NEW YORK -- Angels manager Brad Ausmus said recently he didn’t want to witness the Yankees winning their American League East title. His wish didn’t come true Thursday night.

Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney had problems with the long ball, and it proved costly as the Halos lost to the Yanks, 9-1, at Yankee Stadium.

“I’ve seen this stuff before,” Ausmus said. “I would rather it not happen while we were here, but it happened. We’ll jump on the plane and move on.”

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Unfortunately for Ausmus and the Halos, Heaney lasted five-plus innings and allowed six runs on five hits and three walks. The first four runs were scored by the long ball. In the second inning, second baseman DJ LeMahieu put Los Angeles behind the eight-ball when he hit a three-run homer. Heaney was looking to throw his changeup down and away, but it went right down the middle of the plate.

Two innings later, New York added to the scoring when Brett Gardner hit a solo shot over the right-field wall.

Instead of talking about Heaney’s disappointing night on the mound, Ausmus decided to talk about his future. The skipper believes good things will happen to the left-hander.

“Today, the three-run homer hurt him. Other than a couple of mistakes, he pitched pretty well. His runs ended up scoring after the fact,” Ausmus said. “He still has the ability to get the swing and miss on the fastball, which isn’t very common. He was able to get some good breaking balls and get some swings and misses. I still see a guy that has the ability to dominate hitters.”

Heaney was out of the game when the Yankees scored two more runs in the sixth inning. Right-hander Justin Anderson allowed a two-run single to Gardner, but the runs were charged to Heaney.

Heaney knows he has a bright future, but he has to cut down on the home runs. He has allowed 19 homers during his 17 appearances.

“It’s kind of the story of my last few outings. It’s hard to stay away. It’s one pitch you would love to look back and take them back, but that’s not how it works,” Heaney said. “I don’t shy away from throwing strikes. I don’t shy away from pounding the strike zone. Those kinds of things are going to bite you sometime.”

The Angels could do almost nothing against right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, who pitched seven innings and allowed just one run. That run scored in the fourth inning, when Kole Calhoun hit his 32nd homer of the season.

“Tanaka did what he always does. He doesn’t give in. He threw a lot of sliders, mixes in the fastball and split. He takes advantage of hitters’ aggressiveness,” Ausmus said. “You have to kind of wait him out offensively. But it’s hard to do. He takes advantage of that.”