PHILADELPHIA — One mighty swing by Ryan Howard got the Philadelphia Phillies going again. One more win will have them partying.

Howard hit his major league-leading 48th homer, Joe Blanton pitched six effective innings and the Phillies moved closer to clinching the NL East title with an 8-4 victory over the Washington Nationals last night.

The Phillies' magic number for winning their second straight division championship was reduced to one after the New York Mets lost, 6-1, to the Florida Marlins. The Phillies lead the Mets by two game with two to play.

"I like our position," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "I'll like it better when we're up two with one to play. That's when I'll drink champagne, dance and sing."

Fans kept a close eye on the out-of-town scoreboard, cheering when the Marlins took a 2-0 lead in the first inning at Shea Stadium.

A few minutes later, Howard got them roaring when he connected to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead in the first.

They went wild in the ninth after Manuel got into a heated argument with plate umpire Andy Fletcher and was ejected for arguing that Kory Casto had struck out.

"We knew what needed to be done and took care of our own business," Howard said. "We have everything in our own hands right now."

Chase Utley had a three-run double and Howard drove in four runs as Philadelphia built a 7-1 lead off Collin Balester (3-7).

The Nationals chipped away against Blanton (4-0), but four relievers combined to toss three scoreless innings.

MARLINS 6, METS 1

Josh Willingham homered and visiting Florida, which knocked New York out of the playoff race on the final weekend last season, dropped the Mets two games behind first-place Philadelphia in the NL East. The loss also dropped the Mets one game behind Milwaukee in the wild-card race.

BREWERS 5, CUBS 1

Corey Hart broke a 1-all tie with an RBI single in the sixth, Rickie Weeks hit a three-run homer in the seventh and Seth McClung pitched four scoreless innings in relief as host Milwaukee beat Chicago. The win also eliminated Houston from the wild-card race.

GIANTS 6, DODGERS 5

Bengie Molina was awarded a two-run homer after an instant replay reversal in the sixth inning and Dave Roberts drove in Omar Vizquel with a two-out single in the bottom of the 10th off Jason Johnson (1-2) to lift San Francisco over NL West champion Los Angeles.

ASTROS 5, BRAVES 4

After closer Jose Valverde (6-3) gave up the tying run in the top of the ninth, Julian Tavarez (1-4) retired Humberto Quintero in the bottom half before pinch-hitter Darin Erstad homered on the first pitch he saw to lift Houston.

CARDINALS 7, REDS 6

Javier Valentin's two-run homer off Ryan Franklin (6-6) with two outs in the top of the ninth, tied it at 6, but St. Louis loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning and Troy Glaus drove in Felipe Lopez with a one-out sacrifice fly.

PIRATES 6, PADRES 3

Ryan Doumit hit a three-run homer and Freddy Sanchez added a solo shot to lead Pittsburgh over San Diego to snap a nine-game road losing streak.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, ROCKIES 4

Chad Tracy's pinch-hit double drove in two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 4-all tie and lead Arizona over Colorado.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

YANKEES 19, RED SOX 8

Playing a lineup loaded with backups, host New York waited out 2 hours, 9 minutes of rain delays to beat Boston, the AL wild-card team, which will play at AL West champion Los Angeles Wednesday and Friday in the first round of the playoffs.

Cody Ransom pinch hit for Derek Jeter and went 3 for 3 with two homers, Robinson Cano tied a career-high with five RBIs and Brett Gardner had a career-high four RBIs for the Yankees.

RANGERS 12, ANGELS 1

Hank Blalock homered in his fifth straight game to trigger a seven-run second inning against John Lackey (12-5) to lead visiting Texas to a rout of AL West champion Los Angeles (99-61), which clinched the best record in the majors and home field advantage throughout the postseason.

ROYALS 8, TWINS 1

Kansas City hammered Francisco Liriano (6-4) for six runs and 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings, but host Minnesota kept its half-game lead over second-place Chicago in the AL Central.

INDIANS 11, WHITE SOX 8

Ryan Garko homered twice, including a grand slam in a six-run fifth inning, and had five RBIs to help visiting Cleveland hand Chicago its fourth straight loss.

BLUE JAYS 3, ORIOLES 0

Scott Richmond (1-3) pitched six innings of four-hit ball to earn his first major league victory and visiting Toronto handed Baltimore its 10th straight loss in a game halted by rain in the seventh.

MARINERS 10, ATHLETICS 8

Jose Lopez ignited a pair of five-run innings with two homers, and Ichiro Suzuki matched Lou Gehrig's record with his eighth season of at least 200 hits and 100 runs in Seattle's victory.