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PHILADELPHIA — They were baby steps, but given the way the Yankees have been pitching of late, they seemed like sizable leaps from the lineup.
Austin Wells, one of the worst hitters in the major leagues all season even after signs of recent life, clobbered a home run to tie the game.
Cody Bellinger, trying to work his way out of a slump that has lasted five-plus weeks, roped an RBI single for the lead before leaving the game in the eighth inning with an apparent injury.
And then Jasson Domínguez, hoping to prove he can still be part of the solution to withstanding Aaron Judge’s absence, delivered some insurance by crushing a home run from the right side.
It was still only three runs, scored across three innings, but they were provided by some key bats and complemented the club’s latest strong pitching effort — this time from Ryan Weathers and the bullpen — as the Yankees beat the Phillies 3-1 on Saturday night at a sold-out Citizens Bank Park.
An otherwise positive night ended with concern for Bellinger, who came out of the game in the bottom of the eighth after appearing to hurt something on the way into second base on a double in the top of the frame.
He waved off Aaron Boone and a trainer, but then came limping off the field after the third out and was replaced by Max Schuemann in left field.
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Despite a rocky start and some traffic on the bases, Weathers turned in a solid outing, giving up just one run across 5 ²/₃ innings — the only run the Yankees have allowed over this three-game winning streak.
The left-hander, who once again de-emphasized his four-seam fastball, scattered six hits and one walk but struck out seven before giving way to the bullpen — with Angel Chivilli, Paul Blackburn and David Bednar all throwing up zeroes, Bednar for his 20th straight scoreless appearance.
The Yankees (59-45), who will go for the sweep of the Phillies (56-49) on Sunday night, won for the ninth time in their last 12 games but remained two games back of the Rays (who also won again) for the AL East lead.
Coming into the night, Wells was batting just .163 with a .524 OPS across 70 games, but he had quietly been better of late — both in results and at-bat quality — hitting .286 with a .995 OPS and two home runs over his last eight games.
There is nothing he can do over the next week to convince the Yankees they should not still acquire a catcher before the trade deadline, but his recent play has at least offered some encouragement in an otherwise miserable offensive season.
Wells added to that mini hot streak by crushing a sinker from right-hander Brian Keller — the Yankees’ 39th-round pick in 2016 who was making his MLB debut — 430 feet the other way to left-center field for a solo shot in the third inning that tied the game 1-1.
Wells later walked in the sixth inning against lefty Kyle Backhus before Paul Goldschmidt reached on a two-out bloop that Trea Turner could not handle, and Bellinger made the Phillies pay with a single that made it 2-1.
Then in the seventh, Domínguez demolished a 420-foot blast off lefty José Alvarado — his second of the season from the right side of the plate — to put the Yankees ahead 3-1.
Weathers, who gave up five runs in 4 2/3 innings against the Pirates his last time out, got off to an inauspicious start by hitting Turner with a 3-2 fastball in the bottom of the first inning.
Kyle Schwarber followed with a double before Bryce Harper hit a sacrifice fly that gave the Phillies an early 1-0 lead.
But Weathers retired the next two batters in order to strand Schwarber at third.
The Phillies threatened again in the bottom of the third, when Turner and Schwarber led off with back-to-back singles, before Weathers got Harper to ground into a double play and Alec Bohm to fly out.
In the fourth, the Phillies notched two more singles with one out, but Weathers again worked his way out of the jam.
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