Phillies on verge

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

The Phillies’ magic number for winning their second straight division championship was reduced to one after the New York Mets lost to the Florida Marlins.

Other N.L. highlights

Marlins 6, Mets 1: At New York, the Mets’ offense fizzled and Mike Pelfrey lost to Florida for the fourth time this season, a defeat that put the Mets’ postseason chances in peril.

Brewers 5, Cubs 1: At Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks hit a three-run homer in the seventh, Seth McClung pitched four scoreless innings in relief and the Brewers rallied to beat Chicago for their fifth straight win to take the lead in the wild-card race. Milwaukee leads New York by a game with two to play.

American League highlights

Tigers 6, Rays 4: At Detroit, Gary Sheffield hit two home runs and Ramon Santiago also homered to lift the Tigers to a win over Tampa Bay, but the Rays clinched the East Division title anyway when the Yankees beat Boston 19-8.

Royals 8, Twins 1: At Minneapolis, a night after erasing a five-run deficit against the White Sox to reclaim first place in the Central, the Twins fell flat in a loss to Kansas City, which has won 12 of 14.

Indians 11, White Sox 8: At Chicago, Ryan Garko homered twice, including a grand slam in a six-run fifth inning, and had five RBIs to help Cleveland send the White Sox to their fourth straight loss.

Cardinals seek more opinions

The St. Louis Cardinals postponed a decision on treatment for ace Chris Carpenter’s shoulder injury, electing to seek the opinions of perhaps two more specialists before determining a course of action.

Dr. George Paletta, the team physician, said Carpenter’s injury was “clearly an unusual and rare situation.” He said the team hoped to determine a course of action, surgery or therapy, in a week or so.

Clearing the bases

San Francisco left-hander Noah Lowry will undergo arthroscopic surgery Tuesday on the back of his elbow to remove bone spurs, another setback for someone expected to be a key member of the rotation. … Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is considering whether to have off-season surgery on his sore right shoulder. … Brewers pitcher Ben Sheets will start today against the Cubs despite a sore elbow that forced him to leave his last appearance on Sept. 17 against Chicago. … Cincinnati closer Francisco Cordero had surgery to remove a bone spur in his right foot, an injury that manager Dusty Baker said the pitcher has dealt with all season. … Tampa Bay activated outfielder Carl Crawford from the disabled list after he sat out 1 1/2 months because of a finger injury that required surgery.