ATLANTA — Ryan Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies are surging again in September.

Howard rallied the Phillies back into first place, hitting a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning for his fourth hit in an 8-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves last night.

"He's big in the moment," manager Charlie Manuel said after the Phillies' fifth straight win.

Brad Lidge escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth and Philadelphia moved a half-game in front of the fading New York Mets, who lost, 1-0, at Washington. The Phillies also caught the Mets in September to win the division last season.

Howard's homer was his 45th of the year and 38th in September over the past four seasons, the most in the major leagues. Howard said he had no idea why he thrives in the month.

"Maybe it's just the pennant races are heating up," Howard said. "I'm just trying to go out there and do what I can to help my team."

After trailing the Mets by 3 1/2 games going into last Thursday, Philadelphia leads the division for the first time since Aug. 26.

The Phillies led 3-0 and 4-3 before the Braves took a 7-4 advantage with a four-run sixth.

Howard had a run-scoring triple and Shane Victorino, a St. Anthony alum from Maui, singled home Howard as the Phillies closed to 7-6 in the seventh.

NATIONALS 1, METS 0

WASHINGTON — Odalis Perez (7-10) spaced two hits and did not walk a batter in 7 1/3 innings and scored the only run on Cristian Guzman's ground-rule double in the fifth to lift Washington.

The Mets lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped one-half game behind Philadelphia in the NL East.

"We've got to dig down deep," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "This is what makes it fun. You've got, what, 12, 13 games left and that's going to decide the season? This is what you work hard for, this is what you prepare for, and as an athlete, a competitor, you love this."

CUBS 5, BREWERS 4

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs moved closer to their second straight division title last night, becoming the first NL team to beat Milwaukee's CC Sabathia and spoiling Dale Sveum's debut as interim manager.

Sabathia (9-1), acquired by the Brewers on July 7, had won 12 straight decisions overall, dating to a June 5 loss to Texas when he was still pitching for Cleveland. He gave up four runs and nine hits in seven innings, including Alfonso Soriano's 29th homer in the seventh.

Sveum replaced Ned Yost, who was fired Monday by a team that is still 15 games over .500 with 11 left. But the Brewers lost for the 12th time in 15 games and fell one-half game behind New York for the NL wild card.

DODGERS 6, PIRATES 2

PITTSBURGH — Derek Lowe (14-11) allowed a run and five singles over seven innings, helping Los Angeles edge closer to the NL West title.

Casey Blake homered and tripled his first two times, and Manny Ramirez had three hits for the second successive night, including an RBI double in a four-run second.

The Dodgers won for the 14th time in 16 games and lead Arizona by 4 1/2 games in the NL West. Arizona beat San Francisco, 2-0, last night.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

RAYS 2, RED SOX 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Dioner Navarro singled with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning, enabling Tampa Bay to beat Boston and remain in first place in the AL East.

Navarro delivered his second game-winner in a week against the defending World Series champions, lifting a fly ball that sailed over the head of center fielder Coco Crisp on a 2-2 pitch from Justin Masterson (6-5).

The Rays, who have led the division for the past 54 days, moved one game ahead of the Red Sox, who have lost seven of eight at Tropicana Field this season.

"We're finally getting to the point now where we're starting to believe that we can beat these guys, and that's very important," said Rays manager Joe Maddon.

WHITE SOX 6, YANKEES 2

NEW YORK — Gavin Floyd (16-7) gave up two runs on nine hits in seven innings, and Paul Konerko had two hits and an RBI in his return from a knee injury for AL Central-leading Chicago.

Alexei Ramirez homered and Juan Uribe had three hits and drove in two runs for Chicago, which moved 2 1/2 games in front of Minnesota. Ken Griffey Jr. had an RBI single and Brian Anderson added a run-scoring double for the White Sox.

New York's Derek Jeter passed Lou Gehrig for most career hits at the soon-to-close Yankee Stadium with his 1,270th, a sharp single in the first inning.

INDIANS 12, TWINS 9

CLEVELAND — Victor Martinez hit a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the 11th as Cleveland hurt Minnesota's postseason chances.

The Twins, who rallied from an early seven-run deficit, lost their third straight and fell 2 1/2 games behind Chicago in the AL Central with 11 games remaining.

Franklin Gutierrez opened the 11th with a single off Joe Nathan (0-2) and went to second on a sacrifice. Jhonny Peralta walked and Martinez hit a 1-1 pitch for his second homer of the season.