CINCINNATI — Watching Chris Heisey crush three homers and Johnny Cueto handcuff their hitters wasn’t what the Yankees had in mind to finish a six-game interleague tour of the Midwest.
Yet even after getting punished 10-2 by the Reds in the nightcap of a day-night doubleheader at Great American Ball Park, the Yankees weren’t moaning as they headed home with a 4-2 mark on the trip.
“We did a lot of things well on the road trip,” said Jorge Posada, whose two-run homer was the difference in a 4-2 victory in the opener. “We came up with the big hits and we pitched very well.”
Ivan Nova was brilliant in the first game, but Brian Gordon shaky in the second.
When Gordon faced Heisey in the first inning, the Yankees were tied with the Red Sox atop the AL East. When the spanking ended, the Red Sox were a half length ahead of the Yankees.
“You want to win every series and we were able to do that,” said Joe Girardi of taking two of three from the Cubs and Reds. “I thought our guys played well on the trip.”
The Reds, who didn’t hit Nova or Freddy Garcia in the first two games of the three-game series, used the home-run ball against Gordon and pummeled reliever Hector Noesi for six runs and eight hits in 1 2⁄3 innings.
“I made three mistakes and paid for all of them,” said Gordon, who gave up two homers to Heisey and one to Jonny Gomes. “Those mistakes beat me.”
Heisey’s third homer was off Noesi in the eighth. The last player to hit three homers against the Yankees was Kevin Millar in 2004.
The Yankees have won 10 of 13 since the Red Sox swept three in The Bronx (June 7-9).
In the opener, the Yankees rode Garcia’s right arm and Posada’s bat to victory despite three errors by third baseman Ramiro Pena.
“That’s part of the game,” Garcia said of Pena’s two throwing errors and a fielding boot. “You have to continue to pitch and don’t lose focus, get the next hitter.”
Garcia (6-6) got a lot of hitters. In seven innings he allowed three hits and a walk and two unearned runs. After a walk to Brandon Phillips in the first, Garcia retired the next 11.
“If you are a hitter you probably have trouble with one pitch,” Girardi said. “There is a good chance he has that [pitch].”
A fastball that was clocked at 84-mph in the beginning of the game didn’t get spanked by a Reds lineup that hit .159 (10-for-63) against the Yankees in the first two games.
Garcia received support from Posada’s two-run homer in the sixth.
Posada, who hadn’t homered in 126 at-bats, punched a hole in the wind blowing in from right off right-hander Mike Leake (6-4) and scored Robinson Cano (2-for-4) for a 4-2 lead that stood up.
“He just rolled it in there,” Posada said of the first-pitch from Leake. “It was a get-me-over curveball, middle-middle.”
How long it took Posada to move from six to seven homers didn’t matter to the switch-hitter, who played first as Mark Teixeira got most of the afternoon game off. Russell Martin and Alex Rodriguez also sat the opener.
“Home runs happen. I don’t know the last time I hit one,” said Posada, who last hit a ball over a wall on April 23. “I don’t care when they do happen.”
Even though Garcia had 89 pitches through seven frames, Girardi turned to his “A” bullpen.
David Robertson worked a scoreless eighth and Mariano Rivera posted his 19th save with a perfect ninth.
But with a chance to move into first place Gordon and Noesi made far too many mistakes to overcome.
george.king@nypost.com