By The Associated Press

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

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.

The Phillies reached 90 wins for the 12th time in the franchise’s 126-year history. They hadn’t done it since winning 97 games in 1993.

Marlins 6, Mets 1

NEW YORK – The Mets’ offense fizzled and Mike Pelfrey lost to Florida for the fourth time this season, putting New York’s postseason chances in peril.

Josh Willingham homered and Hanley Ramirez had four hits for the Marlins, who knocked New York out of the playoff race on the final weekend last season.

The Mets, who began the night tied atop the wild-card standings with Milwaukee, fell two games behind first-place Philadelphia, which beat Washington 8-4. They will send ace Johan Santana to the mound Saturday on three days’ rest.

Pelfrey (13-11) allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings, falling to 0-4 in five starts against Florida this year.

Chris Volstad (6-4) yielded just an unearned run in six innings for Florida. Ramirez scored three times and stole two bases.