his 38th save, helping the Mariners avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season.

"We've been on that other side, trying to protect the lead and it seems like you're never going to get the last out. We fell a little short, but we didn't go down without a fight," Torre said. "You want the chance to bring the tying run to the plate. With the eighth and ninth innings we had, I can sleep tonight. We had our chances, it just wasn't meant to be."