Jorge Posada drilled a two-run, pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to deliver the American League East title to the New York Yankees with a 4-2 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

Posada's tiebreaking hit secured the 12th division crown in 16 seasons for the Yankees, who had clinched a postseason berth earlier in the day with an identical 4-2 victory over the Rays.

The sweep, which put New York in the playoffs for the 16th time in 17 years, sent Tampa Bay to its third consecutive defeat and dropped the Rays 2 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL wild-card chase.

David Robertson (4-0) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and Rafael Soriano earned only his second save of the season against his former teammates.

Nick Swisher had started the winning rally with a pinch-hit double off Jake McGee (3-2). Posada, who has been a member of five World Series champions in New York but was appearing in just his seventh game this month, rifled a two-out pitch from Brandon Gomes to right-center to plate two runs.

It was Posada's first multi-RBI game since he drove in six runs, including a grand slam against Gomes on Aug. 13.

The Yankees had only two hits through seven innings against Jeremy Hellickson but turned them both into runs.

Robinson Cano hit his 27th homer in the first and Curtis Granderson doubled and scored his major league-leading 134th run on a double-play grounder in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.

Kelly Shoppach and Sean Rodriguez hit solo home runs to deny Yankees starter CC Sabathia in his third bid for his 20th win.