NEW YORK -- Ivan Nova looked at the group surrounding his locker in the Yankee Stadium clubhouse and said "big crowd."

The media gathering was there to talk about his return to the mound after 14 months of recovery and rehab from Tommy John surgery.

The Yankees and Nova had a lot of good things to say after the right-hander returned to the majors with 6 2/3 scoreless innings in a 10-2 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday afternoon.

"I feel really good; it was a really good day," Nova said. "When I walked onto the major league mound, I didn't believe it, fourteen months away from the game. I was able to keep calm and try to do my best."

Nova did more than his best, holding the Phillies to three hits, throwing 51 of 92 pitches for strikes and rarely encountering trouble. His velocity also reached 93 mph and 94 mph with a few readings of 95 mph in his first start since suffering the injury on April 19, 2014, at Tampa Bay.

"You like it -- he's pitched well in the rotation during the years," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "We've missed him the last 14 months. It was really nice to get him back today."

After ending his outing with a warning track fly ball by catcher Carlos Ruiz, Nova walked off the mound to a standing ovation and tipped his hat to the 45,877 fans.

"It's exciting," Nova said. "I think that's one the best things, not only the comeback. I'm really happy."

Perhaps even more impressive was Nova made a successful start after not getting any sleep Tuesday. He said he tried to go to sleep at 10 p.m. ET Tuesday and did not even have the game on television but still could not fall asleep.

"I was getting crazy here and it was time to go," Nova said. "I tried to get some sleep, but it didn't happen."

What did happen was Nova provided some distance after the Yankees allowed 34 runs and had short starts by Masahiro Tanaka, Michael Pineda and CC Sabathia in three straight losses.

The only time Nova encountered trouble was when he put two on base in the second when center fielder Ben Revere singled and second baseman Cesar Hernandez walked. He did not get a check swing call on Maikel Franco, but Girardi watched Nova strike out the rookie on television after being ejected by first base umpire Alan Porter.

"Sometimes you can see better because you can see the movement," Girardi said. "You actually get a pretty good read on what he had today."

New York catcher John-Ryan Murphy said, "I'm really happy for him. Everybody here is. He deserves it."

Nova had plenty of support as the Yankees collected five runs and eight hits off Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels (5-6), who returned from missing his last scheduled start with a hamstring injury.

Designated hitter Alex Rodriguez, first baseman Mark Teixeira and second baseman Jose Pirela drove in two runs apiece for the Yankees, who snapped a three-game losing streak.

Center fielder Brett Gardner and left fielder Chris Young contributed RBI singles and third baseman Chase Headley added a run-scoring double as New York scored three times in the fourth and four in the seventh.

The Phillies were unable to complete their first road series sweep in nearly a year and lost for the 13th time in 15 road games.

Philadelphia scored twice in the ninth on a single by right fielder Domonic Brown and a groundout by Blanco.

Hamels (5-6) equaled his shortest start of the season after putting runners on in four of five innings. He also hit Rodriguez with a first-pitch fastball in the first inning and warnings were issued to both teams by plate umpire Brian O'Nora.

"His command was off, missing his spots," Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said. "They had some little choppers in there and a swinging bunt that the ball hit the bag. I'd say his command was off but also things did not go his way as far as some balls that were hit."

Hamels also was not helped by some shoddy defense that the Yankees capitalized on.

"Unfortunately, when the ball leaves your hand, you don't really have control over it as much as you'd like and there are times where things just don't get going," Hamels said.

Ruiz was unable to handle a throw from third baseman Andres Blanco on a bases-loaded force attempt on a ground ball by Pirela and that allowed a second run to score with none out in the second inning. That came after Ruiz's throw on a bunt by shortstop Didi Gregorius hit the first base bag.

In the fourth, shortstop Freddy Galvis lost a popup to shallow center field by Gregorius in the sun. Gregorius scored on Gardner's single and the Yankees went up 4-0 when Headley's broken-bat ground ball skipped over the bag and past Blanco's glove after a backhand attempt for a double to left.

New York opened a 5-0 lead when Teixeira had a bloop single. The Yankees scored a run in the sixth on a single by Young and four in the seventh on doubles by Pirela and Rodriguez ahead of Teixeira's single.

NOTES: The Yankees placed INF Brendan Ryan on the 15-day disabled list with a right thoracic strain in his upper back. He returned to the DL two weeks after making his season debut. ... The move marked the fourth straight day that New York has made a transaction. After the game, the Yankees announced that RHPs Branden Pinder and Diego Moreno were optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. ... New York 1B Mark Teixeira returned after missing the previous two games with a stiff neck that required a cortisone injection. ... Asked about his ejection, New York manager Joe Girardi said, "I told him he swung. He said knock it off. I said I'd knock it off if he got the call right and he threw me." ... Philadelphia RHP Phillippe Aumont has elected for free agency after getting designated for assignment last week. ... Philadelphia's starters tied a season high by allowing at least five earned runs in three straight games. Since May 24, Phillies starters have the worst ERA in the majors at 6.22.