Howard has Philliesclose to East crown

PHILADELPHIA -- Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 48th homer, Joe Blanton pitched six effective innings and the Philadelphia Phillies clinched a tie for the NL East title with an 8-4 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.

The Phillies reduced their magic number for winning their second straight division championship to two, which shrunk to one after the New York Mets lost to Florida. Philadelphia leads the Mets by two games with two to play.

Howard got the fans roaring when he connected to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

He is batting .349 (29 for 83) with 11 homers and 32 of his major league-best 146 RBIs this month. He has raised his overall average to .250 and is making a strong push to win his second most-valuable-player award in three years.